II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1076

To provide relief to certain aliens who would otherwise be subject to removal

from the United States.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 28, 1997

Mr. MACK (for himself, Mr. GRAHAM, and Mr. KENNEDY) (by request) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide relief to certain aliens who would otherwise be

subject to removal from the United States.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Immigra4 tion Reform Transition Act of 1997’’.

5 SEC. 2. (a) Section 240A, subsection (e), of the Im6 migration and Nationality Act is amended—

7 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘this sec8 tion’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘section

9 240A(b)(1)’’;
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1 (2) by striking ‘‘, nor suspend the deportation

2 and adjust the status under section 244(a) (as in ef3 fect before the enactment of the Illegal Immigration

4 Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of

5 1996),’’; and

6 (3) by striking the last sentence in the sub7 section and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘The previous

8 sentence shall apply only to removal cases com9 menced on or after April 1, 1997, including cases

10 where the Attorney General exercises authority pur11 suant to paragraphs (2) or (3) of section 309(c) of

12 the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Re13 sponsibility Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–208, Divi14 sion C, 110 Stat. 3009).’’.

15 (b) Section 309, subsection (c), of the Illegal Immi16 gration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996

17 (Public Law 104–208, Division C, 110 Stat. 3009) is

18 amended by striking paragraphs (5) and (7).

19 (c) Section 240A of the Immigration and Nationality

20 Act is amended—

21 (1) in subsection (b), paragraph (3), by striking

22 ‘‘(1) or (2)’’ in the first and third sentences of that

23 paragraph and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘(1), (2), or

24 (3)’’;
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1 (2) in subsection (b), by redesignating para2 graph (3) as paragraph (4);

3 (3) in subsection (d), paragraph (1), by striking

4 ‘‘this section.’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘sub5 sections (a), (b)(1), and (b)(2).’’;

6 (4) in subsection (b), by adding after paragraph

7 (2) the following new paragraph—

8 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN ALIENS COV9 ERED BY THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT IN AMER10 ICAN BAPTIST CHURCHES ET AL. V. THORNBURGH

11 (ABC), 760 F. SUPP. 796 (N.D. CAL. 1991).—

12 ‘‘(A) The Attorney General may, in his or

13 her discretion, cancel removal and adjust the

14 status from such cancellation in the case of an

15 alien who is removable from the United States

16 if the alien demonstrates that—

17 ‘‘(i) the alien has not been convicted

18 at any time of an aggravated felony, and

19 ‘‘(I) was not apprehended after

20 December 19, 1990, at the time of

21 entry, and is either—

22 ‘‘(aa) a Salvadoran national

23 who first entered the United

24 States on or before September

25 19, 1990, who registered for ben-
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1 efits pursuant to the ABC settle2 ment agreement on or before Oc3 tober 31, 1991, or applied for

4 Temporary Protected Status on

5 or before October 31, 1991; or

6 ‘‘(bb) a Guatemalan national

7 who first entered the United

8 States on or before October 1,

9 1990, and who registered for

10 benefits pursuant to the ABC

11 settlement agreement by Decem12 ber 31, 1991; or

13 ‘‘(cc) the spouse or unmar14 ried son or daughter of an alien

15 described in (aa) who entered the

16 United States on or before Sep17 tember 19, 1990, or the spouse

18 or unmarried son or daughter of

19 an alien described in (bb) who

20 entered the United States on or

21 before October 1, 1990; or

22 ‘‘(II) is a Nicaraguan, Guate23 malan, or Salvadoran who filed an ap24 plication for asylum with the Immi25 gration and Naturalization Service be-
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1 fore April 1, 1990, and the Immigra2 tion and Naturalization Service had

3 not granted, denied, or referred that

4 application as of April 1, 1997; and

5 ‘‘(ii) the alien is not described in

6 paragraph (4) of section 237(a) or para7 graph (3) of section 212(a) of the Act; and

8 ‘‘(iii) the alien—

9 ‘‘(I) is removable under any law

10 of the United States except the provi11 sions specified in subclause (II) of this

12 clause, has been physically present in

13 the United States for a continuous pe14 riod of not less than seven years im15 mediately preceding the date of such

16 application, and proves that during all

17 of such period he was and is a person

18 of good moral character, and is a per19 son whose removal would, in the opin20 ion of the Attorney General, result in

21 extreme hardship to the alien or to his

22 spouse, parent, or child, who is a citi23 zen of the United States or an alien

24 lawfully admitted for permanent resi25 dence; or
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1 ‘‘(II) is removable under para2 graph (2) (other than section

3 237(a)(2)(A)(iii)) of section 237(a),

4 paragraph (3) of section 237(a), or

5 paragraph (2) of section 212(a), has

6 been physically present in the United

7 States for a continuous period of not

8 less than 10 years immediately follow9 ing the commission of an act, or the

10 assumption of a status, constituting a

11 ground for deportation, and proves

12 that during all of such period he has

13 been and is a person of good moral

14 character, and is a person whose re15 moval would, in the opinion of the At16 torney General, result in exceptional

17 and extremely unusual hardship to the

18 alien or to his spouse, parent or child,

19 who is a citizen of the United States,

20 or an alien lawfully admitted for per21 manent residence.

22 ‘‘(B) Subsection (d) of this section shall

23 not apply to determinations under this para24 graph, and an alien shall not be considered to

25 have failed to maintain continuous physical
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1 presence in the United States under clause

2 (A)(iii) of this paragraph if the alien dem3 onstrates that the absence from the United

4 States was brief, casual, and innocent, and did

5 not meaningfully interrupt the continuous phys6 ical presence.

7 ‘‘(C) The determination by the Attorney

8 General whether an alien meets the require9 ments of subparagraph (A) or (B) of this para10 graph is final and shall not be subject to review

11 by any court. Nothing in the preceding sentence

12 shall be construed as limiting the application of

13 subparagraph (B) of section 242(a)(2) to other

14 eligibility determinations pertaining to discre15 tionary relief under this Act.’’.

16 (d) The amendments made by this section shall be

17 effective as if included in Illegal Immigration Reform and

18 Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–

19 208, Division C, 110 Stat. 3009).

20 SEC. 3. Any alien who has become eligible for suspen21 sion of deportation or cancellation of removal as a result

22 of the amendments made by section 2, may, notwithstand23 ing any other limitations on motions to reopen imposed

24 by the Immigration and Nationality Act or by regulation,

25 file one motion to reopen to apply for suspension of depor-
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1 tation or cancellation of removal. The Attorney General

2 shall designate a specific time period in which all such mo3 tions to reopen must be filed. The period must begin no

4 later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this

5 Act and shall extend for a period of 180 days.

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