I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1912 

To suspend certain nonessential visas, in order to provide temporary workload 

relief critical to the successful reorganization of the immigration and 

naturalization functions of the Department of Homeland Security, to 

ensure that the screening and monitoring of arriving immigrants and 

nonimmigrants, and the deterrence of entry and settlement by illegal 

or unauthorized aliens, is sufficient to maintain the integrity of the 

sovereign borders of the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 27, 2005 

Mr. GRAVES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To suspend certain nonessential visas, in order to provide 

temporary workload relief critical to the successful reorganization of the immigration and naturalization functions of the Department of Homeland Security, to ensure 

that the screening and monitoring of arriving immigrants 

and nonimmigrants, and the deterrence of entry and 

settlement by illegal or unauthorized aliens, is sufficient 

to maintain the integrity of the sovereign borders 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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Emergency Immigration Workload Reduction and Home4 land Security Enhancement Act of 2005’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Severability. 

Sec. 3. Findings. 

Sec. 4. Temporary suspension of visa waiver program. 

Sec. 5. Temporary suspension of adjustment of status. 

Sec. 6. Temporary suspension of renewals of temporary protected status. 

Sec. 7. Temporary suspension of certain immigrant visa programs. 

Sec. 8. Restriction of nonimmigrant visas for nationals of countries denying or 

delaying acceptance of aliens. 

Sec. 9. Waivers of temporary suspensions. 

Sec. 10. Termination of temporary suspensions. 

Sec. 11. Suspension of nonimmigrant visas. 

Sec. 12. Temporary funding for detention and removal assistance provided by 

State and local law enforcement agencies. 

Sec. 13. Effective date. 

7 SEC. 2. SEVERABILITY. 

8 If any provision of this Act, or the application of such 

9 a provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be 

10 unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act, and the appli11 cation of this Act to any other person or circumstance, 

12 shall not be affected by such holding. 

13 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

14 The Congress finds as follows: 

15 (1) The effective establishment and organiza16 tion of the Directorate of Border and Transpor17 tation Security of the Department of Homeland Se18 curity is imperative if the Directorate is to carry out 
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1 the immigration enforcement responsibilities dele2 gated to it by the Congress in the manner expected 

3 by the American people. 

4 (2) The effective implementation of these duties 

5 will not be achieved without an unacceptable com6 promise to the security interests of the United 

7 States unless certain immigration programs are tem8 porarily suspended, and other material assistance is 

9 provided to law enforcement agencies and other enti10 ties that support the immigration enforcement func11 tions of the Directorate, until such time as the Sec12 retary of Homeland Security can make the certifi13 cations to Congress required in section 10. 

14 (3) Such certifications, taken together, will es15 tablish the effective operational transfer of immigra16 tion enforcement functions to the new Directorate. 

17 SEC. 4. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF VISA WAIVER PRO18 GRAM. 

19 The admission of aliens to the United States under 

20 section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

21 U.S.C. 1187) is suspended. 

22 SEC. 5. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF ADJUSTMENT OF STA23 TUS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The authority of the Secretary of 

25 Homeland Security to adjust the status of any alien to 
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1 that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence 

2 under section 240A of the Immigration and Nationality 

3 Act (8 U.S.C. 1229b) or section 245 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

4 1187), is suspended. 

5 (b) EFFECT ON APPLICATIONS.—The suspension de6 scribed in subsection (a) shall include the suspension of 

7 acceptance for filing of applications for the adjustments 

8 of status described in such subsection. 

9 SEC. 6. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF RENEWALS OF TEM10 PORARY PROTECTED STATUS. 

11 The authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security 

12 to extend any designation made under subparagraph (B) 

13 or (C) of section 244(b)(1) of the Immigration and Na14 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254(b)(1)) is suspended. 

15 SEC. 7. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF CERTAIN IMMIGRANT 

16 VISA PROGRAMS. 

17 (a) BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF CITIZENS.—The al18 location of family-sponsored immigrant visas to alien 

19 brothers and sisters of citizens under section 203(a)(4) of 

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

21 1153(a)(4)), and the admission of such aliens to the 

22 United States as immigrants, is suspended. 

23 (b) SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF CITIZENS.—The allo24 cation of family-sponsored immigrant visas to alien sons 

25 and daughters of citizens under paragraph (1) or (3) of 
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1 section 203(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

2 U.S.C. 1153(a)), and the admission of such aliens to the 

3 United States as immigrants, is suspended. 

4 (c) UNMARRIED SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF PERMA5 NENT RESIDENT ALIENS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The allocation of family7 sponsored immigrant visas to aliens who are the un8 married sons and daughters (but are not the chil9 dren) of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent 

10 residence under section 203(a)(2)(B) of the Immi11 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

12 1153(a)(2)(B)), and the admission of such aliens to 

13 the United States as immigrants, is suspended. 

