I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8585 

To amend section 240A of the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide 

for cancellation of removal and temporary resident status for certain 

parents of citizens of the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 13, 2020 

Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend section 240A of the Immigration and Nationality 

Act to provide for cancellation of removal and temporary 

resident status for certain parents of citizens of the 

United States, 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 ‘‘American Right to 

5 Family Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL AND TEMPORARY 

2 RESIDENT STATUS FOR CERTAIN LONG-TERM 

3 RESIDENT PARENTS. 

4 Section 240A of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

5 (8 U.S.C. 1229b) is amended by adding at the end the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(f) CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL AND TEMPORARY

8 RESIDENT STATUS FOR CERTAIN LONG-TERM RESIDENT

9 PARENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

11 provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

12 or the Attorney General shall cancel the removal of, 

13 and adjust to the status of an alien having lawful 

14 temporary residence, an alien who is inadmissible or 

15 deportable from the United States if— 

16 ‘‘(A) the alien— 

17 ‘‘(i) has been physically present in the 

18 United States for a continuous period of 

19 not less than 10 years immediately pre20 ceding the date of the alien’s application; 

21 ‘‘(ii) subject to paragraph (7), was re22 moved, deported, or permitted to depart 

23 voluntarily from the United States after 

24 having been physically present in the 

25 United States for a continuous period of 

26 not less than 10 years; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) has deferred action pursuant to 

2 the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals 

3 policy announced by the Secretary of 

4 Homeland Security on June 15, 2012; or 

5 ‘‘(iv) would have been eligible for a 

6 grant of deferred action pursuant to such 

7 policy, if the memorandum announcing the 

8 policy were fully in effect since the date 

9 issued; 

10 ‘‘(B) the alien is the parent of a son or 

11 daughter who— 

12 ‘‘(i) is a citizen or national of the 

13 United States; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) initially entered the United 

15 States while under 16 years of age and has 

16 been continuously physically present in the 

17 United States since such entry; and 

18 ‘‘(C) the alien— 

19 ‘‘(i) is not inadmissible under para20 graph (1), (6)(E), (6)(G), (8), or (10) of 

21 section 212(a); 

22 ‘‘(ii) has not ordered, incited, assisted, 

23 or otherwise participated in the persecution 

24 of any person on account of race, religion, 


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1 nationality, membership in a particular so2 cial group, or political opinion; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) is not barred from adjustment of 

4 status under this subsection based on the 

5 criminal and national security grounds de6 scribed under paragraph (3), subject to the 

7 provisions of such paragraph. 

8 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF CONTINUOUS PRES9 ENCE.— 

10 ‘‘(A) EFFECT OF NOTICE TO APPEAR.— 

11 Any period of continuous physical presence in 

12 the United States of an alien who applies for 

13 temporary resident status under this subsection 

14 shall not terminate when the alien is served a 

15 notice to appear under section 239(a). 

16 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN BREAKS IN

17 PRESENCE OR RESIDENCE.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro19 vided in clauses (ii) and (iii), an alien shall 

20 be considered to have failed to maintain 

21 continuous physical presence in the United 

22 States under this subsection if the alien 

23 has departed from the United States for 

24 any period exceeding 90 days or for any 


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1 periods, in the aggregate, exceeding 180 

2 days. 

3 ‘‘(ii) EXTENSIONS FOR EXTENUATING

4 CIRCUMSTANCES.—The Secretary may ex5 tend the time period described in clause (i) 

6 for an alien who demonstrates that the 

7 failure to timely return to the United 

8 States was due to extenuating cir9 cumstances beyond the alien’s control, in10 cluding the serious illness of the alien, or 

11 death or serious illness of a parent, grand12 parent, sibling, or child of the alien. 

13 ‘‘(iii) TRAVEL AUTHORIZED BY THE

14 SECRETARY.—Any period of travel outside 

15 of the United States by an alien that was 

16 authorized by the Secretary of Homeland 

17 Security may not be counted toward any 

18 period of departure from the United States 

19 under clause (i). 

20 ‘‘(3) CRIMINAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY

21 BARS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) GROUNDS OF INELIGIBILITY.—Ex23 cept as provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C), 

24 an alien is ineligible for cancellation of removal 


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1 and adjustment of status under this subsection 

2 if any of the following apply: 

3 ‘‘(i) The alien is inadmissible under 

4 paragraph (2) or (3) of section 212(a) of 

5 the Immigration and Nationality Act. 

