I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1405 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a veterans visa 

program to permit veterans who have been removed from the United 

States to return as immigrants, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2017 

Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Mr. GUTIE ́RREZ, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. JOHNSON of 

Georgia, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RYAN of 

Ohio, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. VELA, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of 

Illinois, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. 

GALLEGO, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, and Mr. BLUMENAUER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish 

a veterans visa program to permit veterans who have 

been removed from the United States to return as immigrants, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as ‘‘The Veterans Visa and 

3 Protection Act of 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) The term ‘‘crime of violence’’ means an of7 fense defined in section 16 of title 18, United States 

8 Code, excluding a purely political offense, for which 

9 the noncitizen has served a term of imprisonment of 

10 at least 5 years. 

11 (2) The term ‘‘deported veteran’’ means a vet12 eran who is a noncitizen and who— 

13 (A) was removed from the United States; 

14 or 

15 (B) is abroad and is inadmissible under 

16 section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nation17 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)). 

18 (3) The term ‘‘noncitizen’’ means an individual 

19 who is not a national of the United States (as de20 fined in section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and 

21 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22))). 

22 (4) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

23 of Homeland Security. 

24 (5) The term ‘‘service member’’ means an indi25 vidual who is serving as a member of a regular or 

26 reserve component of the Armed Forces of the 


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1 United States on active duty or as a member of a 

2 reserve component of the Armed Forces in an active 

3 status. 

4 (6) The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the meaning given 

5 such term under section 101(2) of title 38, United 

6 States Code. 

7 SEC. 3. RETURN OF NONCITIZEN VETERANS REMOVED 

8 FROM THE UNITED STATES; STATUS FOR 

9 NONCITIZEN VETERANS IN THE UNITED 

10 STATES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

12 (1) DUTIES OF SECRETARY.—Not later than 

13 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

14 the Secretary shall— 

15 (A) establish a program and application 

16 procedure to permit— 

17 (i) deported veterans who meet the re18 quirements of subsection (b) to enter the 

19 United States as a noncitizen lawfully ad20 mitted for permanent residence; and 

21 (ii) noncitizen veterans in the United 

22 States who meet the requirements of sub23 section (b) to adjust status to that of a 

24 noncitizen lawfully admitted for permanent 

25 residence; and 


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1 (B) cancel the removal of noncitizen vet2 erans ordered removed who meet the require3 ments of subsection (b) and allow them to ad4 just status to that of a noncitizen lawfully ad5 mitted for permanent residence. 

6 (2) NO NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.—Nothing in 

7 this section or in any other law shall be construed 

8 to apply a numerical limitation on the number of 

9 veterans who may be eligible to receive benefits 

10 under paragraph (1). 

11 (b) ELIGIBILITY.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

13 provision of law, including sections 212 and 237 of 

14 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.1182; 

15 1227), a veteran shall be eligible for the program es16 tablished under subsection (a)(1)(A), or cancellation 

17 of removal under subsection (a)(1)(B), if the Sec18 retary determines that the veteran— 

19 (A) was not ordered removed, or removed, 

20 from the United States due to a criminal con21 viction for— 

22 (i) a crime of violence; or 

23 (ii) a crime that endangers the na24 tional security of the United States for 


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1 which the noncitizen has served a term of 

2 imprisonment of at least 5 years; and 

3 (B) is not inadmissible to, or deportable 

4 from, the United States due to such a convic5 tion. 

6 (2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive para7 graph (1) for humanitarian purposes, to assure fam8 ily unity, due to exceptional service in the United 

9 States Armed Forces, or if such waiver otherwise is 

10 in the public interest. 

11 SEC. 4. PROTECTING VETERANS AND SERVICE MEMBERS 

12 FROM REMOVAL. 

13 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including 

14 section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

15 U.S.C. 1227), a noncitizen who is a veteran or service 

16 member shall not be removed from the United States un17 less the noncitizen has a criminal conviction for a crime 

18 of violence. 

19 SEC. 5. NATURALIZATION THROUGH SERVICE IN THE 

20 ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

21 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a noncit22 izen who has obtained the status of a noncitizen lawfully 

23 admitted for permanent residence pursuant to section 2 

24 shall be eligible for naturalization through service in the 

25 Armed Forces of the United States under sections 328 


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1 and 329 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

2 1439; 1440), except that— 

3 (1) the ground or grounds on which the noncit4 izen was ordered removed, or removed, from the 

5 United States, or was rendered inadmissible to, or 

6 deportable from, the United States, shall be dis7 regarded when determining whether the noncitizen is 

8 a person of good moral character; and 

9 (2) any period of absence from the United 

10 States due to the noncitizen having been removed, or 

11 being inadmissible, shall be disregarded when deter12 mining if the noncitizen satisfies any requirement re13 lating to continuous residence or physical presence. 

14 SEC. 6. ACCESS TO MILITARY BENEFITS. 

15 A noncitizen who has obtained the status of a noncit16 izen lawfully admitted for permanent residence pursuant 

17 to section 2 shall be eligible for all military and veterans 

18 benefits for which the noncitizen would have been eligible 

19 if the noncitizen had never been ordered removed, been 

20 removed, or voluntarily departed, from the United States. 

21 SEC. 7. IMPLEMENTATION. 

22 (a) IDENTIFICATION.—The Secretary of Homeland 

23 Security shall identify cases involving service members and 

24 veterans at risk of removal from the United States by— 


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1 (1) inquiring of every noncitizen processed prior 

2 to initiating removal proceedings whether the noncit3 izen is serving, or has served, as a member of a reg4 ular or reserve component of the Armed Forces of 

5 the United States on active duty or as a member of 

6 a reserve component of the Armed Forces in an ac7 tive status; 

8 (2) requiring personnel to seek supervisory ap9 proval prior to initiating removal proceedings 

10 against a service member or veteran; and 

11 (3) keeping records of service members and vet12 erans who have had removal proceedings against 

13 them initiated, been detained, or been removed. 

14 (b) RECORD ANNOTATION.—When the Secretary has 

15 identified a case under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

16 annotate all immigration and naturalization records of the 

17 Department of Homeland Security relating to the noncit18 izen involved so as to reflect that identification and afford 

19 an opportunity to track the outcomes for the noncitizen. 

20 Such annotation shall include— 

21 (1) the individual’s branch of military service; 

22 (2) whether or not the individual is serving, or 

23 has served, during a period of military hostilities de24 scribed in section 329 of the Immigration and Na25 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1440); 


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1 (3) the individual’s immigration status at the 

2 time of enlistment; 

3 (4) whether the individual is serving honorably 

4 or was separated under honorable conditions; and 

5 (5) the basis for which removal was sought; 

6 and, if the basis for removal was a criminal convic7 tion, the crime or crimes for which conviction was 

8 obtained. 

9 SEC. 8. REGULATIONS. 

10 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact11 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate regula12 tions to implement this Act. 

Æ 


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