II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3280 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a veterans visa 

program to permit veterans who have been removed from the United 

States to return as immigrants, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 9, 2023 

Ms. DUCKWORTH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish 

a veterans visa program to permit veterans who have 

been removed from the United States to return as immigrants, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Veterans Visa and Pro5 tection Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ARMED FORCES.—The term ‘‘Armed 

2 Forces’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘armed 

3 forces’’ in section 101 of title 10, United States 

4 Code. 

5 (2) CRIME OF VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘crime of 

6 violence’’ means an offense defined in section 16(a) 

7 of title 18, United States Code— 

8 (A) that is not a purely political offense; 

9 and 

10 (B) for which a noncitizen has served a 

11 term of imprisonment of at least 5 years. 

12 (3) ELIGIBLE VETERAN.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible vet14 eran’’ means a veteran who— 

15 (i) is a noncitizen; and 

16 (ii) meets the criteria described in sec17 tion 3(e). 

18 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘eligible vet19 eran’’ includes a veteran who— 

20 (i) was removed from the United 

21 States; or 

22 (ii) is abroad and is inadmissible 

23 under section 212(a) of the Immigration 

24 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)). 


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1 (4) NONCITIZEN.—The term ‘‘noncitizen’’ 

2 means an individual who is not a citizen or national 

3 of the United States. 

4 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

6 (6) SERVICE MEMBER.—The term ‘‘service 

7 member’’ means an individual who is serving as a 

8 member of— 

9 (A) a regular or reserve component of the 

10 Armed Forces on active duty; or 

11 (B) a reserve component of the Armed 

12 Forces in an active status. 

13 (7) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 

14 meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, 

15 United States Code. 

16 SEC. 3. RETURN OF ELIGIBLE VETERANS REMOVED FROM 

17 THE UNITED STATES; ADJUSTMENT OF STA18 TUS. 

19 (a) PROGRAM FOR ADMISSION AND ADJUSTMENT OF

20 STATUS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 

21 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a pro22 gram and an application procedure that allows— 

23 (1) eligible veterans outside the United States 

24 to be admitted to the United States as aliens law25 fully admitted for permanent residence (as defined 


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1 in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

2 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a))); and 

3 (2) eligible veterans in the United States to ad4 just status to that of aliens lawfully admitted for 

5 permanent residence. 

6 (b) VETERANS ORDERED REMOVED.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to noncitizen 

8 veterans who are the subjects of final orders of re9 moval, including noncitizen veterans who are outside 

10 the United States, not later than 180 days after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen12 eral shall— 

13 (A) reopen the removal proceedings of each 

14 such noncitizen veteran; and 

15 (B) make a determination with respect to 

16 whether each such noncitizen veteran is an eli17 gible veteran. 

18 (2) RESCISSION OF REMOVAL ORDER.—In the 

19 case of a determination under paragraph (1)(B) that 

20 a noncitizen veteran is an eligible veteran, the Attor21 ney General shall— 

22 (A) rescind the order of removal; 

23 (B) adjust the status of the eligible veteran 

24 to that of an alien lawfully admitted for perma25 nent residence; and 


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1 (C) terminate removal proceedings. 

2 (c) VETERANS IN REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to noncitizen 

4 veterans the removal proceedings of whom are pend5 ing as of the date of the enactment of this Act, not 

6 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

7 of this Act, the Attorney General shall make a deter8 mination with respect to whether each such noncit9 izen veteran is an eligible veteran. 

10 (2) TERMINATION OF PROCEEDINGS.—In the 

11 case of a determination under paragraph (1) that a 

12 noncitizen veteran is an eligible veteran, the Attor13 ney General shall— 

14 (A) adjust the status of the eligible veteran 

15 to that of an alien lawfully admitted for perma16 nent residence; and 

17 (B) terminate removal proceedings. 

18 (d) NO NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.—Nothing in this 

19 section or in any other provision of law may be construed 

20 to apply a numerical limitation to the number of veterans 

21 who may be eligible to receive a benefit under this section. 

22 (e) ELIGIBILITY.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

24 provision of law, including sections 212 and 237 of 

25 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182 


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1 and 1227), a noncitizen veteran shall be eligible to 

2 participate in the program established under sub3 section (a) or for adjustment of status under sub4 section (b) or (c), as applicable, if the Secretary or 

5 the Attorney General, as applicable, determines that 

6 the noncitizen veteran— 

7 (A) was not removed or ordered removed 

8 from the United States based on a conviction 

9 for— 

10 (i) a crime of violence; or 

11 (ii) a crime that endangers the na12 tional security of the United States for 

13 which the noncitizen veteran has served a 

14 term of imprisonment of at least 5 years; 

15 and 

16 (B) is not inadmissible to, or deportable 

17 from, the United States based on a conviction 

18 for a crime described in subparagraph (A). 

