II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1504

To adjust the immigration status of certain Haitian nationals who were

provided refuge in the United States.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 9, 1997

Mr. GRAHAM (for himself, Mr. MACK, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. ABRAHAM, and Ms.

MOSELEY-BRAUN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To adjust the immigration status of certain Haitian nationals

who were provided refuge in 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. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Haitian Refugee Immi5 gration Fairness Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF CERTAIN HAITIAN NA7 TIONALS.

8 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section

10 245(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the
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1 status of any alien described in subsection (b) shall

2 be adjusted by the Attorney General to that of an

3 alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, if

4 the alien—

5 (A) applies for such adjustment before

6 April 1, 2000; and

7 (B) is otherwise eligible to receive an im8 migrant visa and is otherwise admissible to the

9 United States for permanent residence, except

10 in determining such admissibility the grounds

11 for inadmissibility specified in paragraphs (4),

12 (5), (6)(A), and (7)(A) of section 212(a) of the

13 Immigration and Nationality Act shall not

14 apply.

15 (2) RELATIONSHIP OF APPLICATION TO CER16 TAIN ORDERS.—An alien present in the United

17 States who has been ordered excluded, deported, re18 moved, or ordered to depart voluntarily from the

19 United States under any provision of the Immigra20 tion and Nationality Act may, notwithstanding such

21 order, apply for adjustment of status under para22 graph (1). Such an alien may not be required, as a

23 condition on submitting or granting such applica24 tion, to file a motion to reopen, reconsider, or vacate

25 such order. If the Attorney General grants the appli-
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1 cation, the Attorney General shall cancel the order.

2 If the Attorney General renders a final administra3 tive decision to deny the application, the order shall

4 be effective and enforceable to the same extent as if

5 the application had not been made.

6 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA7 TUS.—The benefits provided by subsection (a) shall apply

8 to any alien who is a national of Haiti—

9 (1) who filed for asylum before December 31,

10 1995, or was paroled into the United States prior to

11 December 31, 1995, after having been identified as

12 having a credible fear of persecution, or paroled for

13 emergent reasons or reasons deemed strictly in the

14 public interest, and

15 (2) has been physically present in the United

16 States for at least 1 year and is physically present

17 in the United States on the date the application for

18 such adjustment is filed, except an alien shall not be

19 considered to have failed to maintain continuous

20 physical presence by reason of an absence, or ab21 sences, from the United States for any periods in

22 the aggregate not exceeding 180 days.

23 (c) STAY OF REMOVAL.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall

25 provide by regulation for an alien subject to a final
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1 order of deportation or removal or exclusion to seek

2 a stay of such order based on the filing of an appli3 cation under subsection (a).

4 (2) DURING CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS.—Notwith5 standing any provision of the Immigration and Na6 tionality Act, the Attorney General shall not order

7 any alien to be removed from the United States, if

8 the alien is in exclusion, deportation, or removal pro9 ceedings under any provision of such Act and raises

10 as a defense to such an order the eligibility of the

11 alien to apply for adjustment of status under sub12 section (a), except where the Attorney General has

13 rendered a final administrative determination to

14 deny the application.

15 (3) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney

16 General may authorize an alien who has applied for

17 adjustment of status under subsection (a) to engage

18 in employment in the United States during the

19 pendency of such application and may provide the

20 alien with an ‘‘employment authorized’’ endorsement

21 or other appropriate document signifying authoriza22 tion of employment, except that if such application

23 is pending for a period exceeding 180 days, and has

24 not been denied, the Attorney General shall author25 ize such employment.
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1 (d) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR SPOUSES AND

2 CHILDREN.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section

4 245(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the

5 status of an alien shall be adjusted by the Attorney

6 General to that of an alien lawfully admitted for per7 manent residence, if—

8 (A) the alien is a national of Haiti;

9 (B) the alien is the spouse, child, or un10 married son or daughter, of an alien whose sta11 tus is adjusted to that of an alien lawfully ad12 mitted for permanent residence under sub13 section (a), except that in the case of such an

14 unmarried son or daughter, the son or daughter

15 shall be required to establish that they have

16 been physically present in the United States for

17 at least 1 year and is physically present in the

18 United States on the date the application for

19 such adjustment is filed.

20 (C) the alien applies for such adjustment

21 and is physically present in the United States

22 on the date the application is filed; and

23 (D) the alien is otherwise eligible to receive

24 an immigration visa and is otherwise admissible

25 to the United States for permanent residence,
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1 except in determining such admissibility the

2 grounds for exclusion specified in paragraphs

3 (4), (5), (6)(A), and (7)(A) of section 212(a) of

4 the Immigration and Nationality Act shall not

5 apply.

6 (2) PROOF OF CONTINUOUS PRESENCE.—For

7 purposes of establishing the period of continuous

8 physical presence referred to in paragraph (1)(B),

9 an alien shall not be considered to have failed to

10 maintain continuous physical presence by reason of

11 an absence, or absences, from the United States for

12 any periods in aggregate not exceeding 180 days.

13 (e) AVAILABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—

14 The Attorney General shall provide to applicants for ad15 justment of status under subsection (a) the same right to,

16 and procedures for, administrative review as are provided

17 to—

18 (1) applicants for adjustment of status under

19 section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act;

20 or

21 (2) aliens subject to removal proceedings under

22 section 240 of such Act.

23 (f) LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A deter24 mination by the Attorney General as to whether the status
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1 of any alien should be adjusted under this section is final

2 and shall not be subject to review by any court.

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

4 When an alien is granted the status of having been law5 fully admitted for permanent resident pursuant to this

6 section, the Secretary of State shall not be required to re7 duce the number of immigrant visas authorized to be is8 sued under any provision of the Immigration and Nation9 ality Act.

10 (h) APPLICATION OF IMMIGRATION AND NATIONAL11 ITY ACT PROVISIONS.—Except as otherwise specifically

12 provided in this Act, the definitions contained in the Immi13 gration and Nationality Act shall apply in the administra14 tion of this section. Nothing contained in this Act shall

15 be held to repeal, amend, alter, modify, effect, or restrict

16 the powers, duties, functions, or authority of the Attorney

17 General in the administration and enforcement of such

18 Act or any other law relating to immigration, nationality,

19 or naturalization. The fact that an alien may be eligible

20 to be granted the status of having been lawfully admitted

21 for permanent residence under this section shall not pre22 clude the alien from seeking such status under any other

23 provision of law for which the alien may be eligible.

Æ