I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2098 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a veterans visa 

program to permit veterans who have been removed from the United 

States to return as immigrants, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 4, 2019 

Mr. GRIJALVA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Armed 

Services, and Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish 

a veterans visa program to permit veterans who have 

been removed from the United States to return as immigrants, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Visa and Pro5 tection Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ARMED FORCES.—The term ‘‘Armed 

2 Forces’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘armed 

3 forces’’ in section 101 of title 10, United States 

4 Code. 

5 (2) CRIME OF VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘crime of 

6 violence’’ means an offense defined in section 16(a) 

7 of title 18, United States Code— 

8 (A) that is not a purely political offense; 

9 and 

10 (B) for which a noncitizen has served a 

11 term of imprisonment of at least 5 years. 

12 (3) ELIGIBLE VETERAN.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible vet14 eran’’ means a veteran who— 

15 (i) is a noncitizen; and 

16 (ii) meets the criteria described in sec17 tion 3(e). 

18 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘eligible vet19 eran’’ includes a veteran who— 

20 (i) was removed from the United 

21 States; or 

22 (ii) is abroad and is inadmissible 

23 under section 212(a) of the Immigration 

24 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)). 


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1 (4) NONCITIZEN.—The term ‘‘noncitizen’’ 

2 means an individual who is not a citizen or national 

3 of the United States (as defined in section 101(a) of 

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

5 1101(a))). 

6 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

7 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

8 (6) SERVICE MEMBER.—The term ‘‘service 

9 member’’ means an individual who is serving as a 

10 member of— 

11 (A) a regular or reserve component of the 

12 Armed Forces on active duty; or 

13 (B) a reserve component of the Armed 

14 Forces in an active status. 

15 (7) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 

16 meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, 

17 United States Code. 

18 SEC. 3. RETURN OF ELIGIBLE VETERANS REMOVED FROM 

19 THE UNITED STATES; ADJUSTMENT OF STA20 TUS. 

21 (a) PROGRAM FOR ADMISSION AND ADJUSTMENT OF

22 STATUS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 

23 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a pro24 gram and an application procedure that allows— 


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1 (1) eligible veterans outside the United States 

2 to be admitted to the United States as noncitizens 

3 lawfully admitted for permanent residence (as de4 fined in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Na5 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)); and 

6 (2) eligible veterans in the United States to ad7 just status to that of noncitizens lawfully admitted 

8 for permanent residence. 

9 (b) VETERANS ORDERED REMOVED.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, in the 

12 case of noncitizen veterans who are the subjects of 

13 final orders of removal, including noncitizen veterans 

14 who are outside the United States, the Attorney 

15 General shall— 

16 (A) reopen the removal proceedings of each 

17 such noncitizen veteran; and 

18 (B) make a determination with respect to 

19 whether each such noncitizen veteran is an eli20 gible veteran. 

21 (2) RESCISSION OF REMOVAL ORDER.—In the 

22 case of a determination under paragraph (1)(B) that 

23 a noncitizen veteran is an eligible veteran, the Attor24 ney General shall— 

25 (A) rescind the order of removal; 


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1 (B) adjust the status of the eligible veteran 

2 to that of a noncitizen lawfully admitted for 

3 permanent residence; and 

4 (C) terminate removal proceedings. 

5 (c) VETERANS IN REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, in the 

8 case of noncitizen veterans, the removal proceedings 

9 of whom are pending as of the date of the enactment 

10 of this Act, the Attorney General shall make a deter11 mination with respect to whether each such noncit12 izen veteran is an eligible veteran. 

13 (2) TERMINATION OF PROCEEDINGS.—In the 

14 case of a determination under paragraph (1) that a 

15 noncitizen veteran is an eligible veteran, the Attor16 ney General shall— 

17 (A) adjust the status of the eligible veteran 

18 to that of a noncitizen lawfully admitted for 

19 permanent residence; and 

20 (B) terminate removal proceedings. 

21 (d) NO NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.—Nothing in this 

22 section or in any other law may be construed to apply a 

23 numerical limitation on the number of veterans who may 

24 be eligible to receive a benefit under this section. 

25 (e) ELIGIBILITY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sections 

2 212 and 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

3 (8 U.S.C. 1182 and 1227) or any other provision of 

4 law, a noncitizen veteran shall be eligible to partici5 pate in the program established under subsection (a) 

6 or for adjustment of status under subsections (b) or 

7 (c), as applicable, if the Secretary or the Attorney 

8 General, as applicable, determines that the noncit9 izen veteran— 

10 (A) was not removed or ordered removed 

11 from the United States based on a conviction 

12 for— 

13 (i) a crime of violence; or 

14 (ii) a crime that endangers the na15 tional security of the United States for 

16 which the noncitizen veteran has served a 

17 term of imprisonment of at least 5 years; 

18 and 

19 (B) is not inadmissible to, or deportable 

20 from, the United States based on a conviction 

21 for a crime described in subparagraph (A). 

