I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4750 

To terminate the granting of temporary protected status to aliens, to provide 

for adjustment of status for former temporary protected status holders, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 10, 2018 

Mr. COFFMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To terminate the granting of temporary protected status 

to aliens, to provide for adjustment of status for former 

temporary protected status holders, 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 ‘‘TPS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TERMINATION OF GRANTS OF TEMPORARY PRO2 TECTED STATUS. 

3 Section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

4 (8 U.S.C. 1254a) is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(j) TERMINATION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date of 

8 the enactment of this subsection, no alien shall be el9 igible for a new grant of temporary protected status 

10 under this section, except for an alien with an appli11 cation under subsection (a) pending on such date 

12 pursuant to a designation of a foreign state made 

13 under subsection (b) before such date. 

14 ‘‘(2) EXTENSION OF PERIOD.—Notwithstanding 

15 any other provision of this section, in the case of an 

16 alien having temporary protected status on the date 

17 of the enactment of this subsection, or obtaining a 

18 grant of temporary protected status pursuant to an 

19 application described in paragraph (1), the period in 

20 which the alien is granted temporary protected sta21 tus under this section is deemed to be the 3-year pe22 riod beginning on the date of the enactment of this 

23 subsection, and the documentation described in sub24 section (d) shall be valid during such period. The 

25 provisions of subsections (c) through (h) shall con26 tinue to apply during such period.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS FOR FORMER TPS 

2 HOLDERS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu4 rity shall adjust the status of an alien to that of an alien 

5 lawfully admitted for permanent residence if the alien— 

6 (1) had temporary protected status on the day 

7 before the end of the 3-year period beginning on the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act; 

9 (2) makes application for such adjustment dur10 ing period beginning 6 months before the end of the 

11 3-year period beginning on the date of the enact12 ment of this Act; 

13 (3) is admissible as an immigrant under the 

14 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

15 seq.) at the time of examination for adjustment of 

16 such alien, except that in the determination of the 

17 alien’s admissibility for purposes of this section, the 

18 Secretary shall apply the terms of section 

19 244(c)(2)(A) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(c)(2)(A)); 

20 and 

21 (4) otherwise satisfies the requirements of this 

22 section. 

23 (b) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary shall by rule es24 tablish a procedure allowing eligible individuals to apply 

25 for the relief available under this section without requiring 

26 placement in removal proceedings and without requiring 


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1 the immediate availability of an immigrant visa pursuant 

2 to the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

3 (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). Such procedure shall provide for 

4 the ability of a minor to apply for such relief, including 

5 through a legal guardian or counsel. Except as provided 

6 in subsection (g), aliens provided status under this section 

7 shall not be subject to, or counted against, any numerical 

8 limitation under sections 201 through 203 of the Immi9 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151–1153). 

10 (c) APPLICATION FEE.—The Secretary may require 

11 an alien applying for permanent resident status under this 

12 section to pay a reasonable fee that is commensurate with 

13 the cost of processing the application. 

14 (d) SUBMISSION OF BIOMETRIC AND BIOGRAPHIC

15 DATA.—The Secretary may not grant an alien permanent 

16 resident status under this section unless the alien submits 

17 biometric and biographic data, in accordance with proce18 dures established by the Secretary. The Secretary shall 

19 provide an alternative procedure for aliens who are unable 

20 to provide such biometric or biographic data because of 

21 a physical impairment. 

22 (e) BACKGROUND CHECKS.— 

23 (1) REQUIREMENT FOR BACKGROUND

24 CHECKS.—The Secretary shall utilize biometric, bioVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Jan 11, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4750.IH H4750

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1 graphic, and other data that the Secretary deter2 mines appropriate— 

3 (A) to conduct security and law enforce4 ment background checks of an alien seeking 

5 permanent resident status under this section; 

6 and 

7 (B) to determine whether there is any 

8 criminal, national security, or other factor that 

9 would render the alien ineligible for such status. 

10 (2) COMPLETION OF BACKGROUND CHECKS.— 

11 The security and law enforcement background 

12 checks of an alien required under paragraph (1) 

13 shall be completed, to the satisfaction of the Sec14 retary, before the date on which the Secretary 

15 grants such alien permanent resident status under 

16 this section. 

17 (f) TREATMENT OF ALIENS PENDING GRANT OF

18 PERMANENT RESIDENCE.— 

19 (1) LIMITATION ON REMOVAL.—The Secretary 

20 or the Attorney General may not remove an alien 

21 who has pending an application for relief under this 

22 section and appears prima facie eligible for such re23 lief. 

24 (2) PROVISIONAL PROTECTED STATUS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an alien 

2 described in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

3 grant provisional protected presence to the alien 

4 and shall provide the alien with employment au5 thorization effective until the date on which— 

6 (i) the alien’s application for relief 

7 under this section is finally denied; or 

8 (ii) the Secretary adjusts the status of 

9 the alien to that of an alien lawfully admit10 ted for permanent residence. 

11 (B) STATUS DURING PERIOD OF PROVI12 SIONAL PROTECTED PRESENCE.—An alien 

13 granted provisional protected presence is not 

14 considered to be unlawfully present in the 

15 United States during the period beginning on 

16 the date such status is granted and ending on 

17 a date described in subparagraph (A), except 

18 that the Secretary may rescind an alien’s provi19 sional protected presence and employment au20 thorization under this paragraph if the Sec21 retary determines that the alien— 

22 (i) poses a threat to national security 

23 or a threat to public safety; or 


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1 (ii) has traveled outside of the United 

2 States without authorization from the Sec3 retary. 

4 (g) TEMPORARY REDUCTION IN IMMIGRANT VISAS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning in fiscal year 

6 2022, subject to paragraph (2), the total number of 

7 immigrant visas available for a fiscal year under 

8 subsections (c) through (e) of section 201 of the Im9 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151), as 

10 modified by subsections (d) and (e) of section 203 

11 of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central Amer12 ican Relief Act (8 U.S.C. 1151 note; 8 U.S.C. 1153 

13 note), shall be reduced by 50,000 from the number 

14 of visas otherwise available under such subsections 

15 for such fiscal year. In carrying out the preceding 

16 sentence, each category of family-sponsored, employ17 ment-based, and diversity immigrant visas described 

18 in section 203 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1153) shall be 

19 reduced in the same proportion as the number of 

20 visas otherwise allocable to the category bears to the 

21 total number of immigrant visas that otherwise 

22 would be available for the fiscal year absent the en23 actment of this subsection. 


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1 (2) LIMITATION.—In no case shall the reduc2 tion under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year exceed the 

3 amount by which— 

4 (A) the total number of individuals who 

5 have adjusted their status to that of aliens law6 fully admitted for permanent residence under 

7 subsection (a) as of the end of the previous fis8 cal year; exceeds 

9 (B) the total of the reductions in available 

10 visas under this subsection for all previous fis11 cal years. 

12 (h) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘Sec13 retary’’ means the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

Æ 


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