II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 644 

To establish new special immigrant categories, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 16, 2005 

Mr. BROWNBACK (for himself, Mr. BINGAMAN, Ms. CANTWELL, and Mr. 

DODD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish new special immigrant categories, 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 ‘‘Widows and Orphans 

5 Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NEW SPECIAL IMMIGRANT CATEGORY. 

7 (a) CERTAIN CHILDREN AND WOMEN AT RISK OF

8 HARM.—Section 101(a)(27) of the Immigration and Na9 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)) is amended— 
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1 (1) in subparagraph (L), by inserting a semi2 colon at the end; 

3 (2) in subparagraph (M), by striking the period 

4 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(N) subject to subsection (j), an immi7 grant who is not present in the United States— 

8 ‘‘(i) who is— 

9 ‘‘(I) referred to a consular, immi10 gration, or other designated official by 

11 a United States Government agency, 

12 an international organization, or rec13 ognized nongovernmental entity des14 ignated by the Secretary of State for 

15 purposes of such referrals; and 

16 ‘‘(II) determined by such official 

17 to be a minor under 18 years of age 

18 (as determined under subsection 

19 (j)(5))— 

20 ‘‘(aa) for whom no parent or 

21 legal guardian is able to provide 

22 adequate care; 

23 ‘‘(bb) who faces a credible 

24 fear of harm related to his or her 

25 age; 
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1 ‘‘(cc) who lacks adequate 

2 protection from such harm; and 

3 ‘‘(dd) for whom it has been 

4 determined to be in his or her 

5 best interests to be admitted to 

6 the United States; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) who is— 

8 ‘‘(I) referred to a consular or im9 migration official by a United States 

10 Government agency, an international 

11 organization or recognized nongovern12 mental entity designated by the Sec13 retary of State for purposes of such 

14 referrals; and 

15 ‘‘(II) determined by such official 

16 to be a female who has— 

17 ‘‘(aa) a credible fear of 

18 harm related to her sex; and 

19 ‘‘(bb) a lack of adequate 

20 protection from such harm.’’. 

21 (b) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Section 101 of the 

22 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101) is 

23 amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(j)(1) No natural parent or prior adoptive parent 

25 of any alien provided special immigrant status under sub-
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1 section (a)(27)(N)(i) shall thereafter, by virtue of such 

2 parentage, be accorded any right, privilege, or status 

3 under this Act. 

4 ‘‘(2)(A) No alien who qualifies for a special immi5 grant visa under subsection (a)(27)(N)(ii) may apply for 

6 derivative status or petition for any spouse who is rep7 resented by the alien as missing, deceased, or the source 

8 of harm at the time of the alien’s application and admis9 sion. The Secretary of Homeland Security may waive this 

10 requirement for an alien who demonstrates that the alien’s 

11 representations regarding the spouse were bona fide. 

12 ‘‘(B) An alien who qualifies for a special immigrant 

13 visa under subsection (a)(27)(N) may apply for derivative 

14 status or petition for any sibling under the age of 18 years 

15 or children under the age of 18 years of any such alien, 

16 if accompanying or following to join the alien. For pur17 poses of this subparagraph, a determination of age shall 

18 be made using the age of the alien on the date the petition 

19 is filed with the Department of Homeland Security. 

20 ‘‘(3) An alien who qualifies for a special immigrant 

21 visa under subsection (a)(27)(N) shall be treated in the 

22 same manner as a refugee solely for purposes of section 

23 412. 

24 ‘‘(4) The provisions of paragraphs (4), (5), and 

25 (7)(A) of section 212(a) shall not be applicable to any 
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1 alien seeking admission to the United States under sub2 section (a)(27)(N), and the Secretary of Homeland Secu3 rity may waive any other provision of such section (other 

4 than paragraph 2(C) or subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or 

5 (E) of paragraph (3) with respect to such an alien for 

6 humanitarian purposes, to assure family unity, or when 

7 it is otherwise in the public interest. Any such waiver by 

8 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall be in writing 

9 and shall be granted only on an individual basis following 

10 an investigation. The Secretary of Homeland Security 

11 shall provide for the annual reporting to Congress of the 

12 number of waivers granted under this paragraph in the 

13 previous fiscal year and a summary of the reasons for 

14 granting such waivers. 

15 ‘‘(5) For purposes of subsection (a)(27)(N)(i)(II), a 

16 determination of age shall be made using the age of the 

17 alien on the date on which the alien was referred to the 

18 consular, immigration, or other designated official. 

19 ‘‘(6) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall waive 

20 any application fee for a special immigrant visa for an 

21 alien described in section 101(a)(27)(N).’’. 

