IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 119 

Expressing the sense of Congress that wrongfully or unjustly deported people 

who have established significant ties through years of life in the United 

States deserve a chance to come home to reunite with loved ones through 

a fair and central process within the Department of Homeland Security. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 10, 2024 

Mr. CLEAVER (for himself, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. TRONE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. 

BARRAGA ́N, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. 

JACKSON LEE, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. MCGOVERN) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of Congress that wrongfully or unjustly 

deported people who have established significant ties 

through years of life in the United States deserve a 

chance to come home to reunite with loved ones through 

a fair and central process within the Department of 

Homeland Security. 

Whereas the United States has deported over 2,000,000 people in the last 10 years, and not every deportation was 

fair, just, or accurate under Federal law; 

Whereas many of those wrongfully or unjustly deported have 

resided in the United States for years or even decades, 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

•HCON 119 IH 

raising their families, building their own businesses, and 

contributing to their communities and the United States 

economy; 

Whereas the Supreme Court recognizes deportation to be a 

‘‘particularly harsh penalty’’ and ‘‘the severity of deportation’’ as ‘‘the equivalent of banishment or exile’’ 

(Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356 at 365, 373 (2010)); 

Whereas nearly all people who were deported on the basis of 

an unjust removal order, or who have a new claim to lawful status since their deportation, have no avenue to 

meaningfully present their case to return home and reunite with their loved ones in the United States; 

Whereas Congress offers limited, but critical, procedures 

within United States immigration law for allowing wrongfully or unjustly deported people to seek return to the 

United States following deportation, but in practice, 

these mechanisms are difficult to access, onerous to navigate, and rarely result in permission to return; 

Whereas people wrongfully or unjustly deported from the 

United States include— 

(1) people who have been separated from their children, families, and loved ones after residing in the United 

States for years or decades; 

(2) recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood 

Arrivals (DACA) program who lost their status as a result of protracted litigation related to the program; 

(3) people targeted for deportation as retaliation for 

exercising their First Amendment right to protest conditions in the immigration system; 

(4) people who succeeded in winning their immigration cases subsequent to deportation, but are still unable 

to return; 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

•HCON 119 IH 

(5) people deported for past nonviolent criminal convictions who have subsequently demonstrated a commitment to renewal and to their community; 

(6) people whose criminal convictions that were the 

basis of deportation have been expunged or pardoned; 

and 

(7) veterans who served the United States; 

Whereas deportation, by permanently separating people from 

their children, spouses, and communities, leads to destabilizing and enduring poverty, food and housing insecurity, and irreparable psychological harm to children left 

behind; 

Whereas many deported people are sent back to dangerous 

conditions that put their life and well-being at significant 

risk, or to places where they have no personal ties at all; 

Whereas the harms of deportation disproportionately affect 

Black and brown immigrant families, who are overrepresented within the deportation system; 

Whereas the Immigration Nationality Act, relevant regulations, and agency policy, as written, do include certain 

legal mechanisms and avenues designed to allow a person 

to make a case for return subsequent to deportation, including through procedures to reopen a closed immigration court case, to effectuate return upon prevailing on 

an appeal, or to seek discretionary authority to return; 

Whereas these mechanisms that Congress and the agency intended for remedying wrongful or unjust deportations are 

largely ineffective and insufficient due to a decentralized 

review process, associated lengthy wait times, complicated 

and opaque application procedures, little to no access to 

counsel, and a lack of resources for line-level decision 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

•HCON 119 IH 

makers with the Department of Homeland Security to 

meaningfully consider such requests; 

Whereas a centralized, dedicated unit within the Department 

of Homeland Security that offers a fair and independent 

process for reviewing applications from individuals seeking to return to the United States following a wrongful 

or unjust deportation would ensure greater fairness and 

consistency in adjudication, alleviate the burden on individual government attorneys and immigration courts, and 

reorient the Department of Homeland Security toward 

remedying past wrongful or unjust decisions to deport; 

Whereas such a centralized, dedicated Department of Homeland Security unit focused on considering requests to return from wrongfully or unjustly deported people could 

utilize the legal and discretionary authority already provided under Federal law to facilitate the return of those 

whose removal orders were contrary to law or justice; 

Whereas the Department of Homeland Security has already 

established a successful central removal review unit, 

known as ‘‘ImmVets’’, for the repatriation of wrongfully 

or unjustly deported United States veterans, including 

approximately 100 that have returned to the United 

States postdeportation, demonstrating the feasibility and 

effectiveness of such an approach; 

Whereas establishing a centralized unit to review requests to 

return to the United States from other people who have 

been wrongfully or unjustly deported is wholly within the 

Department of Homeland Security’s broad legal authority 

and would bring fairness and credibility to the United 

States immigration system; and 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

•HCON 119 IH 

Whereas bringing home wrongfully or unjustly deported fathers, mothers, community leaders, and workers is essential for moving toward an immigration system that 

prioritizes family unity, community well-being, economic 

prosperity, and basic due process: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that wrong3 fully or unjustly deported people deserve a meaningful 

4 chance to come home to reunite with their loved ones 

5 through a centralized unit within the United States De6 partment of Homeland Security dedicated to reviewing re7 quests for return to the United States. 

Æ 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS