II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 656

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

to that of lawful permanent residence.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 18, 1999

Mr. REED 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 residence.

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 referred to as the ‘‘Liberian Refugee

5 Immigration Fairness Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.

7 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—

9 (A) ELIGIBILITY.—The Attorney General

10 shall adjust the status of an alien described in
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1 subsection (b) to that of an alien lawfully ad2 mitted for permanent residence, if the alien—

3 (i) applies for adjustment before April

4 1, 2001; and

5 (ii) is otherwise eligible to receive an

6 immigrant visa and is otherwise admissible

7 to the United States for permanent resi8 dence, except that, in determining such ad9 missibility, the grounds for inadmissibility

10 specified in paragraphs (4), (5), (6)(A),

11 and (7)(A) of section 212(a) of the Immi12 gration and Nationality Act shall not

13 apply.

14 (B) INELIGIBLE ALIENS.—An alien shall

15 not be eligible for adjustment of status under

16 this section if the Attorney General finds that

17 the alien has been convicted of—

18 (i) any aggravated felony (as defined

19 in section 101(a)(43) of the Immigration

20 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.

21 1101(a)(43)); or

22 (ii) two or more crimes involving

23 moral turpitude.

24 (2) RELATIONSHIP OF APPLICATION TO CER25 TAIN ORDERS.—An alien present in the United
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1 States who has been ordered excluded, deported, re2 moved, or ordered to depart voluntarily from the

3 United States under any provision of the Immigra4 tion and Nationality Act may, notwithstanding such

5 order, apply for adjustment of status under para6 graph (1), if otherwise qualified under that para7 graph. Such an alien may not be required, as a con8 dition on submitting or granting such application, to

9 file a separate motion to reopen, reconsider, or va10 cate such order. If the Attorney General grants the

11 application, the Attorney General shall cancel the

12 order. If the Attorney General makes a final decision

13 to deny the application, the order shall be effective

14 and enforceable to the same extent as if the applica15 tion had not been made.

16 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA17 TUS.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The benefits provided by

19 subsection (a) shall apply to any alien—

20 (A) who is—

21 (i) a national of Liberia; and

22 (ii) has been continuously present in

23 the United States from January 1, 1999,

24 through the date of application under sub25 section (a); 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), an alien shall not be considered to

8 have failed to maintain continuous physical presence

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

10 United States for any period or periods amounting

11 in the aggregate to not more than 180 days.

12 (c) STAY OF REMOVAL.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall

14 provide by regulation for an alien who is subject to

15 a final order of deportation or removal or exclusion

16 to seek a stay of such order based on the filing of

17 an application under subsection (a).

18 (2) DURING CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS.—Notwith19 standing any provision of the Immigration and Na20 tionality Act, the Attorney General shall not order

21 an alien to be removed from the United States if the

22 alien is in exclusion, deportation, or removal pro23 ceedings under any provision of such Act and has

24 applied for adjustment of status under subsection
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1 (a), except where the Attorney General has made a

2 final determination to deny the application.

3 (3) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney

4 General may authorize an alien who has applied for

5 adjustment of status under subsection (a) to engage

6 in employment in the United States during the

7 pendency of such application and may provide the

8 alien with an ‘‘employment authorized’’ endorsement

9 or other appropriate document signifying authoriza10 tion of employment, except that, if such application

11 is pending for a period exceeding 180 days and has

12 not been denied, the Attorney General shall author13 ize such employment.

14 (d) RECORD OF PERMANENT RESIDENCE.—Upon

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

16 under subsection (a), the Attorney General shall establish

17 a record of the alien’s admission for permanent record as

18 of the date of the alien’s arrival in the United States.

19 (e) AVAILABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—

20 The Attorney General shall provide to applicants for ad21 justment of status under subsection (a) the same right to,

22 and procedures for, administrative review as are provided

23 to—
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1 (1) applicants for adjustment of status under

2 section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act;

3 or

4 (2) aliens subject to removal proceedings under

5 section 240 of such Act.

6 (f) LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A deter7 mination by the Attorney General as to whether the status

8 of any alien should be adjusted under this section is final

9 and shall not be subject to review by any court.

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

11 Whenever an alien is granted the status of having been

12 lawfully admitted for permanent residence pursuant to

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

14 to reduce the number of immigrant visas authorized to be

15 issued under any provision of the Immigration and Na16 tionality Act.

17 (h) APPLICATION OF IMMIGRATION AND NATION18 ALITY ACT PROVISIONS.—Except as otherwise specifically

19 provided in this Act, the definitions contained in the Immi20 gration and Nationality Act shall apply in the administra21 tion of this section. Nothing contained in the Act shall

22 be held to repeal, amend, alter, modify, effect, or restrict

23 the powers, duties, function, or authority of the Attorney

24 General in the administration and enforcement of such

25 Act or any other law relating to immigration, nationality,
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1 or naturalization. The fact that an alien may be eligible

2 to be granted the status of having been lawfully admitted

3 for permanent residence under this section shall not pre4 clude the alien from seeking such status under any other

5 provision of law for which the alien may be eligible.

Æ