108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 205

AN ACT

To authorize the issuance of immigrant visas to, and the

admission to the United States for permanent residence

of, certain scientists, engineers, and technicians who have

worked in Iraqi weapons of mass destruction programs.

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 ‘‘Iraqi Scientists Immi5 gration Act of 2003’’.
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1 SEC. 2. ADMISSION OF CRITICAL ALIENS.

2 (a) NONIMMIGRANT CATEGORY.—Section 101(a)(15)

3 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.

4 1101(a)(15)) is amended—

5 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph

6 (U);

7 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub8 paragraph (V) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

9 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub10 paragraph:

11 ‘‘(W) Subject to section 214(s), an alien—

12 ‘‘(i) who the Attorney General determines,

13 in coordination with the Secretary of State, the

14 Director of Central Intelligence, and such other

15 officials as he may deem appropriate, and in

16 the Attorney General’s unreviewable discretion,

17 is an individual—

18 ‘‘(I) who has worked at any time in

19 an Iraqi program to produce weapons of

20 mass destruction or the means to deliver

21 them;

22 ‘‘(II) who is in possession of critical

23 and reliable information concerning any

24 such Iraqi program;
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1 ‘‘(III) who is willing to provide, or has

2 provided, such information to the United

3 States Government;

4 ‘‘(IV) who may be willing to provide,

5 or has provided, such information to in6 spectors of the United Nations or of the

7 International Atomic Energy Agency;

8 ‘‘(V) who will be or has been placed in

9 danger as a result of providing such infor10 mation; and

11 ‘‘(VI) whose admission would be in

12 the public interest or in the interest of na13 tional security; or

14 ‘‘(ii) who is the spouse, married or unmar15 ried son or daughter, parent, or other relative,

16 as determined by the Attorney General in his

17 unreviewable discretion, of an alien described in

18 clause (i), if accompanying or following to join

19 such alien, and whose admission the Attorney

20 General, in coordination with the Secretary of

21 State and the Director of Central Intelligence,

22 determines in his unreviewable discretion is in

23 the public interest or in the interest of national

24 security.’’.
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1 (b) LIMITATIONS AND CONDITIONS APPLICABLE TO

2 ‘‘W’’ NONIMMIGRANTS.—Section 214 of the Immigration

3 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) is amended—

4 (1) by redesignating subsections (m) (as added

5 by section 105 of Public Law 106–313), (n) (as

6 added by section 107(e) of Public Law 106–386),

7 (o) (as added by section 1513(c) of Public Law 106–

8 386), (o) (as added by section 1102(b) of the Legal

9 Immigration Family Equity Act), and (p) (as added

10 by section 1503(b) of the Legal Immigration Family

11 Equity Act) as subsections (n), (o), (p), (q), and (r),

12 respectively; and

13 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub14 section:

15 ‘‘(s) NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS AND CONDITIONS OF

16 ADMISSION AND STAY FOR NONIMMIGRANTS ADMITTED

17 UNDER SECTION 101(a)(15)(W).—

18 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION.—The number of aliens who

19 may be admitted to the United States or otherwise

20 granted status under section 101(a)(15)(W)(i) may

21 not exceed a total of 500.

22 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS.—As a condition for the ad23 mission, and continued stay in lawful status, of any

24 alien admitted to the United States or otherwise
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1 granted status as a nonimmigrant under section

2 101(a)(15)(W), the nonimmigrant—

3 ‘‘(A) shall report to the Attorney General

4 such information concerning the alien’s where5 abouts and activities as the Attorney General

6 may require;

7 ‘‘(B) may not be convicted of any criminal

8 offense punishable by a term of imprisonment

9 of 1 year or more after the date of such admis10 sion or grant of status;

11 ‘‘(C) must have executed a form that

12 waives the nonimmigrant’s right to contest,

13 other than on the basis of an application for

14 withholding of removal or for protection under

15 the Convention Against Torture, any action for

16 removal of the alien instituted before the alien

17 obtains lawful permanent resident status;

18 ‘‘(D) shall cooperate fully with all requests

19 for information from the United States Govern20 ment including, but not limited to, fully and

21 truthfully disclosing to the United States Gov22 ernment all information in the alien’s posses23 sion concerning any Iraqi program to produce

24 weapons of mass destruction or the means to

25 deliver them; and
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1 ‘‘(E) shall abide by any other condition,

2 limitation, or restriction imposed by the Attor3 ney General.’’.