14 (2) CHILDREN.—The allocation of family-spon15 sored immigrant visas to aliens who are the children 

16 of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent resi17 dence under section 203(a)(2)(A) of the Immigra18 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(a)(2)(A)), 

19 and the admission of such aliens to the United 

20 States as immigrants, is suspended, except that this 

21 paragraph shall not apply to dependent children who 

22 are under 18 years of age at the time an immigrant 

23 visa becomes available to the child. 

24 (d) DIVERSITY IMMIGRANTS.—The allocation of im25 migrant visas to aliens under section 203(c) of the Immi-
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1 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(c)), and the 

2 admission of such aliens to the United States as immi3 grants, is suspended. 

4 (e) EFFECT ON CLASSIFICATION PETITIONS.—The 

5 suspensions of immigrant visa allocations described in this 

6 section shall include the suspension of acceptance for filing 

7 of petitions for classification under section 204 of the Im8 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1154) with re9 spect to the affected immigrant visa categories. 

10 SEC. 8. RESTRICTION OF NONIMMIGRANT VISAS FOR NA11 TIONALS OF COUNTRIES DENYING OR DELAY12 ING ACCEPTANCE OF ALIENS. 

13 (a) PUBLIC LISTING OF ALIENS WITH NO SIGNIFI14 CANT LIKELIHOOD OF REMOVAL.— 

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

16 Security shall establish and maintain a public listing 

17 of every alien who is subject to a final order of re18 moval and with respect to whom the Secretary or 

19 any Federal court has determined that there is no 

20 significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably 

21 foreseeable future due to the refusal, or unreason22 able delay, of all countries designated by the alien or 

23 under this section to receive the alien. 

24 (2) DISCONTINUATION OF VISAS.—In the case 

25 of any foreign state for which 24 or more of the citi-
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1 zens, subjects, or nationals of such state appear on 

2 the public listing described in paragraph (1), such 

3 foreign state shall be deemed to have denied or un4 reasonably delayed the acceptance of such aliens, 

5 and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall make 

6 the notification to the Secretary of State prescribed 

7 in section 243(d) of the Immigration and Nation8 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1253(d)). Consular officers in 

9 such foreign state shall accordingly discontinue the 

10 issuance of nonimmigrant visas to citizens, subjects, 

11 or nationals of the state. 

12 (b) SUNSET.—Subsection (a) shall sunset in accord13 ance with section 10. 

14 SEC. 9. WAIVERS OF TEMPORARY SUSPENSIONS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu16 rity may, in the Secretary’s discretion— 

17 (1) waive on an individual case-by-case basis 

18 sections 5, 7, and 8; or 

19 (2) waive, with the concurrence for the Sec20 retary of State, section 4 for designated classes of 

21 applicants, if such applicants are not inadmissible 

22 under section 212(a) of the Immigration and Na23 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)) or deportable under 

24 section 237(a) of such Act (8 U.S.C 1227). 
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1 (b) DELEGATION.—The Secretary of Homeland Se2 curity may, in the discretion of the Secretary, delegate to 

3 the Secretary of State, for designated classes of appli4 cants, the waiver authority of subsection (a)(1) with re5 spect to sections 7 and 8. 

6 SEC. 10. TERMINATION OF TEMPORARY SUSPENSIONS. 

7 Sections 4 through 9 shall cease to be effective one 

8 week after the certification by the Secretary of Homeland 

9 Security to the Congress that the following conditions are 

10 satisfied: 

11 (1) The integrated entry and exit data system 

12 required by the Immigration and Naturalization 

13 Service Data Management Improvement Act of 2000 

14 (Public Law 106–215), including the requirements 

15 added by section 302(a) of the Enhanced Border Se16 curity and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 (Public 

17 Law 107–173), is fully operational at all ports of 

18 entry. 

19 (2) The system of machine-readable tamper-re20 sistant visas and other travel and entry documents 

21 required by section 302(b) of the Enhanced Border 

22 Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 (Pub23 lic Law 107–173), as well as the technology stand24 ard for visa waiver program participants required by 

25 section 302(c) of such Act, are fully operational at 
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1 all ports of entry and, where applicable, at consular 

2 posts abroad. 

3 (3) The Department of Homeland Security has 

4 the operational capability to take into custody and 

5 remove from the United States any alien described 

6 in section 237(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

7 Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)) who has been brought to the 

8 attention of the Service by a State or local law en9 forcement agency. 

10 (4) Adequate Federal funds have been appro11 priated and are available to reimburse all verified 

12 claims described in section 12. 

13 (5) The data system for the registration of 

14 aliens under chapter 7 of title II of the Immigration 

15 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 261 et seq.) is fully 

16 operational and— 

17 (A) is fully compliant with the data system 

18 integration and interoperability standards en19 acted in section 202(a) of the Enhanced Border 

20 Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 

21 (Public Law 107–173); 

22 (B) ensures the entry of all registrations 

23 made in accordance with section 221(b) of the 

24 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
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1 1201(b)) into the registration system at the 

2 time at the time of the relevant visa application; 

3 (C) ensures that all other registrations 

4 made under procedures required by section 264 

5 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1304) are entered into 

6 the data system within 72 hours of submission 

7 by the alien of an approved form of registra8 tion; and 

9 (D) ensures that all notices of change of 

10 address required by section 265 of such Act (8 

11 U.S.C. 1305) are entered in the data system 

12 within 5 working days of submission by the 

13 alien of an approved change of address form. 

