II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1041 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a veterans visa 

program to permit veterans who have been removed from the United 

States to return as immigrants, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 4, 2019 

Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. 

MERKLEY, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish 

a veterans visa program to permit veterans who have 

been removed from the United States to return as immigrants, 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 ‘‘Veterans Visa and Pro5 tection Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ARMED FORCES.—The term ‘‘Armed 

2 Forces’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘armed 

3 forces’’ in section 101 of title 10, United States 

4 Code. 

5 (2) CRIME OF VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘crime of 

6 violence’’ means an offense defined in section 16(a) 

7 of title 18, United States Code— 

8 (A) that is not a purely political offense; 

9 and 

10 (B) for which a noncitizen has served a 

11 term of imprisonment of at least 5 years. 

12 (3) ELIGIBLE VETERAN.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible vet14 eran’’ means a veteran who— 

15 (i) is a noncitizen; and 

16 (ii) meets the criteria described in sec17 tion 3(e). 

18 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘eligible vet19 eran’’ includes a veteran who— 

20 (i) was removed from the United 

21 States; or 

22 (ii) is abroad and is inadmissible 

23 under section 212(a) of the Immigration 

24 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)). 


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1 (4) NONCITIZEN.—The term ‘‘noncitizen’’ 

2 means an individual who is not a citizen or national 

3 of the United States (as defined in section 101(a) of 

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

5 1101(a))). 

6 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

7 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

8 (6) SERVICE MEMBER.—The term ‘‘service 

9 member’’ means an individual who is serving as a 

10 member of— 

11 (A) a regular or reserve component of the 

12 Armed Forces on active duty; or 

13 (B) a reserve component of the Armed 

14 Forces in an active status. 

15 (7) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 

16 meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, 

17 United States Code. 

18 SEC. 3. RETURN OF ELIGIBLE VETERANS REMOVED FROM 

19 THE UNITED STATES; ADJUSTMENT OF STA20 TUS. 

21 (a) PROGRAM FOR ADMISSION AND ADJUSTMENT OF

22 STATUS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 

23 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a pro24 gram and an application procedure that allows— 


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1 (1) eligible veterans outside the United States 

2 to be admitted to the United States as aliens law3 fully admitted for permanent residence (as defined 

4 in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

5 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a))); and 

6 (2) eligible veterans in the United States to ad7 just status to that of aliens lawfully admitted for 

8 permanent residence. 

9 (b) VETERANS ORDERED REMOVED.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to noncitizen 

11 veterans who are the subjects of final orders of re12 moval, including noncitizen veterans who are outside 

13 the United States, not later than 180 days after the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen15 eral shall— 

16 (A) reopen the removal proceedings of each 

17 such noncitizen veteran; and 

18 (B) make a determination with respect to 

19 whether each such noncitizen veteran is an eli20 gible veteran. 

21 (2) RESCISSION OF REMOVAL ORDER.—In the 

22 case of a determination under paragraph (1)(B) that 

23 a noncitizen veteran is an eligible veteran, the Attor24 ney General shall— 

25 (A) rescind the order of removal; 


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1 (B) adjust the status of the eligible veteran 

2 to that of an alien lawfully admitted for perma3 nent residence; and 

4 (C) terminate removal proceedings. 

5 (c) VETERANS IN REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to noncitizen 

7 veterans the removal proceedings of whom are pend8 ing as of the date of the enactment of this Act, not 

9 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

10 of this Act, the Attorney General shall make a deter11 mination with respect to whether each such noncit12 izen veteran is an eligible veteran. 

13 (2) TERMINATION OF PROCEEDINGS.—In the 

14 case of a determination under paragraph (1) that a 

15 noncitizen veteran is an eligible veteran, the Attor16 ney General shall— 

17 (A) adjust the status of the eligible veteran 

18 to that of an alien lawfully admitted for perma19 nent residence; and 

20 (B) terminate removal proceedings. 

21 (d) NO NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.—Nothing in this 

22 section or in any other law may be construed to apply a 

23 numerical limitation on the number of veterans who may 

24 be eligible to receive a benefit under this section. 

25 (e) ELIGIBILITY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

2 provision of law, including sections 212 and 237 of 

3 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182 

4 and 1227), a noncitizen veteran shall be eligible to 

5 participate in the program established under sub6 section (a) or for adjustment of status under sub7 sections (b) or (c), as applicable, if the Secretary or 

8 the Attorney General, as applicable, determines that 

9 the noncitizen veteran— 

10 (A) was not removed or ordered removed 

11 from the United States based on a conviction 

12 for— 

13 (i) a crime of violence; or 

14 (ii) a crime that endangers the na15 tional security of the United States for 

16 which the noncitizen veteran has served a 

17 term of imprisonment of at least 5 years; 

18 and 

19 (B) is not inadmissible to, or deportable 

20 from, the United States based on a conviction 

21 for a crime described in subparagraph (A). 