4 (c) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—Section 245 of the

5 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1255) is

6 amended—

7 (1) in subsection (c)—

8 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ before ‘‘(8)’’; and

9 (B) by inserting before the period ‘‘or (9)

10 an alien who was admitted as a nonimmigrant

11 described in section 101(a)(15)(W)’’;

12 (2) by redesignating subsection (l), relating to

13 ‘‘U’’ visa nonimmigrants, as subsection (m); and

14 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub15 section:

16 ‘‘(n) ADJUSTMENT TO PERMANENT RESIDENT STA17 TUS OF ‘W’ NONIMMIGRANTS.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, in the opinion of the At19 torney General, a nonimmigrant admitted into the

20 United States (or otherwise provided nonimmigrant

21 status) under section 101(a)(15)(W)(i) has complied

22 with section 214(s) since such admission or grant of

23 status, the Attorney General may, in coordination

24 with the Secretary of State and the Director of Cen25 tral Intelligence, and in his unreviewable discretion,
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1 adjust the status of the alien (and any alien who has

2 accompanied or followed to join such alien pursuant

3 to section 101(a)(15)(W)(ii) and who has complied

4 with section 214(s) since admission or grant of non5 immigrant status) to that of an alien lawfully admit6 ted for permanent residence if the alien is not de7 scribed in section 212(a)(3)(E).

8 ‘‘(2) RECORD OF ADMISSION; REDUCTION IN

9 VISA NUMBERS.—Upon the approval of adjustment

10 of status of any alien under paragraph (1), the At11 torney General shall record the alien’s lawful admis12 sion for permanent residence as of the date of such

13 approval and the Secretary of State shall reduce by

14 one the number of visas authorized to be issued

15 under sections 201(d) and 203(b)(4) for the fiscal

16 year then current.’’.

17 (d) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—Section 212(d) of the Im18 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)) is

19 amended by inserting after paragraph (1) the following

20 new paragraph:

21 ‘‘(2) The Attorney General shall determine whether

22 a ground of inadmissibility exists with respect to a non23 immigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(W). The Attor24 ney General, in the Attorney General’s discretion, may

25 waive the application of subsection (a) in the case of such
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1 a nonimmigrant if the Attorney General considers it to

2 be in the public interest or in the interest of national secu3 rity.’’.

4 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 248(1) of

5 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1258(1))

6 is amended by striking ‘‘or (S)’’ and inserting ‘‘(S), or

7 (W)’’.

8 SEC. 3. WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION DEFINED.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act, the term ‘‘weapon of

10 mass destruction’’ has the meaning given the term in sec11 tion 1403(1) of the Defense Against Weapons of Mass De12 struction Act of 1996 (title XIV of Public Law 104–201;

13 110 Stat. 2717; 50 U.S.C. 2302(1)), as amended by sub14 section (b).

15 (b) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 1403(1)(B)

16 of the Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act

17 of 1996 (title XIV of Public Law 104–201; 110 Stat.

18 2717; 50 U.S.C. 2302(1)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘a

19 disease organism’’ and inserting ‘‘a biological agent, toxin,
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1 or vector (as those terms are defined in section 178 of

2 title 18, United States Code)’’.

Passed the Senate March 20, 2003.

Attest:

Secretary.
108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 205

AN ACT

To authorize the issuance of immigrant visas to,

and the admission to the United States for permanent residence of, certain scientists, engineers,and technicians who have worked in Iraqi weapons of mass destruction programs.