I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1452

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit certain long-term

permanent resident aliens to seek cancellation of removal under such

Act, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 4, 2001

Mr. FRANK (for himself, Mr. FROST, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr.

KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. BALDACCI,

Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. FILNER, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mrs.

MINK of Hawaii, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr.

GEORGE MILLER of California, and Mr. LANGEVIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit

certain long-term permanent resident aliens to seek cancellation of removal under such Act, 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 ‘‘Family Reunification

5 Act of 2001’’.
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1 SEC. 2. RESTORING ATTORNEY GENERAL’S DISCRETION TO

2 GRANT CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL TO

3 LONG-TERM PERMANENT RESIDENT ALIENS

4 WHEN APPROPRIATE.

5 (a) CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL FOR CERTAIN PER6 MANENT RESIDENTS.—Section 240A(a) of the Immigra7 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229b(a)) is amended

8 to read as follows:

9 ‘‘(a) CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL FOR CERTAIN

10 PERMANENT RESIDENTS.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may

12 cancel removal in the case of an alien who is inad13 missible or deportable from the United States, if the

14 alien—

15 ‘‘(A) has been an alien lawfully admitted

16 for permanent residence for not less than 5

17 years;

18 ‘‘(B) has resided in the United States con19 tinuously for 7 years after having been admit20 ted in any status; and

21 ‘‘(C) has not been convicted of—

22 ‘‘(i) an aggravated felony or felonies

23 for which the alien has been sentenced, in

24 the aggregate, to a term of imprisonment

25 of 5 years or more; or
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1 ‘‘(ii) in the case of sentencing imposed

2 under a system of indeterminate sen3 tencing (as defined in section 20101 of the

4 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforce5 ment Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13701)), an

6 aggravated felony or felonies for which—

7 ‘‘(I) the midpoint of the statutory

8 range of sentence applicable to the fel9 ony or felonies is, in the aggregate, 5

10 years or more; or

11 ‘‘(II) the alien has served, in the

12 aggregate, a term of imprisonment of

13 5 years or more.

14 ‘‘(2) NO DANGER TO PERSONS OR PROPERTY.—

15 In the case of an alien convicted of an aggravated

16 felony involving violence, the Attorney General may

17 exercise the discretion described in paragraph (1)

18 only after making a written determination that the

19 action poses no danger to the safety of persons or

20 property.

21 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION OF TERM OF IMPRISON22 MENT.—For purposes of this subsection (and any

23 other determination under this Act made solely with

24 respect to an alien whose removal is canceled under

25 this subsection), section 101(a)(48)(B) shall be ap-
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1 plied so as to exclude from the time periods defined

2 in the section any period of suspension of the impo3 sition or execution of a term of imprisonment or a

4 sentence in whole or in part.

5 ‘‘(4) RELEASE FROM DETENTION PENDING DE6 CISION.—Notwithstanding section 236(c)(2), the At7 torney General may release an alien applying for

8 cancellation of removal under this subsection, pend9 ing a decision on whether the alien is to be removed

10 from the United States, if the alien demonstrates to

11 the satisfaction of the Attorney General that the

12 alien is not a threat to the community and is likely

13 to appear for any scheduled proceeding. A decision

14 relating to such release shall be made in accordance

15 with a procedure that considers the severity of the

16 offense committed by the alien.’’.

17 (b) CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL FOR CERTAIN

18 OTHER PERMANENT RESIDENTS FOR URGENT HUMANI19 TARIAN REASONS OR SIGNIFICANT PUBLIC BENEFIT.—

20 Section 240A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8

21 U.S.C. 1229b) is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing:

23 ‘‘(f) CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL FOR CERTAIN

24 PERMANENT RESIDENTS FOR URGENT HUMANITARIAN

25 REASONS OR SIGNIFICANT PUBLIC BENEFIT.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an alien oth2 erwise eligible for cancellation of removal under sub3 section (a), except that the alien has been convicted

4 of an aggravated felony that renders the alien un5 able to satisfy the requirement in subsection

6 (a)(1)(C), the Attorney General may cancel removal

7 of the alien under such conditions as the Attorney

8 General may prescribe, but only—

9 ‘‘(A) on a case-by-case basis for urgent hu10 manitarian reasons, significant public benefit

11 (including assuring family unity), or any other

12 sufficiently compelling reason; and

13 ‘‘(B) after making a written determination

14 that the cancellation of removal poses no dan15 ger to the safety of persons or property.

16 ‘‘(2) RELEASE FROM DETENTION PENDING DE17 CISION.—Subsection (a)(4) shall apply to release of

18 an alien applying for cancellation of removal under

19 this subsection in the same manner as such sub20 section applies to an alien applying under subsection

21 (a).’’.

