I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1007

To adjust the immigration status of certain Honduran nationals who are

in the United States.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 4, 1999

Mrs. MEEK of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To adjust the immigration status of certain Honduran

nationals who are in the United States.

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 ‘‘Honduran Refugee Im5 migration Fairness Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF CERTAIN HONDURAN

7 NATIONALS.

8 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section

10 245(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the
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1 status of any alien described in subsection (b) shall

2 be adjusted by the Attorney General to that of an

3 alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, if

4 the alien—

5 (A) applies for such adjustment before

6 April 1, 2001; and

7 (B) is otherwise eligible to receive an im8 migrant visa and is otherwise admissible to the

9 United States for permanent residence, except

10 in determining such admissibility the grounds

11 for inadmissibility specified in paragraphs (4),

12 (5), (6)(A), and (7)(A) of section 212(a) of the

13 Immigration and Nationality Act shall not

14 apply.

15 (2) RELATIONSHIP OF APPLICATION TO CER16 TAIN ORDERS.—An alien present in the United

17 States who has been ordered excluded, deported, re18 moved, or ordered to depart voluntarily, from the

19 United States under any provision of the Immigra20 tion and Nationality Act may, notwithstanding such

21 order, apply for adjustment of status under para22 graph (1). Such an alien may not be required, as a

23 condition on submitting or granting such applica24 tion, to file a motion to reopen, reconsider, or vacate

25 such order. If the Attorney General grants the appli-
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1 cation, the Attorney General shall cancel the order.

2 If the Attorney General renders a final administra3 tive decision to deny the application, the order shall

4 be effective and enforceable to the same extent as if

5 the application had not been made.

6 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA7 TUS.—The benefits provided by subsection (a) shall apply

8 to any alien who is a national of Honduras—

9 (1) who was physically present in the United

10 States on December 31, 1995; and

11 (2) has been physically present in the United

12 States for at least 1 year and is physically present

13 in the United States on the date the application for

14 adjustment of status under this Act is filed, except

15 an alien shall not be considered to have failed to

16 maintain continuous physical presence by reason of

17 an absence, or absences, from the United States for

18 any periods in the aggregate not exceeding 180

19 days.

20 (c) STAY OF REMOVAL.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall

22 provide by regulation for an alien subject to a final

23 order of deportation, removal, or exclusion to seek a

24 stay of such order based on the filing of an applica25 tion under subsection (a).
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1 (2) DURING CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS.—Notwith2 standing any provision of the Immigration and Na3 tionality Act, the Attorney General shall not order

4 any alien to be removed from the United States, if

5 the alien is in exclusion, deportation, or removal pro6 ceedings under any provision of such Act and raises

7 as a defense to such an order the eligibility of the

8 alien to apply for adjustment of status under sub9 section (a), except where the Attorney General has

10 rendered a final administrative determination to

11 deny the application.

12 (3) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney

13 General may authorize an alien who has applied for

14 adjustment of status under subsection (a) to engage

15 in employment in the United States during the

16 pendency of such application and may provide the

17 alien with an ‘‘employment authorized’’ endorsement

18 or other appropriate document signifying authoriza19 tion of employment, except that if such application

20 is pending for a period exceeding 180 days, and has

21 not been denied, the Attorney General shall author22 ize such employment.

23 (d) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR SPOUSES AND

24 CHILDREN.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section

2 245(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the

3 status of an alien shall be adjusted by the Attorney

4 General to that of an alien lawfully admitted for per5 manent residence, if—

6 (A) the alien is a national of Honduras;

7 (B) the alien is the spouse, child, or un8 married son or daughter, of an alien whose sta9 tus is adjusted to that of an alien lawfully ad10 mitted for permanent residence under sub11 section (a), except that in the case of such an

12 unmarried son or daughter, the son or daughter

13 shall be required to establish that they have

14 been physically present in the United States for

15 at least 1 year;

16 (C) the alien applies for such adjustment

17 and is physically present in the United States

18 on the date the application is filed; and

19 (D) the alien is otherwise eligible to receive

20 an immigrant visa and is otherwise admissible

21 to the United States for permanent residence,

22 except in determining such admissibility the

23 grounds for exclusion specified in paragraphs

24 (4), (5), (6)(A), and (7)(A) of section 212(a) of
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1 the Immigration and Nationality Act shall not

2 apply.

3 (2) PROOF OF CONTINUOUS PRESENCE.—For

4 purposes of establishing the period of continuous

5 physical presence referred to in paragraph (1)(B),

6 an alien shall not be considered to have failed to

7 maintain continuous physical presence by reason of

8 an absence, or absences, from the United States for

9 any periods in the aggregate not exceeding 180

10 days.

11 (e) AVAILABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—

12 The Attorney General shall provide to applicants for ad13 justment of status under subsection (a) the same right to,

14 and procedures for, administrative review as are provided

15 to—

16 (1) applicants for adjustment of status under

17 section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act;

18 or

19 (2) aliens subject to removal proceedings under

20 section 240 of such Act.

21 (f) LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A deter22 mination by the Attorney General as to whether the status

23 of any alien should be adjusted under this Act is final and

24 shall not be subject to review by any court.
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1 (g) NO OFFSET IN NUMBER OF VISAS AVAILABLE.—

2 When an alien is granted the status of having been law3 fully admitted for permanent residence pursuant to this

4 Act, the Secretary of State shall not be required to reduce

5 the number of immigrant visas authorized to be issued

6 under any provision of the Immigration and Nationality

7 Act.

8 (h) APPLICATION OF IMMIGRATION AND NATIONAL9 ITY ACT PROVISIONS.—Except as otherwise specifically

10 provided in this section, the definitions contained in the

11 Immigration and Nationality Act shall apply in the admin12 istration of this Act. Nothing contained in this Act shall

13 be held to repeal, amend, alter, modify, effect, or restrict

14 the powers, duties, functions, or authority of the Attorney

15 General in the administration and enforcement of such

16 Act or any other law relating to immigration, nationality,

17 or naturalization. The fact that an alien may be eligible

18 to be granted the status of having been lawfully admitted

19 for permanent residence under this section shall not pre20 clude the alien from seeking such status under any other

21 provision of law for which the alien may be eligible.

Æ