19 (2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the ap20 plication of subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph 

21 (1)— 

22 (A) for humanitarian purposes; 

23 (B) to ensure family unity; 

24 (C) based on exceptional service in the 

25 Armed Forces; or 


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1 (D) if a waiver is otherwise in the public 

2 interest. 

3 SEC. 4. PROTECTING VETERANS AND SERVICE MEMBERS 

4 FROM REMOVAL. 

5 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including 

6 section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

7 U.S.C. 1227), a noncitizen who is a veteran or service 

8 member may not be removed from the United States un9 less the noncitizen has been convicted for a crime of vio10 lence. 

11 SEC. 5. NATURALIZATION THROUGH SERVICE IN THE 

12 ARMED FORCES. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), a non14 citizen who has obtained the status of an alien lawfully 

15 admitted for permanent residence pursuant to section 3 

16 shall be eligible for naturalization through service in the 

17 Armed Forces under sections 328 and 329 of the Immi18 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1439 and 1440). 

19 (b) SPECIAL RULES.— 

20 (1) GOOD MORAL CHARACTER.—In determining 

21 whether a noncitizen described in subsection (a) is 

22 a person of good moral character, the Secretary 

23 shall disregard the one or more grounds on which 

24 the noncitizen was— 


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1 (A) removed or ordered removed from the 

2 United States; or 

3 (B) rendered inadmissible to, or deportable 

4 from, the United States. 

5 (2) PERIODS OF ABSENCE.—The Secretary 

6 shall disregard any period of absence from the 

7 United States of a noncitizen described in subsection 

8 (a) due to the noncitizen having been removed from, 

9 or being inadmissible to, the United States if the 

10 noncitizen satisfies the applicable requirement relat11 ing to continuous residence or physical presence. 

12 SEC. 6. ACCESS TO MILITARY BENEFITS. 

13 A noncitizen who has obtained the status of an alien 

14 lawfully admitted for permanent residence pursuant to 

15 section 3 shall be eligible for all military and veterans ben16 efits for which the noncitizen would have been eligible had 

17 the noncitizen not been ordered removed or removed from 

18 the United States, voluntarily departed the United States, 

19 or rendered inadmissible to, or deportable from, the 

20 United States, as applicable. 

21 SEC. 7. IMPLEMENTATION. 

22 (a) IDENTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall identify 

23 noncitizen service members and veterans at risk of re24 moval from the United States by— 


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1 (1) before initiating a removal proceeding 

2 against a noncitizen, asking the noncitizen whether 

3 he or she is serving, or has served, as a member 

4 of— 

5 (A) a regular or reserve component of the 

6 Armed Forces on active duty; or 

7 (B) a reserve component of the Armed 

8 Forces in an active status; 

9 (2) requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs 

10 Enforcement personnel to seek supervisory approval 

11 before initiating a removal proceeding against a 

12 service member or veteran; and 

13 (3) keeping records of any service member or 

14 veteran who has been— 

15 (A) the subject of a removal proceeding; 

16 (B) detained by the Director of U.S. Immi17 gration and Customs Enforcement; or 

18 (C) removed from the United States. 

19 (b) RECORD ANNOTATION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a noncitizen 

21 service member or veteran identified under sub22 section (a), the Secretary shall annotate all immigra23 tion and naturalization records of the Department of 

24 Homeland Security relating to the noncitizen— 


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1 (A) to reflect that the noncitizen is a serv2 ice member or veteran; and 

3 (B) to afford an opportunity to track the 

4 outcomes for the noncitizen. 

5 (2) CONTENTS OF ANNOTATION.—Each annota6 tion under paragraph (1) shall include— 

7 (A) the branch of military service in which 

8 the noncitizen is serving or has served; 

9 (B) whether the noncitizen is serving, or 

10 has served, during a period of military hos11 tilities described in section 329 of the Immigra12 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1440); 

13 (C) the immigration status of the noncit14 izen on the date of enlistment; 

15 (D) whether the noncitizen is serving hon16 orably or was separated under honorable condi17 tions; 

18 (E) the ground on which removal of the 

19 noncitizen from the United States was sought; 

20 and 

21 (F) in the case of a noncitizen the removal 

22 proceedings of whom were initiated on the basis 

23 of a criminal conviction, the crime for which the 

24 noncitizen was convicted. 


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1 SEC. 8. REGULATIONS. 

2 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact3 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate regula4 tions to implement this Act. 

Æ 


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