I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1293 

To provide for the adjustment of status of certain nationals of Liberia 

to that of lawful permanent residents. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 31, 2011 

Mr. ELLISON (for himself, Mr. CICILLINE, and Mr. LANGEVIN) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for the adjustment of status of certain nationals 

of Liberia to that of lawful permanent residents. 

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 ‘‘Liberian Refugee Im5 migration Fairness Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS. 

7 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

9 (A) ELIGIBILITY.—Except as provided 

10 under subparagraph (B), the Secretary of 


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1 Homeland Security shall adjust the status of an 

2 alien described in subsection (b) to that of an 

3 alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence 

4 if the alien— 

5 (i) applies for adjustment not later 

6 than 1 year after the date of the enact7 ment of this Act; and 

8 (ii) is otherwise eligible to receive an 

9 immigrant visa and admissible to the 

10 United States for permanent residence, ex11 cept that, in determining such admissi12 bility, the grounds for inadmissibility speci13 fied in paragraphs (4), (5), (6)(A), and 

14 (7)(A) of section 212(a) of the Immigra15 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

16 1182(a)) shall not apply. 

17 (B) INELIGIBLE ALIENS.—An alien shall 

18 not be eligible for adjustment of status under 

19 this section if the Secretary of Homeland Secu20 rity determines that the alien— 

21 (i) has been convicted of any aggra22 vated felony (as defined in section 

23 101(a)(43) of the Immigration and Nation24 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)); 


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1 (ii) has been convicted of 2 or more 

2 crimes involving moral turpitude; or 

3 (iii) has ordered, incited, assisted, or 

4 otherwise participated in the persecution of 

5 any person on account of race, religion, na6 tionality, membership in a particular social 

7 group, or political opinion. 

8 (2) RELATIONSHIP OF APPLICATION TO CER9 TAIN ORDERS.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—An alien present in the 

11 United States who has been subject to an order 

12 of exclusion, deportation, or removal, or has 

13 been ordered to depart voluntarily from the 

14 United States under any provision of the Immi15 gration and Nationality Act may, notwith16 standing such order, apply for adjustment of 

17 status under paragraph (1) if otherwise quali18 fied under such paragraph. 

19 (B) SEPARATE MOTION NOT REQUIRED.— 

20 An alien described in subparagraph (A) may 

21 not be required, as a condition of submitting or 

22 granting such application, to file a separate mo23 tion to reopen, reconsider, or vacate the order 

24 described in subparagraph (A). 


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1 (C) EFFECT OF DECISION BY SEC2 RETARY.—If the Secretary of Homeland Secu3 rity adjusts the status of an alien pursuant to 

4 an application under paragraph (1), the Sec5 retary shall cancel the order described in sub6 paragraph (A). If the Secretary of Homeland 

7 Security makes a final decision to deny such 

8 adjustment of status, the order shall be effec9 tive and enforceable to the same extent as if the 

10 application had not been made. 

11 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA12 TUS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The benefits provided under 

14 subsection (a) shall apply to any alien— 

15 (A) who is— 

16 (i) a national of Liberia; and 

17 (ii) has been continuously present in 

18 the United States between January 1, 

19 2011 and the date on which the alien sub20 mits an application under subsection (a); 

21 or 

22 (B) who is the spouse, child, or unmarried 

23 son or daughter of an alien described in sub24 paragraph (A). 


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1 (2) DETERMINATION OF CONTINUOUS PHYS2 ICAL PRESENCE.—For purposes of establishing the 

3 period of continuous physical presence referred to in 

4 paragraph (1)(A)(ii), an alien shall not be consid5 ered to have failed to maintain continuous physical 

6 presence by reasons of an absence, or absences, from 

7 the United States for any period or periods amount8 ing in the aggregate to not more than 180 days. 

9 (c) STAY OF REMOVAL.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

11 Security shall establish procedures, by regulation, 

12 through which an alien, who is subject to a final 

13 order of deportation, removal, or exclusion, may seek 

14 a stay of such order based upon the filing of an ap15 plication under subsection (a). 

16 (2) DURING CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS.—Notwith17 standing any provision in the Immigration and Na18 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), the Secretary 

19 of Homeland Security may not order an alien to be 

20 removed from the United States if the alien is in ex21 clusion, deportation, or removal proceedings under 

22 any provision of such Act and has applied for ad23 justment of status under subsection (a) unless the 

24 Secretary of Homeland Security has made a final 

25 determination to deny the application. 


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1 (3) WORK AUTHORIZATION.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

3 Homeland Security may— 

4 (i) authorize an alien who has applied 

5 for adjustment of status under subsection 

6 (a) to engage in employment in the United 

7 States while a determination regarding 

8 such application is pending; and 

9 (ii) provide the alien with an ‘‘employ10 ment authorized’’ endorsement or other ap11 propriate document signifying authoriza12 tion of employment. 

13 (B) PENDING APPLICATIONS.—If an appli14 cation for adjustment of status under sub15 section (a) is pending for a period exceeding 

16 180 days and has not been denied, the Sec17 retary of Homeland Security shall authorize 

18 such employment. 

19 (d) RECORD OF PERMANENT RESIDENCE.—Upon the 

20 approval of an alien’s application for adjustment of status 

21 under subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security 

22 shall establish a record of the alien’s admission for perma23 nent record as of the date of the alien’s arrival in the 

24 United States. 


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1 (e) AVAILABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.— 

2 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide to ap3 plicants for adjustment of status under subsection (a) the 

4 same right to, and procedures for, administrative review 

5 as are provided to— 

6 (1) applicants for adjustment of status under 

7 section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

8 (8 U.S.C. 1255); and 

9 (2) aliens subject to removal proceedings under 

10 section 240 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a). 

11 (f) LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A deter12 mination by the Secretary of Homeland Security regarding 

13 the adjustment of status of any alien under this section 

14 is final and shall not be subject to review by any court. 

15 (g) NO OFFSET IN NUMBER OF VISAS AVAILABLE.— 

16 If an alien is granted the status of having been lawfully 

17 admitted for permanent residence pursuant to this section, 

18 the Secretary of State shall not be required to reduce the 

19 number of immigrant visas authorized to be issued under 

20 any provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

21 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 

22 (h) APPLICATION OF IMMIGRATION AND NATION23 ALITY ACT PROVISIONS.— 

24 (1) DEFINITIONS.—Except as otherwise specifi25 cally provided in this Act, the definitions contained 


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1 in the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

2 1101 et seq.) shall apply in this section. 

3 (2) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this Act 

4 may be construed to repeal, amend, alter, modify, ef5 fect, or restrict the powers, duties, function, or au6 thority of the Secretary of Homeland Security in the 

7 administration and enforcement of the Immigration 

8 and Nationality Act or any other law relating to im9 migration, nationality, or naturalization. 

10 (3) EFFECT OF ELIGIBILITY FOR ADJUSTMENT

11 OF STATUS.—Eligibility to be granted the status of 

12 having been lawfully admitted for permanent resi13 dence under this section shall not preclude an alien 

14 from seeking any status under any other provision 

15 of law for which the alien may otherwise be eligible. 

Æ 


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