6 ‘‘(ii) Excluding any offense under 

7 State law for which an essential element is 

8 the alien’s immigration status, and any 

9 minor traffic offense, the alien has been 

10 convicted of— 

11 ‘‘(I) any felony offense; 

12 ‘‘(II) three or more misdemeanor 

13 offenses (excluding simple possession 

14 of cannabis or cannabis-related para15 phernalia, any offense involving can16 nabis or cannabis-related para17 phernalia which is no longer prosecut18 able in the State in which the convic19 tion was entered, and any offense in20 volving civil disobedience without vio21 lence) not occurring on the same date, 

22 and not arising out of the same act, 

23 omission, or scheme of misconduct; or 

24 ‘‘(III) a misdemeanor offense of 

25 domestic violence, unless the alien 


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1 demonstrates that such crime is re2 lated to the alien having been— 

3 ‘‘(aa) a victim of domestic 

4 violence, sexual assault, stalking, 

5 child abuse or neglect, abuse or 

6 neglect in later life, or human 

7 trafficking; 

8 ‘‘(bb) battered or subjected 

9 to extreme cruelty; or 

10 ‘‘(cc) a victim of criminal ac11 tivity described in section 

12 101(a)(15)(U)(iii). 

13 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN OFFENSE

14 INVOLVING DRIVING.—Notwithstanding section 

15 101(h), any crime of reckless driving or of driv16 ing while intoxicated or under the influence of 

17 alcohol or of prohibited substances shall only be 

18 considered for purposes of this subsection if— 

19 ‘‘(i) such crime involves personal in20 jury or death to another; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) the alien has been convicted of 

22 reckless driving or of driving while intoxi23 cated or under the influence of alcohol or 

24 of prohibited substances more than once 


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1 during the 10 years immediately preceding 

2 the date of the alien’s application. 

3 ‘‘(C) WAIVERS FOR CERTAIN MIS4 DEMEANORS.—For humanitarian purposes, 

5 family unity, or if otherwise in the public inter6 est, the Secretary may— 

7 ‘‘(i) waive the grounds of inadmis8 sibility under subparagraphs (A), (C), and 

9 (D) of section 212(a)(2), unless the convic10 tion forming the basis for inadmissibility 

11 would otherwise render the alien ineligible 

12 under subparagraph (A)(ii) (subject to 

13 clause (ii)); and 

14 ‘‘(ii) for purposes of subclauses (II) 

15 and (III) of subparagraph (A)(ii), waive 

16 consideration of— 

17 ‘‘(I) one misdemeanor offense if 

18 the alien has not been convicted of 

19 any offense in the 5-year period pre20 ceding the date on which the alien ap21 plies for adjustment of status under 

22 this subsection; or 

23 ‘‘(II) up to two misdemeanor of24 fenses if the alien has not been con25 victed of any offense in the 10-year 


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1 period preceding the date on which 

2 the alien applies for adjustment of 

3 status under this subsection. 

4 ‘‘(D) AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT SEC5 ONDARY REVIEW.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

7 an alien’s eligibility for adjustment of sta8 tus under this subsection, and subject to 

9 the procedures described in this subpara10 graph, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

11 or the Attorney General may, as a matter 

12 of non-delegable discretion, provisionally 

13 deny an application for adjustment of sta14 tus if the Secretary or the Attorney Gen15 eral, based on clear and convincing evi16 dence, which shall include credible law en17 forcement information, determines that the 

18 alien is described in clause (ii) or (iv). 

19 ‘‘(ii) PUBLIC SAFETY.—An alien is de20 scribed in this clause if— 

21 ‘‘(I) excluding simple possession 

22 of cannabis or cannabis-related para23 phernalia, any offense involving can24 nabis or cannabis-related para25 phernalia which is no longer prosecutVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8585.IH H8585

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1 able in the State in which the convic2 tion was entered, any offense under 

3 State law for which an essential ele4 ment is the alien’s immigration sta5 tus, any offense involving civil disobe6 dience without violence, and any 

7 minor traffic offense, the alien— 

8 ‘‘(aa) has been convicted of 

9 a misdemeanor offense punish10 able by a term of imprisonment 

11 of more than 30 days; or 

12 ‘‘(bb) has been adjudicated 

13 delinquent in a State or local ju14 venile court proceeding that re15 sulted in a disposition ordering 

16 placement in a secure facility; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(II) the alien poses a significant 

19 and continuing threat to public safety 

20 related to such conviction or adjudica21 tion. 

22 ‘‘(iii) PUBLIC SAFETY DETERMINA23 TION.—For purposes of clause (ii)(II), the 

24 Secretary shall consider the recency of the 

25 conviction or adjudication; the length of 


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1 any imposed sentence or placement; the 

2 nature and seriousness of the conviction or 

3 adjudication, including whether the ele4 ments of the offense include the unlawful 

5 possession or use of a deadly weapon to 

6 commit an offense or other conduct in7 tended to cause serious bodily injury; and 

8 any mitigating factors pertaining to the 

9 alien’s role in the commission of the of10 fense. 