22 (c) ALLOCATION OF SPECIAL IMMIGRANT VISAS.— 

23 Section 203(b)(4) of the Immigration Nationality Act (8 

24 U.S.C. 1153(b)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘(A) or (B) 

25 thereof’’ and inserting ‘‘(A), (B), or (N) thereof’’. 
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1 (d) EXPEDITED PROCESS.—Not later than 45 days 

2 from the date of referral to a consular, immigration, or 

3 other designated official as described in section 

4 101(a)(27)(N) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as 

5 added by subsection (a), special immigrant status shall be 

6 adjudicated and, if granted, the alien shall be paroled to 

7 the United States pursuant to section 212(d)(5) of that 

8 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)) and allowed to apply for adjust9 ment of status to permanent residence under section 245 

10 of that Act (8 U.S.C. 1255) within 1 year of the alien’s 

11 arrival in the United States. 

12 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

13 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

14 Homeland Security shall report to the Committee on the 

15 Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judici16 ary of the House of Representatives on the progress of 

17 the implementation of this Act and the amendments made 

18 by this Act, including— 

19 (1) data related to the implementation of this 

20 Act and the amendments made by this Act; 

21 (2) data regarding the number of placements of 

22 females and children who faces a credible fear of 

23 harm as referred to in section 101(a)(27)(N) of the 

24 Immigration and Nationality Act, as added by sub25 section (a); and 
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1 (3) any other information that the Secretary of 

2 Homeland Security determines to be appropriate. 

3 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec5 essary to carry out this section and the amendments made 

6 by this section. 

7 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR ALIENS. 

8 (a) REQUIREMENT PRIOR TO ENTRY INTO THE UN9 TIED STATES.— 

10 (1) DATABASE SEARCH.—An alien may not be 

11 admitted to the United States until the Secretary of 

12 Homeland Security has ensured that a search of 

13 each database maintained by an agency or depart14 ment of the United States has been conducted to de15 termine whether such alien is ineligible to be admit16 ted to the Untied States on criminal, security, or re17 lated grounds. 

18 (2) COOPERATION AND SCHEDULE.—The Sec19 retary of Homeland Security and the head of each 

20 appropriate agency or department of the United 

21 States shall work cooperatively to ensure that each 

22 database search required by paragraph (1) is com23 pleted not later than 45 days after the date on 

24 which an alien files a petition seeking a special im25 migration visa under section 101(a)(27)(N) of the 
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1 Immigration and Nationality Act, as added by sec2 tion 2(a). 

3 (b) REQUIREMENT AFTER ENTRY INTO THE UNITED

4 STATES.— 

5 (1) REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT FINGER6 PRINTS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 

8 after the date that an alien enters the United 

9 States, the alien shall be fingerprinted and sub10 mit to the Secretary of Homeland Security such 

11 fingerprints and any other personal biometric 

12 data required by the Secretary. 

13 (B) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec14 retary of Homeland Security may prescribe reg15 ulations that permit fingerprints submitted by 

16 an alien under section 262 of the Immigration 

17 and National Act (8 U.S.C. 1302) or any other 

18 provision of law to satisfy the requirement to 

19 submit fingerprints of subparagraph (A). 

20 (2) DATABASE SEARCH.—The Secretary of 

21 Homeland Security shall ensure that a search of 

22 each database that contains fingerprints that is 

23 maintained by an agency or department of the 

24 United States be conducted to determine whether 

25 such alien is ineligible for an adjustment of status 
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1 under any provision of the Immigration and Nation2 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) on criminal, secu3 rity, or related grounds. 

4 (3) COOPERATION AND SCHEDULE.—The Sec5 retary of Homeland Security and the head of each 

6 appropriate agency or department of the United 

7 States shall work cooperatively to ensure that each 

8 database search required by paragraph (2) is com9 pleted not later than 180 days after the date on 

10 which the alien enters the United States. 

11 (4) ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—There may be no re13 view of a determination by the Secretary of 

14 Homeland Security, after a search required by 

15 paragraph (2), that an alien is ineligible for an 

16 adjustment of status, under any provision of 

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

18 1101 et seq.) on criminal, security, or related 

19 grounds except as provided in this paragraph. 

20 (B) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—An alien 

21 may appeal a determination described in sub22 paragraph (A) through the Administrative Ap23 peals Office of the Bureau of Citizenship and 

24 Immigration Services of the Department of 

25 Homeland Security. The Secretary of Homeland 
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1 Security shall ensure that a determination on 

2 such appeal is made not later than 60 days 

3 after the date that the appeal is filed. 

4 (C) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—There may be no 

5 judicial review of a determination described in 

6 subparagraph (A). 

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