II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 656 

To provide for the adjustment of status of certain nationals of Liberia 

to that of lawful permanent residents. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 28, 2011 

Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. 

KERRY, Mr. FRANKEN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. CARDIN) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for the adjustment of status of certain nationals 

of Liberia to that of lawful permanent residents. 

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 ‘‘Liberian Refugee Im5 migration Fairness Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS. 

7 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (A) ELIGIBILITY.—Except as provided 

2 under subparagraph (B), the Secretary of 

3 Homeland Security shall adjust the status of an 

4 alien described in subsection (b) to that of an 

5 alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence 

6 if the alien— 

7 (i) applies for adjustment not later 

8 than 1 year after the date of the enact9 ment of this Act; and 

10 (ii) is otherwise eligible to receive an 

11 immigrant visa and admissible to the 

12 United States for permanent residence, ex13 cept that, in determining such admissi14 bility, the grounds for inadmissibility speci15 fied in paragraphs (4), (5), (6)(A), and 

16 (7)(A) of section 212(a) of the Immigra17 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

18 1182(a)) shall not apply. 

19 (B) INELIGIBLE ALIENS.—An alien shall 

20 not be eligible for adjustment of status under 

21 this section if the Secretary of Homeland Secu22 rity determines that the alien— 

23 (i) has been convicted of any aggra24 vated felony (as defined in section 


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1 101(a)(43) of the Immigration and Nation2 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)); 

3 (ii) has been convicted of 2 or more 

4 crimes involving moral turpitude; or 

5 (iii) has ordered, incited, assisted, or 

6 otherwise participated in the persecution of 

7 any person on account of race, religion, na8 tionality, membership in a particular social 

9 group, or political opinion. 

10 (2) RELATIONSHIP OF APPLICATION TO CER11 TAIN ORDERS.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—An alien present in the 

13 United States who has been subject to an order 

14 of exclusion, deportation, or removal, or has 

15 been ordered to depart voluntarily from the 

16 United States under any provision of the Immi17 gration and Nationality Act may, notwith18 standing such order, apply for adjustment of 

19 status under paragraph (1) if otherwise quali20 fied under such paragraph. 

21 (B) SEPARATE MOTION NOT REQUIRED.— 

22 An alien described in subparagraph (A) may 

23 not be required, as a condition of submitting or 

24 granting such application, to file a separate moVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:19 Mar 28, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S656.IS S656

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1 tion to reopen, reconsider, or vacate the order 

2 described in subparagraph (A). 

3 (C) EFFECT OF DECISION BY SEC4 RETARY.—If the Secretary of Homeland Secu5 rity adjusts the status of an alien pursuant to 

6 an application under paragraph (1), the Sec7 retary shall cancel the order described in sub8 paragraph (A). If the Secretary of Homeland 

9 Security makes a final decision to deny such 

10 adjustment of status, the order shall be effec11 tive and enforceable to the same extent as if the 

12 application had not been made. 

13 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA14 TUS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The benefits provided under 

16 subsection (a) shall apply to any alien— 

17 (A) who is— 

18 (i) a national of Liberia; and 

19 (ii) has been continuously present in 

20 the United States between January 1, 

21 2011, and the date on which the alien sub22 mits an application under subsection (a); 

23 or 


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1 (B) who is the spouse, child, or unmarried 

2 son or daughter of an alien described in sub3 paragraph (A). 

4 (2) DETERMINATION OF CONTINUOUS PHYS5 ICAL PRESENCE.—For purposes of establishing the 

6 period of continuous physical presence referred to in 

7 paragraph (1)(A)(ii), an alien shall not be consid8 ered to have failed to maintain continuous physical 

9 presence by reasons of an absence, or absences, from 

10 the United States for any period or periods amount11 ing in the aggregate to not more than 180 days. 

12 (c) STAY OF REMOVAL.— 

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

14 Security shall establish procedures, by regulation, 

15 through which an alien, who is subject to a final 

16 order of deportation, removal, or exclusion, may seek 

17 a stay of such order based upon the filing of an ap18 plication under subsection (a). 

19 (2) DURING CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS.—Notwith20 standing any provision in the Immigration and Na21 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), the Secretary 

22 of Homeland Security may not order an alien to be 

23 removed from the United States if the alien is in ex24 clusion, deportation, or removal proceedings under 

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1 justment of status under subsection (a) unless the 

2 Secretary of Homeland Security has made a final 

3 determination to deny the application. 

4 (3) WORK AUTHORIZATION.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

6 Homeland Security may— 

7 (i) authorize an alien who has applied 

8 for adjustment of status under subsection 

9 (a) to engage in employment in the United 

10 States while a determination regarding 

11 such application is pending; and 

12 (ii) provide the alien with an ‘‘employ13 ment authorized’’ endorsement or other ap14 propriate document signifying authoriza15 tion of employment. 

16 (B) PENDING APPLICATIONS.—If an appli17 cation for adjustment of status under sub18 section (a) is pending for a period exceeding 

19 180 days and has not been denied, the Sec20 retary of Homeland Security shall authorize 

21 such employment. 

22 (d) RECORD OF PERMANENT RESIDENCE.—Upon the 

23 approval of an alien’s application for adjustment of status 

24 under subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security 

25 shall establish a record of the alien’s admission for permaVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:19 Mar 28, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S656.IS S656

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1 nent record as of the date of the alien’s arrival in the 

2 United States. 

3 (e) AVAILABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.— 

4 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide to ap5 plicants for adjustment of status under subsection (a) the 

6 same right to, and procedures for, administrative review 

7 as are provided to— 

8 (1) applicants for adjustment of status under 

9 section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

10 (8 U.S.C. 1255); and 

11 (2) aliens subject to removal proceedings under 

12 section 240 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a). 

13 (f) LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A deter14 mination by the Secretary of Homeland Security regarding 

15 the adjustment of status of any alien under this section 

16 is final and shall not be subject to review by any court. 

17 (g) NO OFFSET IN NUMBER OF VISAS AVAILABLE.— 

18 If an alien is granted the status of having been lawfully 

19 admitted for permanent residence pursuant to this section, 

20 the Secretary of State shall not be required to reduce the 

21 number of immigrant visas authorized to be issued under 

22 any provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

23 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 

24 (h) APPLICATION OF IMMIGRATION AND NATION25 ALITY ACT PROVISIONS.— 


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1 (1) DEFINITIONS.—Except as otherwise specifi2 cally provided in this Act, the definitions contained 

3 in the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

4 1101 et seq.) shall apply in this section. 

5 (2) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this Act 

6 may be construed to repeal, amend, alter, modify, ef7 fect, or restrict the powers, duties, function, or au8 thority of the Secretary of Homeland Security in the 

9 administration and enforcement of the Immigration 

10 and Nationality Act or any other law relating to im11 migration, nationality, or naturalization. 

12 (3) EFFECT OF ELIGIBILITY FOR ADJUSTMENT

13 OF STATUS.—Eligibility to be granted the status of 

14 having been lawfully admitted for permanent resi15 dence under this section shall not preclude an alien 

16 from seeking any status under any other provision 

17 of law for which the alien may otherwise be eligible. 

Æ 


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