I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1806

To provide for the adjustment of status of certain nationals of Liberia

to that of lawful permanent residence.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 10, 2001

Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island (for himself, Mr. FRANK, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms.

MCCOLLUM, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Ms.

JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. CLAY, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr.

MCNULTY, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. MCGOVERN,

Mr. HILLIARD, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. WYNN, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr.

MEEKS of New York, Mr. LANGEVIN, and Mr. OWENS) introduced the

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

A BILL

To provide for the adjustment of status of certain nationals

of Liberia to that of lawful permanent residence.

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 referred to as the ‘‘Liberian Refugee

5 Immigration Fairness Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.

7 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—
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1 (A) ELIGIBILITY.—The Attorney General

2 shall adjust the status of an alien described in

3 subsection (b) to that of an alien lawfully ad4 mitted for permanent residence, if the alien—

5 (i) applies for adjustment before April

6 1, 2003; and

7 (ii) is otherwise eligible to receive an

8 immigrant visa and is otherwise admissible

9 to the United States for permanent resi10 dence, except that, in determining such ad11 missibility, the grounds for inadmissibility

12 specified in paragraphs (4), (5), (6)(A),

13 and (7)(A) of section 212(a) of the Immi14 gration and Nationality Act shall not

15 apply.

16 (B) INELIGIBLE ALIENS.—An alien shall

17 not be eligible for adjustment of status under

18 this section if the Attorney General finds that

19 the alien has been convicted of—

20 (i) any aggravated felony (as defined

21 in section 101(a)(43) of the Immigration

22 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.

23 1101(a)(43)); or

24 (ii) two or more crimes involving

25 moral turpitude.
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1 (2) RELATIONSHIP OF APPLICATION TO CER2 TAIN ORDERS.—An alien present in the United

3 States who has been ordered excluded, deported, re4 moved, or ordered to depart voluntarily from the

5 United States under any provision of the Immigra6 tion and Nationality Act may, notwithstanding such

7 order, apply for adjustment of status under para8 graph (1), if otherwise qualified under that para9 graph. Such an alien may not be required, as a con10 dition on submitting or granting such application, to

11 file a separate motion to reopen, reconsider, or va12 cate such order. If the Attorney General grants the

13 application, the Attorney General shall cancel the

14 order. If the Attorney General makes a final decision

15 to deny the application, the order shall be effective

16 and enforceable to the same extent as if the applica17 tion had not been made.

18 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA19 TUS.—

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

21 subsection (a) shall apply to any alien—

22 (A) who is—

23 (i) a national of Liberia; and

24 (ii) has been continuously present in

25 the United States from January 1, 2001,
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1 through the date of application under sub2 section (a); or

3 (B) who is the spouse, child, or unmarried

4 son or daughter of an alien described in sub5 paragraph (A).

6 (2) DETERMINATION OF CONTINUOUS PHYS7 ICAL PRESENCE.—For purposes of establishing the

8 period of continuous physical presence referred to in

9 paragraph (1), an alien shall not be considered to

10 have failed to maintain continuous physical presence

11 by reasons of an absence, or absences, from the

12 United States for any period or periods amounting

13 in the aggregate to not more than 180 days.

14 (c) STAY OF REMOVAL.—

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

16 provide by regulation for an alien who is subject to

17 a final order of deportation or removal or exclusion

18 to seek a stay of such order based on the filing of

19 an application under subsection (a).

20 (2) DURING CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS.—Notwith21 standing any provision of the Immigration and Na22 tionality Act, the Attorney General shall not order

23 an alien to be removed from the United States if

24 the alien is in exclusion, deportation, or removal pro25 ceedings under any provision of such Act and has
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1 applied for adjustment of status under subsection

2 (a), except where the Attorney General has made a

3 final determination to deny the application.

4 (3) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney

5 General may authorize an alien who has applied for

6 adjustment of status under subsection (a) to engage

7 in employment in the United States during the

8 pendency of such application and may provide the

9 alien with an ‘‘employment authorized’’ endorsement

10 or other appropriate document signifying authoriza11 tion of employment, except that, if such application

12 is pending for a period exceeding 180 days and has

13 not been denied, the Attorney General shall author14 ize such employment.

15 (d) RECORD OF PERMANENT RESIDENCE.—Upon

16 approval of an alien’s application for adjustment of status

17 under subsection (a), the Attorney General shall establish

18 a record of the alien’s admission for permanent record as

19 of the date of the alien’s arrival in the United States.

20 (e) AVAILABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—

21 The Attorney General shall provide to applicants for ad22 justment of status under subsection (a) the same right to,

23 and procedures for, administrative review as are provided

24 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) NO OFFSET IN NUMBER OF VISAS AVAILABLE.—

11 Whenever an alien is granted the status of having been

12 lawfully admitted for permanent residence pursuant to

13 this section, the Secretary of State shall not be required

14 to reduce the number of immigrant visas authorized to be

15 issued under any provision of the Immigration and Na16 tionality Act.

17 (h) APPLICATION OF IMMIGRATION AND NATION18 ALITY ACT PROVISIONS.—Except as otherwise specifically

19 provided in this Act, the definitions contained in the Immi20 gration and Nationality Act shall apply in the administra21 tion of this section. Nothing contained in the Act shall

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

23 the powers, duties, function, or authority of the Attorney

24 General in the administration and enforcement of such

25 Act or any other law relating to immigration, nationality,
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1 or naturalization. The fact that an alien may be eligible

2 to be granted the status of having been lawfully admitted

3 for permanent residence under this section shall not pre4 clude the alien from seeking such status under any other

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

Æ