II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2852

To provide for the adjustment of status of certain Syrian nationals.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 12, 2000

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself and Mr. TORRICELLI) 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 Syrian

nationals.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 Congress finds as follows:

5 (1) President Bush and President Clinton suc6 cessively conducted successful negotiations with the

7 Government of Syria to bring about the release of

8 members of the Syrian Jewish population and their

9 immigration to the United States.

10 (2) In order to accommodate the Syrian Gov11 ernment, the United States was required to admit
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1 these aliens by first granting them temporary non2 immigrant visas and subsequently granting them

3 asylum, rather than admitting them as refugees (as

4 is ordinarily done when the United States grants

5 refuge to members of a persecuted alien minority

6 group).

7 (3) The asylee status of these aliens has re8 sulted in a long and unnecessary delay in their ad9 justment to lawful permanent resident status that

10 would not have been encountered had they been ad11 mitted as refugees.

12 (4) This delay has impaired these aliens’ ability

13 to work in their chosen professions, travel freely,

14 and apply for naturalization.

15 (5) The Attorney General should act without

16 further delay to grant lawful permanent resident

17 status to these aliens in accordance with section 2.

18 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF CERTAIN SYRIAN NA19 TIONALS.

20 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—Subject to subsection

21 (c), the Attorney General shall adjust the status of an

22 alien described in subsection (b) to that of an alien law23 fully admitted for permanent residence, if the alien—

24 (1) applies for adjustment of status under this

25 section not later than one year after the date of the
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1 enactment of this Act or applied for adjustment of

2 status under the Immigration and Nationality Act

3 before the date of the enactment of this Act;

4 (2) has been physically present in the United

5 States for at least one year after being granted asy6 lum;

7 (3) is not firmly resettled in any foreign coun8 try; and

9 (4) is admissible as an immigrant under the

10 Immigration and Nationality Act at the time of ex11 amination for adjustment of such alien.

12 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA13 TUS.—The benefits provided by subsection (a) shall apply

14 to any alien—

15 (1) who—

16 (A) is a Jewish national of Syria;

17 (B) arrived in the United States after De18 cember 31, 1991, after being permitted by the

19 Syrian Government to depart from Syria; and

20 (C) is physically present in the United

21 States at the time of filing the application de22 scribed in subsection (a)(1); or

23 (2) who is the spouse, child, or unmarried son

24 or daughter of an alien described in paragraph (1).
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1 (c) NUMERICAL LIMITATION.—The total number of

2 aliens whose status may be adjusted under this section

3 may not exceed 2,000.

4 (d) RECORD OF PERMANENT RESIDENCE.—Upon

5 approval of an application for adjustment of status under

6 this section, the Attorney General shall establish a record

7 of the alien’s admission for lawful permanent residence as

8 of the date one year before the date of the approval of

9 the application.

10 (e) AVAILABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—

11 The Attorney General shall provide to applicants for ad12 justment of status under subsection (a) the same right to,

13 and procedures for, administrative review as are provided

14 to applicants for adjustment of status under section

15 209(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.

16 1159(b)).

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

18 Whenever an alien is granted the status of having been

19 lawfully admitted for permanent residence pursuant to

20 this section, the Secretary of State shall not be required

21 to reduce the number of immigrant visas authorized to be

22 issued under any provision of the Immigration and Na23 tionality Act.

24 (g) APPLICATION OF IMMIGRATION AND NATION25 ALITY ACT PROVISIONS.—The definitions contained in the
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1 Immigration and Nationality Act shall apply in the admin2 istration of this section. The fact that an alien may be

3 eligible to be granted the status of having been lawfully

4 admitted for permanent residence under this section shall

5 not preclude the alien from seeking such status under any

6 other provision of law for which the alien may be eligible.

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