I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 944 

To provide for eligibility for relief from removal for certain Venezuelans. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 4, 2013 

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

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for eligibility for relief from removal for certain 

Venezuelans. 

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 ‘‘Venezuelan Liberty 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF CERTAIN VEN7 EZUELANS. 

8 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The status of any alien de10 scribed in subsection (b) shall be adjusted by the 

11 Secretary of Homeland Security to that of an alien 


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1 lawfully admitted for permanent residence, if the 

2 alien— 

3 (A) applies for such adjustment before 

4 April 1, 2014; and 

5 (B) is otherwise admissible to the United 

6 States for permanent residence, except in deter7 mining such admissibility the grounds for inad8 missibility specified in paragraphs (4), (5), 

9 (6)(A), (7)(A), and (9)(B) of section 212(a) of 

10 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

11 1182(a)) shall not apply. 

12 (2) RULES IN APPLYING CERTAIN PROVI13 SIONS.—In the case of an alien described in sub14 section (b) or (d) who is applying for adjustment of 

15 status under this section— 

16 (A) the provisions of section 241(a)(5) of 

17 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

18 1231(a)(5)) shall not apply; and 

19 (B) the Secretary of Homeland Security 

20 may grant the alien a waiver on the grounds of 

21 inadmissibility under subparagraphs (A) and 

22 (C) of section 212(a)(9) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

23 1182(a)(9)). 

24 In granting waivers under subparagraph (B), the 

25 Secretary shall use standards used in granting conVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:16 Mar 05, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H944.IH H944

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1 sent under subparagraphs (A)(iii) and (C)(ii) of 

2 such section 212(a)(9). 

3 (3) RELATIONSHIP OF APPLICATION TO CER4 TAIN ORDERS.—An alien present in the United 

5 States who has been ordered excluded, deported, re6 moved, or ordered to depart voluntarily from the 

7 United States under any provision of the Immigra8 tion and Nationality Act may, notwithstanding such 

9 order, apply for adjustment of status under para10 graph (1). Such an alien may not be required, as a 

11 condition of submitting or granting such application, 

12 to file a separate motion to reopen, reconsider, or 

13 vacate such order. If the Secretary of Homeland Se14 curity grants the application, the Attorney General 

15 shall cancel the order. If the Secretary of Homeland 

16 Security renders a final administrative decision to 

17 deny the application, the order shall be effective and 

18 enforceable to the same extent as if the application 

19 had not been made. 

20 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA21 TUS.— 

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

23 subsection (a) shall apply to any alien who is a na24 tional of Venezuela and who has been physically 

25 present in the United States for a continuous period, 


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1 beginning on a date during the required presence pe2 riod and ending on the date the application for ad3 justment under such subsection is adjudicated, ex4 cept an alien shall not be considered to have failed 

5 to maintain continuous physical presence by reason 

6 of an absence, or absences, from the United States 

7 for any periods not exceeding 180 days. 

8 (2) PROOF OF COMMENCEMENT OF CONTIN9 UOUS PRESENCE.—For purposes of establishing that 

10 the period of continuous physical presence referred 

11 to in paragraph (1) commenced during the required 

12 presence period, an alien— 

13 (A) shall demonstrate that the alien, dur14 ing the required presence period— 

15 (i) applied to the Secretary of Home16 land Security for asylum; 

17 (ii) was issued an order to show cause 

18 under the Immigration and Nationality 

19 Act; 

20 (iii) was placed in exclusion, deporta21 tion, or removal proceedings under such 

22 Act; 

23 (iv) applied for adjustment of status 

24 under section 245 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

25 1255); 


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1 (v) applied to the Secretary of Home2 land Security for employment authoriza3 tion; 

4 (vi) performed service, or engaged in 

5 a trade or business, within the United 

6 States which is evidenced by records main7 tained by the Commissioner of Social Secu8 rity; or 

9 (vii) applied for any other benefit 

10 under the Immigration and Nationality Act 

11 by means of an application establishing the 

12 alien’s presence in the United States dur13 ing the required presence period; or 

14 (B) shall make such other demonstration 

15 of physical presence as the Secretary of Home16 land Security may provide for by regulation. 

17 (c) STAY OF REMOVAL; WORK AUTHORIZATION.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

19 Security shall provide by regulation for an alien sub20 ject to a final order of removal to seek a stay of 

21 such order based on the filing of an application 

22 under subsection (a). 