22 (2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the ap23 plication of paragraph (1)— 

24 (A) for humanitarian purposes; 

25 (B) to ensure family unity; 


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1 (C) based on exceptional service in the 

2 Armed Forces; or 

3 (D) if a waiver otherwise is in the public 

4 interest. 

5 SEC. 4. PROTECTING VETERANS AND SERVICE MEMBERS 

6 FROM REMOVAL. 

7 Notwithstanding section 237 of the Immigration and 

8 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1227) or any other provision 

9 of law, a noncitizen who is a veteran or service member 

10 may not be removed from the United States unless the 

11 noncitizen has been convicted for a crime of violence. 

12 SEC. 5. NATURALIZATION THROUGH SERVICE IN THE 

13 ARMED FORCES. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), a non15 citizen who has obtained the status of a noncitizen lawfully 

16 admitted for permanent residence pursuant to section 3 

17 shall be eligible for naturalization through service in the 

18 Armed Forces under sections 328 and 329 of the Immi19 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1439 and 1440). 

20 (b) SPECIAL RULES.— 

21 (1) GOOD MORAL CHARACTER.—In determining 

22 whether a noncitizen described in subsection (a) is 

23 a person of good moral character, the Secretary 

24 shall disregard the one or more grounds on which 

25 the noncitizen was— 


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1 (A) removed or ordered removed from the 

2 United States; or 

3 (B) rendered inadmissible to, or deportable 

4 from, the United States. 

5 (2) PERIODS OF ABSENCE.—The Secretary 

6 shall disregard any period of absence from the 

7 United States of a noncitizen described in subsection 

8 (a) due to the noncitizen having been removed from, 

9 or being inadmissible to, the United States if the 

10 noncitizen satisfies the applicable requirement relat11 ing to continuous residence or physical presence. 

12 SEC. 6. ACCESS TO MILITARY BENEFITS. 

13 A noncitizen who has obtained the status of a noncit14 izen lawfully admitted for permanent residence pursuant 

15 to section 3 shall be eligible for all military and veterans 

16 benefits for which the noncitizen would have been eligible 

17 had the noncitizen not been ordered removed from the 

18 United States, voluntarily departed the United States, or 

19 rendered inadmissible to, or deportable from, the United 

20 States, as applicable. 

21 SEC. 7. IMPLEMENTATION. 

22 (a) IDENTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall identify 

23 noncitizen service members and veterans at risk of re24 moval from the United States by— 


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1 (1) before initiating a removal proceeding 

2 against a noncitizen, asking the noncitizen whether 

3 he or she is serving, or has served as a member of— 

4 (A) a regular or reserve component of the 

5 Armed Forces on active duty; or 

6 (B) a reserve component of the Armed 

7 Forces in an active status; 

8 (2) requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs 

9 Enforcement personnel to seek supervisory approval 

10 before initiating a removal proceeding against a 

11 service member or veteran; and 

12 (3) keeping records of any service member or 

13 veteran who has been— 

14 (A) the subject of a removal proceeding; 

15 (B) detained by the Director of U.S. Immi16 gration and Customs Enforcement; or 

17 (C) removed from the United States. 

18 (b) RECORD ANNOTATION.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a noncitizen 

20 service member or veteran identified under sub21 section (a), the Secretary shall annotate all immigra22 tion and naturalization records of the Department of 

23 Homeland Security relating to the noncitizen— 

24 (A) to reflect that the noncitizen is a serv25 ice member or veteran; and 


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1 (B) to afford an opportunity to track the 

2 outcomes for the noncitizen. 

3 (2) CONTENTS OF ANNOTATION.—Each annota4 tion under paragraph (1) shall include— 

5 (A) the branch of military service in which 

6 the noncitizen is serving, or has served; 

7 (B) whether the noncitizen is serving, or 

8 has served, during a period of military hos9 tilities described in section 329 of the Immigra10 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1440); 

11 (C) the immigration status of the noncit12 izen on the date of enlistment; 

13 (D) whether the noncitizen is serving hon14 orably or was separated under honorable condi15 tions; 

16 (E) the ground on which removal of the 

17 noncitizen from the United States was sought; 

18 and 

19 (F) in the case of a noncitizen the removal 

20 proceedings of whom were initiated on the basis 

21 of a criminal conviction, the crime for which the 

22 noncitizen was convicted. 


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1 SEC. 8. REGULATIONS. 

2 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact3 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate regula4 tions to implement this Act. 

Æ 


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