II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2275 

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

to that of lawful permanent residents and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 3, 2018 

Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, 

and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

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 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 ‘‘Liberian Refugee Im5 migration Fairness Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS. 

7 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (A) ELIGIBILITY.—Except as provided in 

2 subparagraph (B), the Secretary of Homeland 

3 Security shall adjust the status of an alien de4 scribed in subsection (b) to that of an alien law5 fully admitted for permanent residence if the 

6 alien— 

7 (i) applies for adjustment not later 

8 than 1 year after the date of the enact9 ment of this Act; and 

10 (ii) is otherwise eligible to receive an 

11 immigrant visa and admissible to the 

12 United States for permanent residence, ex13 cept that, in determining such admissi14 bility, the grounds for inadmissibility speci15 fied in paragraphs (4), (5), (6)(A), and 

16 (7)(A) of section 212(a) of the Immigra17 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

18 1182(a)) shall not apply. 

19 (B) INELIGIBLE ALIENS.—An alien shall 

20 not be eligible for adjustment of status under 

21 this section if the Secretary of Homeland Secu22 rity determines that the alien— 

23 (i) has been convicted of any aggra24 vated felony (as defined in section 


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1 101(a)(43) of the Immigration and Nation2 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43))); 

3 (ii) has been convicted of 2 or more 

4 crimes involving moral turpitude; or 

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

6 otherwise participated in the persecution of 

7 any person on account of race, religion, na8 tionality, membership in a particular social 

9 group, or political opinion. 

10 (2) RELATIONSHIP OF APPLICATION TO CER11 TAIN ORDERS.— 

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

13 United States who has been subject to an order 

14 of exclusion, deportation, or removal, or has 

15 been ordered to depart voluntarily from the 

16 United States under any provision of the Immi17 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

18 seq.) may, notwithstanding such order, apply 

19 for adjustment of status under paragraph (1) if 

20 otherwise qualified under such paragraph. 

21 (B) SEPARATE MOTION NOT REQUIRED.— 

22 An alien described in subparagraph (A) may 

23 not be required, as a condition of submitting or 

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1 tion to reopen, reconsider, or vacate the order 

2 described in subparagraph (A). 

3 (C) EFFECT OF DECISION BY SEC4 RETARY.—If the Secretary of Homeland Secu5 rity adjusts the status of an alien pursuant to 

6 an application under paragraph (1), the Sec7 retary shall cancel the order described in sub8 paragraph (A). If the Secretary of Homeland 

9 Security makes a final decision to deny such 

10 adjustment of status, the order shall be effec11 tive and enforceable to the same extent as if the 

12 application had not been made. 

13 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA14 TUS.— 

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

16 subsection (a) shall apply to any alien— 

17 (A) who is— 

18 (i) a national of Liberia; and 

19 (ii) has been continuously present in 

20 the United States between November 20, 

21 2014, and the date on which the alien sub22 mits an application under subsection (a); 

23 or 


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

2 son or daughter of an alien described in sub3 paragraph (A). 

4 (2) DETERMINATION OF CONTINUOUS PHYS5 ICAL PRESENCE.—For purposes of establishing the 

6 period of continuous physical presence referred to in 

7 paragraph (1)(A)(ii), an alien shall not be consid8 ered to have failed to maintain continuous physical 

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

10 the United States for any period or periods amount11 ing in the aggregate to not more than 180 days. 

12 (c) STAY OF REMOVAL.— 

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

14 Security shall promulgate regulations establishing 

15 procedures through which an alien, who is subject to 

16 a final order of deportation, removal, or exclusion, 

17 may seek a stay of such order based upon the filing 

18 of an application under subsection (a). 

19 (2) DURING CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS.—Notwith20 standing any provision in the Immigration and Na21 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), the Secretary 

22 of Homeland Security may not order an alien to be 

23 removed from the United States if the alien is in ex24 clusion, deportation, or removal proceedings under 

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1 justment of status under subsection (a) unless the 

2 Secretary has made a final determination to deny 

3 the application. 

4 (3) WORK AUTHORIZATION.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

6 Homeland Security may— 

7 (i) authorize an alien who has applied 

8 for adjustment of status under subsection 

9 (a) to engage in employment in the United 

10 States while a determination regarding 

11 such application is pending; and 

12 (ii) provide the alien with an ‘‘employ13 ment authorized’’ endorsement or other ap14 propriate document signifying authoriza15 tion of employment. 

16 (B) PENDING APPLICATIONS.—If an appli17 cation for adjustment of status under sub18 section (a) is pending for a period exceeding 

19 180 days and has not been denied, the Sec20 retary shall authorize such employment. 

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

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

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

24 shall establish a record of the alien’s admission for permaVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:31 Jan 04, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2275.IS S2275

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1 nent residence as of the date of the alien’s arrival in the 

2 United States. 

3 (e) AVAILABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.— 

4 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide appli5 cants for adjustment of status under subsection (a) with 

6 the same right to, and procedures for, administrative re7 view as are provided to— 

8 (1) applicants for adjustment of status under 

9 section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

10 (8 U.S.C. 1255); and 

11 (2) aliens subject to removal proceedings under 

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

13 (f) LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A deter14 mination by the Secretary of Homeland Security regarding 

15 the adjustment of status of any alien under this section 

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

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

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.) to offset the adjustment of status 

22 of an alien who has been lawfully admitted for permanent 

23 residence pursuant to this section. 

24 (h) APPLICATION OF IMMIGRATION AND NATION25 ALITY ACT PROVISIONS.— 


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1 (1) DEFINITIONS.—Except as otherwise specifi2 cally provided in this Act, the definitions contained 

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

4 1101 et seq.) shall apply in this section. 

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

6 may be construed to repeal, amend, alter, modify, ef7 fect, or restrict the powers, duties, function, or au8 thority of the Secretary of Homeland Security in the 

9 administration and enforcement of the Immigration 

10 and Nationality Act or any other law relating to im11 migration, nationality, or naturalization. 

12 (3) EFFECT OF ELIGIBILITY FOR ADJUSTMENT

13 OF STATUS.—An alien’s eligibility to be lawfully ad14 mitted for permanent residence under this section 

15 shall not preclude the alien from seeking any status 

16 under any other provision of law for which the alien 

17 may otherwise be eligible. 

Æ 


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