23 (2) DURING CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS.—Notwith24 standing any provision of the Immigration and Na25 tionality Act, the Attorney General shall not order 


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1 any alien to be removed from the United States if 

2 the alien is in removal proceedings under any provi3 sion of such Act and has applied for adjustment of 

4 status under subsection (a), except where the Sec5 retary of Homeland Security has rendered a final 

6 administrative determination to deny the application. 

7 (3) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of 

8 Homeland Security may authorize an alien who has 

9 applied for adjustment of status under subsection 

10 (a) to engage in employment in the United States 

11 during the pendency of such application and may 

12 provide the alien with an ‘‘employment authorized’’ 

13 endorsement or other appropriate document signi14 fying authorization of employment, except that if 

15 such application is pending for a period exceeding 

16 180 days, and has not been denied, the Secretary of 

17 Homeland Security shall authorize such employment. 

18 (d) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR SPOUSES AND

19 CHILDREN.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The status of an alien shall 

21 be adjusted by the Secretary of Homeland Security 

22 to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent 

23 residence, if— 

24 (A) the alien is a national of Venezuela; 

25 (B) the alien— 


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1 (i) is the spouse, child, or unmarried 

2 son or daughter of an alien whose status is 

3 adjusted to that of an alien lawfully admit4 ted for permanent residence under sub5 section (a), except that in the case of such 

6 an unmarried son or daughter, the son or 

7 daughter shall be required to establish that 

8 the son or daughter has been physically 

9 present in the United States for a contin10 uous period beginning on a date during the 

11 required presence period and ending on the 

12 date on which the application for adjust13 ment under this subsection is adjudicated; 

14 or 

15 (ii) was, at the time at which an alien 

16 filed for adjustment under subsection (a), 

17 the spouse or child of an alien whose sta18 tus is adjusted, or was eligible for adjust19 ment, to that of an alien lawfully admitted 

20 for permanent residence under subsection 

21 (a), and the spouse, child, or child of the 

22 spouse has been battered or subjected to 

23 extreme cruelty by the alien that filed for 

24 adjustment under subsection (a); 


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1 (C) the alien applies for such adjustment 

2 and is physically present in the United States 

3 on the date the application is filed; 

4 (D) the alien is otherwise admissible to the 

5 United States for permanent residence, except 

6 in determining such admissibility the grounds 

7 for inadmissibility specified in paragraphs (4), 

8 (5), (6)(A), (7)(A), and (9)(B) of section 

9 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

10 (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)) shall not apply; and 

11 (E) applies for such adjustment before 

12 April 1, 2014. 

13 (2) PROOF OF CONTINUOUS PRESENCE.—For 

14 purposes of establishing the period of continuous 

15 physical presence referred to in paragraph (1)(B), 

16 an alien— 

17 (A) shall demonstrate that such period 

18 commenced during the required presence period 

19 in a manner consistent with subsection (b)(2); 

20 and 

21 (B) shall not be considered to have failed 

22 to maintain continuous physical presence by 

23 reason of an absence, or absences, from the 

24 United States for any period not exceeding 180 

25 days. 


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1 (e) AVAILABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.— 

2 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide to ap3 plicants for adjustment of status under subsection (a) the 

4 same right to, and procedures for, administrative review 

5 as are provided to applicants for adjustment of status 

6 under section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

7 (8 U.S.C. 1255). 

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

9 When an alien is granted the status of having been law10 fully admitted for permanent residence pursuant to this 

11 section, the Secretary of State shall not be required to re12 duce the number of immigrant visas authorized to be 

13 issued under any provision of the Immigration and Na14 tionality Act. 

15 (g) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this Act, the term 

16 ‘‘required presence period’’ means the period beginning on 

17 February 2, 1999, and ending on March 4, 2013. 

18 (h) APPLICATION OF IMMIGRATION AND NATION19 ALITY ACT PROVISIONS.—Except as otherwise specifically 

20 provided in this section, the definitions contained in the 

21 Immigration and Nationality Act shall apply in the admin22 istration of this section. Nothing contained in this section 

23 shall be held to repeal, amend, alter, modify, affect, or 

24 restrict the powers, duties, functions, or authority of the 

25 Secretary of Homeland Security in the administration and 


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1 enforcement of such Act or any other law relating to immi2 gration, nationality, or naturalization. The fact that an 

3 alien may be eligible to be granted the status of having 

4 been lawfully admitted for permanent residence under this 

5 section shall not preclude the alien from seeking such sta6 tus under any other provision of law for which the alien 

7 may be eligible. 

Æ 


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