22 (2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the ap23 plication of paragraph (1)— 

24 (A) for humanitarian purposes; 

25 (B) to ensure family unity; 


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1 (C) based on exceptional service in the 

2 Armed Forces; or 

3 (D) if a waiver otherwise is in the public 

4 interest. 

5 SEC. 4. PROTECTING VETERANS AND SERVICE MEMBERS 

6 FROM REMOVAL. 

7 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including 

8 section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

9 U.S.C. 1227), a noncitizen who is a veteran or service 

10 member may not be removed from the United States un11 less the noncitizen has been convicted for a crime of vio12 lence. 

13 SEC. 5. NATURALIZATION THROUGH SERVICE IN THE 

14 ARMED FORCES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), a non16 citizen who has obtained the status of an alien lawfully 

17 admitted for permanent residence pursuant to section 3 

18 shall be eligible for naturalization through service in the 

19 Armed Forces under sections 328 and 329 of the Immi20 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1439 and 1440). 

21 (b) SPECIAL RULES.— 

22 (1) GOOD MORAL CHARACTER.—In determining 

23 whether a noncitizen described in subsection (a) is 

24 a person of good moral character, the Secretary 


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1 shall disregard the one or more grounds on which 

2 the noncitizen was— 

3 (A) removed or ordered removed from the 

4 United States; or 

5 (B) rendered inadmissible to, or deportable 

6 from, the United States. 

7 (2) PERIODS OF ABSENCE.—The Secretary 

8 shall disregard any period of absence from the 

9 United States of a noncitizen described in subsection 

10 (a) due to the noncitizen having been removed from, 

11 or being inadmissible to, the United States if the 

12 noncitizen satisfies the applicable requirement relat13 ing to continuous residence or physical presence. 

14 SEC. 6. ACCESS TO MILITARY BENEFITS. 

15 A noncitizen who has obtained the status of an alien 

16 lawfully admitted for permanent residence pursuant to 

17 section 3 shall be eligible for all military and veterans ben18 efits for which the noncitizen would have been eligible had 

19 the noncitizen not been ordered removed or removed from 

20 the United States, voluntarily departed the United States, 

21 or rendered inadmissible to, or deportable from, the 

22 United States, as applicable. 


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1 SEC. 7. IMPLEMENTATION. 

2 (a) IDENTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall identify 

3 noncitizen service members and veterans at risk of re4 moval from the United States by— 

5 (1) before initiating a removal proceeding 

6 against a noncitizen, asking the noncitizen whether 

7 he or she is serving, or has served as a member of— 

8 (A) a regular or reserve component of the 

9 Armed Forces on active duty; or 

10 (B) a reserve component of the Armed 

11 Forces in an active status; 

12 (2) requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs 

13 Enforcement personnel to seek supervisory approval 

14 before initiating a removal proceeding against a 

15 service member or veteran; and 

16 (3) keeping records of any service member or 

17 veteran who has been— 

18 (A) the subject of a removal proceeding; 

19 (B) detained by the Director of U.S. Immi20 gration and Customs Enforcement; or 

21 (C) removed from the United States. 

22 (b) RECORD ANNOTATION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a noncitizen 

24 service member or veteran identified under sub25 section (a), the Secretary shall annotate all immigraVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1041.IS S1041

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1 tion and naturalization records of the Department of 

2 Homeland Security relating to the noncitizen— 

3 (A) to reflect that the noncitizen is a serv4 ice member or veteran; and 

5 (B) to afford an opportunity to track the 

6 outcomes for the noncitizen. 

7 (2) CONTENTS OF ANNOTATION.—Each annota8 tion under paragraph (1) shall include— 

9 (A) the branch of military service in which 

10 the noncitizen is serving, or has served; 

11 (B) whether the noncitizen is serving, or 

12 has served, during a period of military hos13 tilities described in section 329 of the Immigra14 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1440); 

15 (C) the immigration status of the noncit16 izen on the date of enlistment; 

17 (D) whether the noncitizen is serving hon18 orably or was separated under honorable condi19 tions; 

20 (E) the ground on which removal of the 

21 noncitizen from the United States was sought; 

22 and 

23 (F) in the case of a noncitizen the removal 

24 proceedings of whom were initiated on the basis 


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1 of a criminal conviction, the crime for which the 

2 noncitizen was convicted. 

3 SEC. 8. REGULATIONS. 

4 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact5 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate regula6 tions to implement this Act. 

Æ 


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