II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1265

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to require the Attorney

General to cancel the removal and adjust the status of certain aliens

who were brought to the United States as children.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 27, 2001

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. REID, Mr. DODD, Mr.

WELLSTONE, Mr. CORZINE, and Mr. FEINGOLD) introduced the following

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to require

the Attorney General to cancel the removal and adjust

the status of certain aliens who were brought to the

United States as children.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Children’s Adjustment,

5 Relief, and Education Act’’ or the ‘‘CARE Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITION.

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘secondary school student’’

3 means a student enrolled in any of the grades 7 through

4 12.

5 SEC. 3. STATE FLEXIBILITY IN PROVIDING IN-STATE TUI6 TION FOR COLLEGE-AGE ALIEN CHILDREN.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 505 of the Illegal Immi8 gration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996

9 (Public Law 104–208; division C; 110 Stat. 3009–672)

10 (8 U.S.C. 1623) is hereby repealed.

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The repeal made by this sec12 tion to the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Re13 sponsibility Act of 1996 shall take effect as if included

14 in the enactment of such Act.

15 SEC. 4. CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL AND ADJUSTMENT OF

16 STATUS FOR CERTAIN ALIEN CHILDREN.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 240A of the Immigration

18 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229b) is amended—

19 (1) in subsection (b), by inserting at the end

20 the following new paragraph:

21 ‘‘(5) SPECIAL RULE FOR RESIDENTS BROUGHT

22 TO THE UNITED STATES AS CHILDREN.—

23 ‘‘(A) AUTHORITY.—Subject to the restric24 tions in subparagraph (B), the Attorney Gen25 eral shall cancel removal of, and adjust to the

26 status of an alien lawfully admitted for perma-
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1 nent residence, an alien who is inadmissible or

2 deportable from the United States, if the alien

3 applies for relief under this paragraph and

4 demonstrates that on the date of application for

5 such relief—

6 ‘‘(i) the alien had not attained the age

7 of 21;

8 ‘‘(ii) the alien had been physically

9 present in the United States for a contin10 uous period of not less than five years im11 mediately preceding the date of such appli12 cation;

13 ‘‘(iii) the alien had been a person of

14 good moral character during the five-year

15 period preceding the application; and

16 ‘‘(iv) the alien—

17 ‘‘(I) was a secondary school stu18 dent in the United States;

19 ‘‘(II) was attending an institution

20 of higher education in the United

21 States as defined in section 101 of the

22 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20

23 U.S.C. 1001); or

24 ‘‘(III) with respect to whom the

25 registrar of such an institution of
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1 higher education in the United States

2 had certified that the alien had ap3 plied for admission, met the minimum

4 standards for admission, and was

5 being considered for admission.

6 ‘‘(B) RESTRICTIONS ON AUTHORITY.—

7 Subparagraph (A) does not apply to—

8 ‘‘(i) an alien who is inadmissible

9 under section 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I), or is de10 portable under section 237(a)(2)(A)(i), un11 less the Attorney General determines that

12 the alien’s removal would result in extreme

13 hardship to the alien, the alien’s child, or

14 (in the case of an alien who is a child) to

15 the alien’s parent; or

16 ‘‘(ii) an alien who is inadmissible

17 under section 212(a)(3), or is deportable

18 under section 237(a)(2)(D)(i) or

19 237(a)(2)(D)(ii).’’; and

20 (2) in subsection (d)(1)(A), by inserting ‘‘or

21 (5)’’ after ‘‘subsection (b)(2)’’.

22 (b) EXEMPTION FROM NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.—

23 Section 240A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8

24 U.S.C. 1229b), as amended by this Act, is further amend-
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1 ed in subsection (e)(3) by adding at the end the following

2 new subparagraph:

3 ‘‘(C) Aliens described in subsection

4 (b)(5).’’.

