I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1844

To provide for adjustment of status for certain aliens granted temporary

protected status in the United States because of conditions in Lebanon.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 18, 1999

Mr. LAHOOD (for himself, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. KILDEE, Mr.

SUNUNU, Mr. FROST, Mr. DINGELL, and Mr. LATOURETTE) introduced

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide for adjustment of status for certain aliens granted

temporary protected status in the United States because

of conditions in Lebanon.

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 ‘‘Lebanese Adjustment

5 Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR CERTAIN NATIONALS

7 OF LEBANON.

8 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The status of any alien de2 scribed in subsection (b) shall be adjusted by the At3 torney General to that of an alien lawfully admitted

4 for permanent residence, if the alien—

5 (A) applies for such adjustment not later

6 than the date that is 18 months after the date

7 of the enactment of this Act; and

8 (B) is otherwise admissible to the United

9 States for permanent residence, except in deter10 mining such admissibility the grounds for inad11 missibility specified in paragraphs (4), (5),

12 (6)(A), (7)(A), and (9)(B) of section 212(a) of

13 the 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 of submitting or granting such application,

24 to file a separate motion to reopen, reconsider, or

25 vacate such order. If the Attorney General grants
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1 the application, the Attorney General shall cancel

2 the order. If the Attorney General renders a final

3 administrative decision to deny the application, the

4 order shall be effective and enforceable to the same

5 extent as if the application had not been made.

6 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA7 TUS.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The benefits provided by

9 subsection (a) shall apply to any alien who—

10 (A) was granted temporary protected sta11 tus in the United States by the Attorney Gen12 eral pursuant to the designation of Lebanon

13 under section 244A(b) of the Immigration and

14 Nationality Act (as in effect on the date of the

15 designation) on March 21, 1991, or any exten16 sion of the designation;

17 (B) prior to December 9, 1993, was per18 mitted by the Attorney General voluntarily to

19 depart the United States, in lieu of being sub20 ject to deportation proceedings or prior to the

21 completion of such proceedings; and

22 (C) has been physically present in the

23 United States for a continuous period, begin24 ning not later than March 28, 1993, and end25 ing not earlier than the date the application for
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1 adjustment under such subsection is filed, ex2 cept an alien shall not be considered to have

3 failed to maintain continuous physical presence

4 by reason of an absence, or absences, from the

5 United States for any periods in the aggregate

6 not exceeding 180 days.

7 (2) PROOF OF COMMENCEMENT OF CONTIN8 UOUS PRESENCE.—For purposes of establishing that

9 the period of continuous physical presence referred

10 to in paragraph (1)(C) commenced not later than

11 March 28, 1993, an alien—

12 (A) shall demonstrate that the alien, prior

13 to March 28, 1993—

14 (i) performed service, or engaged in a

15 trade or business, within the United States

16 which is evidenced by records maintained

17 by the Commissioner of Social Security; or

18 (ii) applied for any benefit under the

19 Immigration and Nationality Act by means

20 of an application establishing the alien’s

21 presence in the United States prior to

22 March 28, 1993; or

23 (B) shall make such other demonstration

24 of physical presence as the Attorney General

25 may provide for by regulation.
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1 (c) STAY OF REMOVAL; WORK AUTHORIZATION.—

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

3 provide by regulation for an alien subject to a final

4 order of deportation or removal to seek a stay of

5 such order based on the filing of an application

6 under subsection (a).

7 (2) DURING CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS.—Notwith8 standing any provision of the Immigration and Na9 tionality Act, the Attorney General shall not order

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

11 the alien is in exclusion, deportation, or removal pro12 ceedings under any provision of such Act and has

13 applied for adjustment of status under subsection

14 (a), except where the Attorney General has rendered

15 a final administrative determination to deny the ap16 plication.

17 (3) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney

18 General may authorize an alien who has applied for

19 adjustment of status under subsection (a) to engage

20 in employment in the United States during the

21 pendency of such application and may provide the

22 alien with an ‘‘employment authorized’’ endorsement

23 or other appropriate document signifying authoriza24 tion of employment, except that if such application

25 is pending for a period exceeding 180 days, and has
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1 not been denied, the Attorney General shall author2 ize such employment.

3 (d) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR SPOUSES AND

4 CHILDREN.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The status of an alien shall

6 be adjusted by the Attorney General to that of an

7 alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, if

8 the alien—

9 (A) is the spouse, child, or unmarried son

10 or daughter, of an alien whose status is ad11 justed to that of an alien lawfully admitted for

12 permanent residence under subsection (a), ex13 cept that in the case of such an unmarried son

14 or daughter, the son or daughter shall be re15 quired to establish that they have been phys16 ically present in the United States for a contin17 uous period, beginning not later than March 28,

18 1993, and ending not earlier than the date the

19 application for adjustment under this sub20 section is filed;

21 (B) applies for such adjustment not later

22 than the date that is 18 months after the date

23 of the enactment of this Act and is physically

24 present in the United States on the date the

25 application is filed; and
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1 (C) is otherwise admissible to the United

2 States for permanent residence, except in deter3 mining such admissibility the grounds for exclu4 sion specified in paragraphs (4), (5), (6)(A),

5 (7)(A), and (9)(B) of section 212(a) of the Im6 migration and Nationality Act shall not apply.

7 (2) PROOF OF CONTINUOUS PRESENCE.—For

8 purposes of establishing the period of continuous

9 physical presence referred to in paragraph (1)(A),

10 an alien—

11 (A) shall demonstrate that such period

12 commenced not later than March 28, 1993, in

13 a manner consistent with subsection (b)(2); and

14 (B) shall not be considered to have failed

15 to maintain continuous physical presence by

16 reason of an absence, or absences, from the

17 United States for any period in the aggregate

18 not exceeding 180 days.

19 (e) AVAILABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—

20 The Attorney General shall provide to applicants for ad21 justment of status under subsection (a) the same right to,

22 and procedures for, administrative review as are provided

23 to—
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1 (1) applicants for adjustment of status under

2 section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act;

3 or

4 (2) aliens subject to removal proceedings under

5 section 240 of such Act.

6 (f) LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A deter7 mination by the Attorney General as to whether the status

8 of any alien should be adjusted under this section is final

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

10 (g) APPLICATION OF IMMIGRATION AND NATION11 ALITY ACT PROVISIONS.—Except as otherwise specifically

12 provided in this section, the definitions contained in the

13 Immigration and Nationality Act shall apply in the admin14 istration of this section. Nothing contained in this section

15 shall be held to repeal, amend, alter, modify, affect, or

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

17 Attorney General in the administration and enforcement

18 of such Act or any other law relating to immigration, na19 tionality, or naturalization. The fact that an alien may be

20 eligible to be granted the status of having been lawfully

21 admitted for permanent residence under this section shall

22 not preclude the alien from seeking such status under any

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

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