14 (6) A program for the random audit of the 

15 backlog of applications for changes in immigration 

16 status by aliens present in the United States exist17 ing on the effective date of this Act has been fully 

18 implemented by the Department of Homeland Secu19 rity. 

20 (7) The program described in paragraph (6) re21 liably indicates that the incidence of fraud or false 

22 statements is no more than 3 percent of all approved 

23 applications. 

24 (8) The foreign student monitoring system de25 scribed in section 641 of the Illegal Immigration Re-
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1 form and Immigrant Responsibility Act (8 U.S.C. 

2 1372), as amended and expanded by sections 501 

3 and 502 of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa 

4 Entry Reform Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–173), 

5 is fully operational, and no educational institution 

6 certified to receive nonimmigrant students under 

7 subparagraph (F), (M), or (J) of section 101(a)(15) 

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

9 1101(a)(15)) registers or admits aliens present in 

10 the United States in violation of law. 

11 (9) The number of aliens removed from the 

12 United States, during each of 4 months preceding 

13 the month in which the certification under this sec14 tion is executed, was at least 25 percent higher than 

15 in the comparable months of the previous year. 

16 (10) All reports and plans, and all operational 

17 transfers of functions, required under title IV of the 

18 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 201 et 

19 seq.) have been successfully performed and imple20 mented to the extent required by law as of the cer21 tification date. 

22 (11) The elimination of the backlog of immigra23 tion benefit applications required by section 458 of 

24 the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 

25 107–296; 116 Stat. 2201) has been completed. 
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1 (12) The annual report required by section 

2 205(b) of the American Competitiveness in the 

3 Twenty-first Century Act of 2000 (8 U.S.C. 

4 1574(b)), for the fiscal year preceding the date of 

5 the certification, has been submitted to the Con6 gress. 

7 (13) Process changes described in section 

8 205(b)(2)(C)(vi) of the American Competitiveness in 

9 the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000 (8 U.S.C. 

10 1574(b)(2)(C)(vi)) have been implemented and are 

11 substantially operational. 

12 SEC. 11. SUSPENSION OF NONIMMIGRANT VISAS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The authority of the Secretary of 

14 State to issue nonimmigrant visas is suspended. The au15 thority of the Secretary of Homeland Security to admit 

16 nonimmigrant aliens into the United States is suspended. 

17 (b) EFFECT ON APPLICATIONS.—The suspensions 

18 described in subsection (a) shall include the suspension of 

19 acceptance for filing of applications for nonimmigrant 

20 visas and applications for admission as a nonimmigrant. 

21 (c) WAIVERS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of 

22 Homeland Security may, in the Secretary’s discretion, 

23 waive the application of subsection (a) in the case of any 

24 alien or class of aliens if the following conditions are satis25 fied: 
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1 (1) Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Na2 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(c), and any other provi3 sion of law authorizing the issuance of diversity im4 migrant visas, is repealed. 

5 (2) Personal interviews are mandatory for ad6 mission of aliens to the United States under section 

7 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

8 U.S.C. 1187). 

9 (3) The Secretary, with the Secretary of State, 

10 verifies that each alien admitted on the basis of a 

11 nonimmigrant visa has had a personal interview with 

12 a consular officer prior to the issuance of the visa. 

13 (d) CONSTRUCTION.—During any period in which a 

14 waiver granted under subsection (c) applies to aliens 

15 barred from receipt of nonimmigrant visas under section 

16 7(a)(2), the bar shall supersede the waiver. 

17 SEC. 12. TEMPORARY FUNDING FOR DETENTION AND RE18 MOVAL ASSISTANCE PROVIDED BY STATE 

19 AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. 

20 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall reimburse 

21 verifiable claims submitted by a law enforcement agency 

22 of a State, or any political subdivision of a State, that 

23 were lawfully incurred for the emergency medical care, 

24 housing, and care in a secure facility, and the transpor25 tation into Federal custody at a location designated by the 
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1 Secretary, of any alien detained as inadmissible under sec2 tion 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

3 U.S.C. 1182(a)) or deportable under section 237(a) of 

4 such Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)), if— 

5 (1) transfer to Federal custody has occurred; 

6 (2)(A) a determination is subsequently made 

7 under section 240(c)(1) of the Immigration and Na8 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)(1)) that such alien 

9 is removable; or 

10 (B) a determination is made that the alien has 

11 permanently departed the United States; 

12 (3) reimbursement for all costs excepting trans13 portation costs is made according to a per diem rate 

14 established by the Secretary; and 

15 (4) the first day of such detention is not later 

16 than the date on which the certification described in 

17 section 9 is made. 

18 SEC. 13. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

19 This Act shall take effect in each local time zone upon 

20 the commencement in such zone of the first Sunday that 

21 occurs two weeks after the date of the enactment of this 

22 Act. 

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