11 ‘‘(iv) GANG PARTICIPATION.—An alien 

12 is described in this clause if the alien has, 

13 within the 5 years immediately preceding 

14 the date of the application, knowingly, will15 fully, and voluntarily participated in of16 fenses committed by a criminal street gang 

17 (as described in subsections (a) and (c) of 

18 section 521 of title 18, United States 

19 Code) with the intent to promote or fur20 ther the commission of such offenses. 

21 ‘‘(v) EVIDENTIARY LIMITATION.—For 

22 purposes of clause (iv), allegations of gang 

23 membership obtained from a State or Fed24 eral in-house or local database, or a net25 work of databases used for the purpose of 


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1 recording and sharing activities of alleged 

2 gang members across law enforcement 

3 agencies, shall not establish the participa4 tion described in such clause. 

5 ‘‘(vi) NOTICE.— 

6 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Prior to ren7 dering a discretionary decision under 

8 this subparagraph, the Secretary of 

9 Homeland Security or the Attorney 

10 General shall provide written notice of 

11 the intent to provisionally deny the 

12 application to the alien (or the alien’s 

13 counsel of record, if any) by certified 

14 mail and, if an electronic mail address 

15 is provided, by electronic mail (or 

16 other form of electronic communica17 tion). Such notice shall— 

18 ‘‘(aa) articulate with speci19 ficity all grounds for the prelimi20 nary determination, including the 

21 evidence relied upon to support 

22 the determination; and 

23 ‘‘(bb) provide the alien with 

24 not less than 90 days to respond. 


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1 ‘‘(II) SECOND NOTICE.—Not 

2 more than 30 days after the issuance 

3 of the notice under subclause (I), the 

4 Secretary of Homeland Security or 

5 the Attorney General shall provide a 

6 second written notice that meets the 

7 requirements of such clause. 

8 ‘‘(III) NOTICE NOT RECEIVED.— 

9 Notwithstanding any other provision 

10 of law, if an applicant provides good 

11 cause for not contesting a provisional 

12 denial under this paragraph, including 

13 a failure to receive notice as required 

14 under this subparagraph, the Sec15 retary of Homeland Security or the 

16 Attorney General shall, upon a motion 

17 filed by the alien, reopen an applica18 tion for adjustment of status under 

19 this subsection and allow the appli20 cant an opportunity to respond, con21 sistent with subclause (I)(bb). 

22 ‘‘(E) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

23 paragraph— 

24 ‘‘(i) the term ‘felony offense’ means 

25 an offense under Federal or State law that 


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1 is punishable by a maximum term of im2 prisonment of more than 1 year; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘misdemeanor offense’ 

4 means an offense under Federal or State 

5 law that is punishable by a term of impris6 onment of more than 5 days but not more 

7 than 1 year; 

8 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘crime of domestic vio9 lence’ means any offense that has as an 

10 element the use, attempted use, or threat11 ened use of physical force against a person 

12 committed by a current or former spouse 

13 of the person, by an individual with whom 

14 the person shares a child in common, by 

15 an individual who is cohabiting with or has 

16 cohabited with the person as a spouse, by 

17 an individual similarly situated to a spouse 

18 of the person under the domestic or family 

19 violence laws of the jurisdiction where the 

20 offense occurs, or by any other individual 

21 against a person who is protected from 

22 that individual’s acts under the domestic 

23 or family violence laws of the United 

24 States or any State, Indian tribal govern25 ment, or unit of local government; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) the terms ‘convicted’, ‘convic2 tion’, ‘adjudicated’, and ‘adjudication’ do 

3 not include a judgment that has been ex4 punged or set aside, that resulted in a re5 habilitative disposition, or the equivalent. 

6 ‘‘(4) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—In the case of an 

7 alien who has temporary resident status under this 

8 subsection, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

9 authorize the alien to engage in employment in the 

10 United States and provide the alien with an ‘employ11 ment authorized’ endorsement or other appropriate 

12 work permit. Work authorization provided under this 

13 paragraph shall be effective throughout the period 

14 the alien is in temporary resident status under this 

15 subsection. 

16 ‘‘(5) TERMS OF STATUS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Temporary resident 

18 status under this subsection shall be valid for a 

19 period of 3 years, unless such period is ex20 tended or renewed. 

