II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 615 

To provide the nonimmigrant spouses and children of nonimmigrant aliens 

who perished in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks an opportunity 

to adjust their status to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent 

residence, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2007 

Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Mr. BROWNBACK, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. REID, 

Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. DODD, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. FEINGOLD, and Mr. COLEMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide the nonimmigrant spouses and children of nonimmigrant aliens who perished in the September 11, 

2001, terrorist attacks an opportunity to adjust their 

status to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, 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 ‘‘September 11 Family 

5 Humanitarian Relief and Patriotism Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR CERTAIN NON2 IMMIGRANT VICTIMS OF TERRORISM. 

3 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The status of any alien de5 scribed in subsection (b) shall be adjusted by the 

6 Secretary of Homeland Security to that of an alien 

7 lawfully admitted for permanent residence, if the 

8 alien— 

9 (A) applies for such adjustment not later 

10 than 2 years after the date on which the Sec11 retary promulgates final regulations to imple12 ment this section; and 

13 (B) is otherwise admissible to the United 

14 States for permanent residence, except in deter15 mining such admissibility the grounds for inad16 missibility specified in paragraphs (4), (5), 

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

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

19 1182(a)) shall not apply. 

20 (2) RULES IN APPLYING CERTAIN PROVI21 SIONS.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an alien 

23 described in subsection (b) who is applying for 

24 adjustment of status under this section— 


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1 (i) the provisions of section 241(a)(5) 

2 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

3 U.S.C. 1231(a)(5)) shall not apply; and 

4 (ii) the Secretary of Homeland Secu5 rity may grant the alien a waiver on the 

6 grounds of inadmissibility under subpara7 graphs (A) and (C) of section 212(a)(9) of 

8 such Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)). 

9 (B) STANDARDS.—In granting waivers 

10 under subparagraph (A)(ii), the Secretary shall 

11 use standards used in granting consent under 

12 subparagraphs (A)(iii) and (C)(ii) of such sec13 tion 212(a)(9). 

14 (3) RELATIONSHIP OF APPLICATION TO CER15 TAIN ORDERS.— 

16 (A) APPLICATION PERMITTED.—An alien 

17 present in the United States who has been or18 dered excluded, deported, removed, or ordered 

19 to depart voluntarily from the United States 

20 under any provision of the Immigration and 

21 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) may, 

22 notwithstanding such order, apply for adjust23 ment of status under paragraph (1). 

24 (B) MOTION NOT REQUIRED.—An alien 

25 described in subparagraph (A) may not be reVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:54 Feb 18, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S615.IS S615

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1 quired, as a condition of submitting or granting 

2 such application, to file a separate motion to re3 open, reconsider, or vacate such order. 

4 (C) EFFECT OF DECISION.—If the Sec5 retary of Homeland Security grants a request 

6 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 

7 cancel the order. If the Secretary renders a 

8 final administrative decision to deny the re9 quest, the order shall be effective and enforce10 able to the same extent as if the application had 

11 not been made. 

12 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA13 TUS.—The benefits provided by subsection (a) shall apply 

14 to any alien who— 

15 (1) was lawfully present in the United States as 

16 a nonimmigrant alien described in section 

17 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

18 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)) on September 10, 2001; 

19 (2) was, on such date, the spouse, child, de20 pendent son, or dependent daughter of an alien 

21 who— 

22 (A) was lawfully present in the United 

23 States as a nonimmigrant alien described in 

24 section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and NaVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:54 Feb 18, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S615.IS S615

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1 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)) on such 

2 date; and 

3 (B) died as a direct result of a specified 

4 terrorist activity; and 

5 (3) was deemed to be a beneficiary of, and by, 

6 the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 

7 2001 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note). 

8 (c) STAY OF REMOVAL; WORK AUTHORIZATION.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

10 Security shall establish, by regulation, a process by 

11 which an alien subject to a final order of removal 

12 may seek a stay of such order based on the filing 

13 of an application under subsection (a). 

14 (2) DURING CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS.—Notwith15 standing any provision of the Immigration and Na16 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), the Secretary 

17 of Homeland Security shall not order any alien to be 

18 removed from the United States, if the alien is in re19 moval proceedings under any provision of such Act 

20 and has applied for adjustment of status under sub21 section (a), except where the Secretary has rendered 

22 a final administrative determination to deny the ap23 plication. 