22 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

23 subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect as if included in

24 the enactment of section 304 of the Illegal Immigration
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1 Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (Public

2 Law 104–208; 110 Stat. 3009–587).

3 SEC. 3. CHANGE IN CONDITIONS FOR TERMINATION OF PE4 RIOD OF CONTINUOUS RESIDENCE OR CON5 TINUOUS PHYSICAL PRESENCE.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 240A(d)(1) of the Immi7 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229b(d)(1)) is

8 amended to read as follows:

9 ‘‘(1) TERMINATION OF CONTINUOUS PERIOD.—

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this

11 section, any period of continuous residence or

12 continuous physical presence in the United

13 States of an alien shall be deemed to end upon

14 the alien’s failure to attend a proceeding under

15 section 240, unless—

16 ‘‘(i) the Attorney General determines

17 not to seek a removal order in absentia

18 under section 240(b)(5)(A) based on such

19 failure;

20 ‘‘(ii) any removal order entered in

21 absentia under such section based on such

22 failure is rescinded under section

23 240(b)(5)(C); or

24 ‘‘(iii) the alien demonstrates that—
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1 ‘‘(I) the failure to appear was in2 advertent or due to reasonable cause;

3 and

4 ‘‘(II) within a relatively brief pe5 riod subsequent to such failure, the

6 alien presented himself or herself in

7 person to an immigration officer and

8 made known the reasons for such fail9 ure.

10 ‘‘(B) CONSTRUCTION.—In a case described

11 in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of subparagraph (A),

12 the alien’s failure to attend the proceeding

13 under section 240 shall not be construed to

14 cause a break in the continuity of residence or

15 physical presence.’’.

16 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

17 subsection (a) shall take effect as if included in the enact18 ment of section 304 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and

19 Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–

20 208; 110 Stat. 3009–587).

21 SEC. 4. RELIEF FOR CERTAIN PERMANENT RESIDENT

22 ALIENS IN EXCLUSION, DEPORTATION, OR

23 REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi25 sion of law, including section 240A of the Immigration
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1 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229b), an alien, whether

2 physically present in the United States or not, who was

3 lawfully admitted for permanent residence on April 1,

4 1997, and who is or was in exclusion, deportation, or re5 moval proceedings on or after such date by reason of hav6 ing committed a criminal offense before such date may—

7 (1) request discretionary administrative relief

8 from exclusion, deportation, or removal based on

9 such offense under the provisions of the Immigration

10 and Nationality Act in effect on the date of the com11 mission of such offense and without regard to the

12 provisions of paragraphs (5) and (7) of section

13 309(c) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immi14 grant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1101

15 note); and

16 (2) appeal for administrative review of a denial

17 (rendered before, on, or after the date of the enact18 ment of this Act) of discretionary relief from exclu19 sion, deportation, or removal based on such offense

20 under the provisions of the Immigration and Nation21 ality Act in effect on the date of the commission of

22 such offense and without regard to the provisions of

23 paragraphs (5) and (7) of section 309(c) of the Ille24 gal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsi25 bility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note).
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1 (b) NO DANGER TO PERSONS OR PROPERTY.—In the

2 case of an alien convicted of an aggravated felony involv3 ing violence, the Attorney General may reverse under sub4 section (a) a denial of discretionary relief rendered before

5 the date of the enactment of this Act only after making

6 a written determination that the action poses no danger

7 to the safety of persons or property.

8 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS FOR RELIEF.

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF APPLICATION PROCESS.—

10 Notwithstanding section 240(c)(6) of the Immigration and

11 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)(6)) or any other limi12 tation imposed by law on motions to reopen exclusion, de13 portation, or removal proceedings, the Attorney General

14 shall establish a process (whether through permitting the

15 reopening of such a proceeding or otherwise) under which

16 an alien, whether physically present in the United States

17 or not, who is or was in such a proceedings before the

18 date of the enactment of this Act (whether or not the alien

19 has been excluded, deported, or removed as of such

20 date)—

21 (1) may apply (or reapply) for cancellation of

22 removal and release from detention under section

23 240A of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as

24 amended by sections 2 and 3 of this Act, if the alien

25 has become eligible for cancellation of removal as a
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1 result of one or more of the amendments made by

2 such sections; or

3 (2) may apply (or reapply) for discretionary re4 lief under section 4 of this Act, if the alien is eligible

5 for such relief.

6 (b) PAROLE.—The Attorney General should exercise

7 the parole authority under section 212(d)(5)(A) of the Im8 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)(A))

9 for the purpose of permitting aliens who are not physically

10 present in the United States to participate in the process

11 established under subsection (a). An alien so paroled shall

12 not be treated as paroled into the United States for pur13 poses of section 201(c)(4) of the Immigration and Nation14 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(c)(4)).

15 SEC. 6. PERMITTING CERTAIN PERMANENT RESIDENT

16 ALIENS TO RETURN WITHOUT SEEKING AD17 MISSION.

18 Section 101(a)(13)(C) of the Immigration and Na19 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(13)(C)) is amended—

20 (1) in clause (iv), by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end;

21 (2) by striking clause (v); and

22 (3) by redesignating clause (vi) as clause (v).

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