21 ‘‘(B) RENEWAL.—In the case of an alien 

22 who has temporary resident status under this 

23 subsection, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

24 shall renew the status in 3-year increments, 


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1 with no limit on the number of such renewals, 

2 if— 

3 ‘‘(i) the alien files a nonfrivolous ap4 plication for renewal before the date of ex5 piration of the period of stay authorized by 

6 the Secretary; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary determines that 

8 the alien continues to meet the conditions 

9 for adjustment of status under this sub10 section. 

11 ‘‘(C) AUTOMATIC EXTENSION DURING

12 PENDENCY OF APPLICATION.—In the case of an 

13 alien who files a nonfrivolous application for re14 newal before the date of expiration of the period 

15 of stay authorized by the Secretary, the alien’s 

16 period of temporary resident status and work 

17 authorization shall be deemed extended during 

18 the pendency of the application. 

19 ‘‘(6) DOCUMENTS ESTABLISHING CONTINUOUS

20 PHYSICAL PRESENCE.—To establish that an alien 

21 has been continuously physically present in the 

22 United States, as required under paragraph (1), the 

23 alien may submit the following forms of evidence: 

24 ‘‘(A) Passport entries, including admission 

25 stamps on the alien’s passport. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Any document from the Department 

2 of Justice or the Department of Homeland Se3 curity noting the alien’s date of entry into the 

4 United States. 

5 ‘‘(C) Records from any educational institu6 tion the alien has attended in the United 

7 States. 

8 ‘‘(D) Employment records of the alien that 

9 include the employer’s name and contact infor10 mation, or other records demonstrating earned 

11 income. 

12 ‘‘(E) Records of service from the Uni13 formed Services. 

14 ‘‘(F) Official records from a religious enti15 ty confirming the alien’s participation in a reli16 gious ceremony. 

17 ‘‘(G) A birth certificate for a child who 

18 was born in the United States. 

19 ‘‘(H) Hospital or medical records showing 

20 medical treatment or hospitalization, the name 

21 of the medical facility or physician, and the 

22 date of the treatment or hospitalization. 

23 ‘‘(I) Automobile license receipts or reg24 istration. 


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1 ‘‘(J) Deeds, mortgages, or rental agree2 ment contracts. 

3 ‘‘(K) Rent receipts or utility bills bearing 

4 the alien’s name or the name of an immediate 

5 family member of the alien, and the alien’s ad6 dress. 

7 ‘‘(L) Tax receipts. 

8 ‘‘(M) Insurance policies. 

9 ‘‘(N) Remittance records, including copies 

10 of money order receipts sent in or out of the 

11 country. 

12 ‘‘(O) Travel records. 

13 ‘‘(P) Dated bank transactions. 

14 ‘‘(Q) Two or more sworn affidavits from 

15 individuals who are not related to the alien who 

16 have direct knowledge of the alien’s continuous 

17 physical presence in the United States, that 

18 contain— 

19 ‘‘(i) the name, address, and telephone 

20 number of the affiant; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) the nature and duration of the 

22 relationship between the affiant and the 

23 alien. 


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1 ‘‘(R) Any other evidence determined to be 

2 credible by the Secretary of Homeland Security 

3 or the Attorney General. 

4 ‘‘(7) ELIGIBILITY OF REMOVED, DEPORTED, OR

5 VOLUNTARILY DEPARTED ALIENS.—An alien who 

6 was removed, deported, or permitted to depart vol7 untarily from the United States may apply for relief 

8 under this subsection from abroad if the reason for 

9 their removal, deportation, or voluntary departure 

10 was that the alien— 

11 ‘‘(A) was present in the United States 

12 after the expiration of the period of stay au13 thorized by the Secretary of Homeland Security 

14 or was present in the United States without 

15 being admitted or paroled; or 

16 ‘‘(B) committed an offense, if that offense 

17 does not render the alien ineligible for relief 

18 under this subsection pursuant to the provisions 

19 of paragraph (3). 

20 ‘‘(8) CONSTRUCTION.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A denial of cancella22 tion of removal under any other provision of 

23 this section shall not prejudice a decision under 

24 this subsection. An alien’s eligibility for tem25 porary resident status under this subsection 


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1 shall not preclude the alien from seeking any 

2 status under any other provision of law for 

3 which the alien may otherwise be eligible. 

4 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION OF CONTINUOUS

5 PRESENCE AND RESIDENCE.—Subsection (d) 

6 shall not apply to cancellation of removal or ad7 justment of status under this subsection. 

8 ‘‘(C) ANNUAL LIMITATION.—Subsection 

9 (e) shall not apply to cancellation of removal or 

10 adjustment of status under this subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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