5 (c) APPLICATION OF PROVISIONS.—For the purpose

6 of applying section 240A(b)(5)(A) of the Immigration and

7 Nationality Act (as added by subsection (a))—

8 (1) an individual shall be deemed to have met

9 the qualifications of clause (i) of such section

10 240A(b)(5)(A) if the individual—

11 (A) had not attained the age of 21 prior

12 to the date of enactment of this Act; and

13 (B) applies for relief under this section

14 within 120 days of the effective date of regula15 tions implementing this section; and

16 (2) an individual shall be deemed to have met

17 the requirements of clauses (i), (ii), and (iv) of such

18 section 240A(b)(5)(A) if—

19 (A) the individual would have met such re20 quirements at any time during the four-year pe21 riod immediately preceding the date of enact22 ment of this Act; and

23 (B) the individual has graduated from, or

24 is on the date of application for relief under

25 such section 240A(b)(5) enrolled in, an institu-
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1 tion of higher education in the United States

2 (as defined in clause (iv) of such section

3 240A(b)(5)(A)).

4 (d) CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.—

5 (1) PROHIBITION.—Neither the Attorney Gen6 eral, nor any other official or employee of the De7 partment of Justice may—

8 (A) use the information furnished by the

9 applicant pursuant to an application filed under

10 section 240A(b)(5) of the Immigration and Na11 tionality Act (as added by this Act) for any

12 purpose other than to make a determination on

13 the application;

14 (B) make any publication whereby the in15 formation furnished by any particular individual

16 can be identified; or

17 (C) permit anyone other than the sworn of18 ficers and employees of the Department or,

19 with respect to applications filed under such

20 section 240A(b)(5) with a designated entity,

21 that designated entity, to examine individual

22 applications.

23 (2) PENALTY.—Whoever knowingly uses, pub24 lishes, or permits information to be examined in vio-
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1 lation of this subsection shall be fined not more than

2 $10,000.

3 (e) REGULATIONS.—

4 (1) PROPOSED REGULATION.—Not later than

5 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the

6 Attorney General shall publish proposed regulations

7 implementing this section.

8 (2) INTERIM, FINAL REGULATIONS.—Not later

9 than 120 days after the date of enactment of this

10 Act, the Attorney General shall publish final regula11 tions implementing this section. Such regulations

12 shall be effective immediately on an interim basis,

13 but shall be subject to change and revision after

14 public notice and opportunity for a period of public

15 comment.

16 (3) ELEMENTS OF REGULATIONS.—In promul17 gating regulations described in paragraphs (1) and

18 (2), the Attorney General shall do the following:

19 (A) APPLICATION FOR RELIEF.—Establish

20 a procedure allowing eligible individuals to

21 apply affirmatively for the relief available under

22 section 240A(b)(5) of the Immigration and Na23 tionality Act (as added by this Act) without

24 being placed in removal proceedings.
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1 (B) CONTINUOUS PRESENCE.—Ensure

2 that an alien shall not be considered to have

3 failed to maintain continuous physical presence

4 in the United States for purposes of section

5 240A(b)(5)(ii) of the Immigration and Nation6 ality Act (as added by this Act) by virtue of

7 brief, casual, and innocent absences from the

8 United States.

9 (f) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 240A(b) of

10 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229b(b)),

11 as amended by this Act, is further amended in paragraph

12 (4) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1) or (2)’’ each place it occurs

13 and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1), (2), or (5)’’.

14 SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY OF CANCELLATION APPLICANTS FOR

15 EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE.

16 (a) QUALIFIED ALIENS.—Section 431 of the Per17 sonal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation

18 Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641(b)) is amended by adding at

19 the end the following new paragraph:

20 ‘‘(8) for purposes of determining eligibility for

21 postsecondary educational assistance, including

22 grants, scholarships, and loans, an alien with respect

23 to whom an application has been filed for relief

24 under section 240A(b)(5) of the Immigration and
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1 Nationality Act, but whose application has not been

2 finally adjudicated.’’.

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

4 this section shall apply as if enacted on August 22, 1996.

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