24 (3) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of 

25 Homeland Security shall authorize an alien who has 


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1 applied for adjustment of status under subsection 

2 (a) to engage in employment in the United States 

3 during the pendency of such application. 

4 (d) AVAILABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.— 

5 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide to ap6 plicants for adjustment of status under subsection (a) the 

7 same right to, and procedures for, administrative review 

8 as are provided to— 

9 (1) applicants for adjustment of status under 

10 section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

11 (8 U.S.C. 1255); or 

12 (2) aliens subject to removal proceedings under 

13 section 240 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a). 

14 SEC. 3. CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL FOR CERTAIN IMMI15 GRANT VICTIMS OF TERRORISM. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of the 

17 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), 

18 other than subsections (b)(1), (d)(1), and (e) of section 

19 240A of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1229b), the Secretary of 

20 Homeland Security shall, under such section 240A, cancel 

21 the removal of, and adjust to the status of an alien law22 fully admitted for permanent residence, an alien described 

23 in subsection (b), if the alien applies for such relief. 


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1 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR CANCELLATION OF RE2 MOVAL.—The benefits provided by subsection (a) shall 

3 apply to any alien who— 

4 (1) was, on September 10, 2001, the spouse, 

5 child, dependent son, or dependent daughter of an 

6 alien who died as a direct result of a specified ter7 rorist activity; and 

8 (2) was deemed to be a beneficiary of, and by, 

9 the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 

10 2001 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note). 

11 (c) STAY OF REMOVAL; WORK AUTHORIZATION.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

13 Security shall provide by regulation for an alien sub14 ject to a final order of removal to seek a stay of 

15 such order based on the filing of an application 

16 under subsection (a). 

17 (2) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of 

18 Homeland Security shall authorize an alien who has 

19 applied for cancellation of removal under subsection 

20 (a) to engage in employment in the United States 

21 during the pendency of such application. 

22 (d) MOTIONS TO REOPEN REMOVAL PRO23 CEEDINGS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any limita25 tion imposed by law on motions to reopen removal 


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1 proceedings (except limitations premised on an 

2 alien’s conviction of an aggravated felony (as defined 

3 in section 101(a)(43) of the Immigration and Na4 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43))), any alien who 

5 has become eligible for cancellation of removal as a 

6 result of the enactment of this section may file 1 

7 motion to reopen removal proceedings to apply for 

8 such relief. 

9 (2) FILING PERIOD.—The Secretary of Home10 land Security shall designate a specific time period 

11 in which all such motions to reopen are required to 

12 be filed. The period shall begin not later than 60 

13 days after the date of enactment of this Act and 

14 shall extend for a period not to exceed 240 days. 

15 SEC. 4. EXCEPTIONS. 

16 Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, an 

17 alien may not be provided relief under this Act if the alien 

18 is— 

19 (1) inadmissible under paragraph (2) or (3) of 

20 section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

21 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)), or deportable under para22 graph (2) or (4) of section 237(a) of such Act (8 

23 U.S.C. 1227(a)), including any individual culpable 

24 for a specified terrorist activity; or 


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1 (2) a family member of an alien described in 

2 paragraph (1). 

3 SEC. 5. EVIDENCE OF DEATH. 

4 For purposes of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland 

5 Security shall use the standards established under section 

6 426 of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Pro7 viding Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Ob8 struct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT Act) Act of 2001 (115 

9 Stat. 362) in determining whether death occurred as a di10 rect result of a specified terrorist activity. 

11 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

12 (a) APPLICATION OF IMMIGRATION AND NATION13 ALITY ACT PROVISIONS.—Except as otherwise specifically 

14 provided in this Act, the definitions used in the Immigra15 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), other 

16 than the definitions applicable exclusively to title III of 

17 such Act, shall apply in the administration of this Act. 

18 (b) SPECIFIED TERRORIST ACTIVITY.—For purposes 

19 of this Act, the term ‘‘specified terrorist activity’’ means 

20 any terrorist activity conducted against the Government 

21 or the people of the United States on September 11, 2001. 

Æ 


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