I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 883 

To grant lawful permanent resident status to certain eligible persons who 

were separated from immediate family members by the Department of 

Homeland Security. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 30, 2019 

Mr. CASTRO of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To grant lawful permanent resident status to certain eligible 

persons who were separated from immediate family members by the Department of Homeland Security. 

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 ‘‘Families Belong To5 gether Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ELIGIBLE CHILD.—The term ‘‘eligible 

9 child’’ means a person who— 


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1 (A) entered the United States, before at2 taining 18 years of age, at a port of entry or 

3 between ports of entry; 

4 (B) was separated from his or her parent 

5 or legal guardian by the Department of Home6 land Security, and the Department failed to 

7 demonstrate in a hearing that the parent or 

8 legal guardian was unfit or presented a danger 

9 to the child; 

10 (C)(i) was in the custody of the Depart11 ment of Homeland Security or the Office of 

12 Refugee Resettlement on the date of the enact13 ment of this Act; 

14 (ii) has been released to a sponsor, includ15 ing a family-member sponsor; or 

16 (iii) has been repatriated to his or her 

17 country of origin; and 

18 (D) is not inadmissible under paragraph 

19 (2)(C), (2)(E), (2)(G), (2)(H), (2)(I), (3), 

20 (6)(E), (6)(G), (8), (10)(C), or (10)(D) of sec21 tion 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

22 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)). 

23 (2) ELIGIBLE PARENT.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara2 graph (B), the term ‘‘eligible parent’’ means an 

3 individual who— 

4 (i) is— 

5 (I) a parent of an eligible child; 

6 or 

7 (II) a legal guardian of an eligi8 ble child; 

9 (ii) entered the United States at a 

10 port of entry, or between ports of entry, 

11 with an eligible child to whom he or she is 

12 a parent or legal guardian; and 

13 (iii) was separated from his or her eli14 gible child by the Department of Home15 land Security, which failed to demonstrate 

16 in a hearing that the parent or legal 

17 guardian was unfit or presented a danger 

18 to the child. 

19 (B) EXCLUSION.—An individual is not an 

20 ‘‘eligible parent’’ if the individual is inadmis21 sible under paragraph (2)(C), (2)(E), (2)(G), 

22 (2)(H), (2)(I), (3), (6)(E), (6)(G), (8), (10)(C), 

23 or (10)(D) of section 212(a) of the Immigration 

24 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)). 


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1 SEC. 3. HUMANITARIAN PAROLE. 

2 The Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 

3 Services shall grant humanitarian parole into the United 

4 States to all eligible parents and eligible children who ex5 pressly request such parole. The Director shall not impose 

6 a fee for any such request. 

7 SEC. 4. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS. 

8 (a) ELIGIBLE PARENTS.—Eligible parents in the 

9 United States shall be eligible to apply to the Director of 

10 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to have their 

11 status adjusted to that of an alien lawfully admitted for 

12 permanent residence. Not later than 30 days after receiv13 ing such an application from an eligible parent, the Direc14 tor shall adjust the status of such parent to that of an 

15 alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence. 

16 (b) ELIGIBLE CHILDREN.—Eligible children in the 

17 United States shall be eligible to apply to the Director of 

18 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to have their 

19 status adjusted to that of an alien lawfully admitted for 

20 permanent residence. Not later than 30 days after receiv21 ing such an application from an eligible child, the Director 

22 shall adjust the status of such child to that of an alien 

23 lawfully admitted for permanent residence. 

24 (c) APPLICATION FEES PROHIBITED.—The Director 

25 of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shall not imVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H883.IH H883

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1 pose a fee for any application submitted under this sec2 tion. 

3 SEC. 5. EXCEPTION TO GROUND OF INADMISSIBILITY. 

4 For purposes of this Act, assistance provided by a 

5 person to a member of his or her nuclear family unit shall 

6 not render the person inadmissible under section 

7 212(a)(6)(E) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(E)). 

9 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 In addition to any other amounts otherwise author11 ized to be appropriated for such purpose, there is author12 ized to be appropriated to the Executive Office for Immi13 gration Review $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2019 to carry 

14 out the Legal Orientation Program, including educating 

15 eligible parents and eligible children of their rights under 

16 this Act. 

Æ 


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