II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 819 

To provide the spouses and children of aliens who perished in the September 

11 terrorist attacks an opportunity to adjust their status to that of 

aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 14, 2011 

Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mr. 

MENENDEZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide the spouses and children of aliens who perished 

in the September 11 terrorist attacks an opportunity 

to adjust their status to that of aliens lawfully admitted 

for permanent residence. 

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 ‘‘September 11 Family 

5 Humanitarian Relief and Patriotism Act of 2011’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR CERTAIN VICTIMS OF 

2 TERRORISM. 

3 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—The Secretary of 

4 Homeland Security may adjust the status of any alien de5 scribed in subsection (b) to that of an alien lawfully admit6 ted for permanent residence if the alien— 

7 (1) applies for such adjustment not later than 

8 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act; 

9 (2) is not— 

10 (A) inadmissible to the United States 

11 under paragraph (2) or (3) of section 212(a) of 

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

13 1182(a)); or 

14 (B) deportable under paragraph (2) or (4) 

15 of section 237(a) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

16 1227(a)); and 

17 (3) satisfies any applicable Federal tax liability, 

18 not later than the date on which the alien submits 

19 an application under paragraph (1), by establishing 

20 that— 

21 (A) no such tax liability exists; or 

22 (B) all outstanding liabilities have been 

23 paid. 

24 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA25 TUS.— 

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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—An alien shall be eligible for 

2 adjustment of status under subsection (a) if the 

3 alien— 

4 (A) was, on September 10, 2001, the 

5 spouse, child, unmarried son, or unmarried 

6 daughter of an alien who died as a direct result 

7 of the terrorist activity conducted against the 

8 United States on September 11, 2001; 

9 (B) was deemed to be a beneficiary of, and 

10 by, the September 11th Victim Compensation 

11 Fund of 2001 (49 U.S.C. 40101); and 

12 (C) made a proffer of information to the 

13 Secretary of Homeland Security between April 

14 24, 2008, and August 15, 2008, in connection 

15 with a request for immigration relief. 

16 (2) EXCEPTION.—An alien shall not be pro17 vided any benefit under this section if the Secretary 

18 of Homeland Security determines that the alien has 

19 willfully made a material misrepresentation or mate20 rial omission in the proffer of information described 

21 in paragraph (1)(C). 

22 (c) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of 

23 Homeland Security may authorize an alien who has ap24 plied for adjustment of status under subsection (a) to enmstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

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1 gage in employment in the United States during the pend2 ency of such application. 

3 (d) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section may be 

4 construed to limit the existing authority of the Secretary 

5 of Homeland Security, on the date of the enactment of 

6 this Act— 

7 (1) to require any form or other submission of 

8 information from the alien; or 

9 (2) to perform any background or security 

10 check for the purpose of determining the admissi11 bility, or eligibility under this section, of any alien. 

12 (e) WAIVER OF REGULATIONS.—Not later than 6 

13 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

14 Secretary of Homeland Security shall issue guidance to 

15 carry out this section. The Secretary is not required to 

16 promulgate regulations before implementing this section. 

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

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

19 admitted for permanent residence under this section, the 

20 Secretary of State shall not be required to reduce the 

21 number of immigrant visas authorized to be issued under 

22 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

23 seq.). 

24 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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1 (1) APPLICABLE FEDERAL TAX LIABILITY.— 

2 The term ‘‘applicable Federal tax liability’’ means li3 ability for Federal taxes, including penalties and in4 terest, owed for any year for which the statutory pe5 riod for assessment of any deficiency for such taxes 

6 has not expired. 

7 (2) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—Except as otherwise 

8 specifically provided in this section, the definitions 

9 used in the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

10 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), except for the definitions ap11 plicable exclusively to title III of such Act, shall 

12 apply in the administration of this section. 

Æ 

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