I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 604

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for legal permanent 

resident status for certain undocumented or nonimmigrant aliens. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 5, 2003

Mr. OWENS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide 

for legal permanent resident status for certain undocumented or nonimmigrant aliens.

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 ‘‘Worker Amnesty and 

5 Opportunity Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF CERTAIN UNDOCU7 MENTED AND NONIMMIGRANT ALIENS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Immigration and Nationality 

9 Act is amended by inserting after section 210 the following 

10 new section:
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1 ‘‘ALIEN WORKER AMNESTY

2 ‘‘SEC. 210A. (a) LAWFUL PERMANENT RESI3 DENCE.—The Attorney General shall adjust the status of 

4 an alien to that of an alien lawfully admitted for perma5 nent residence if the alien submits an application and the 

6 Attorney General determines that the alien meets the fol7 lowing requirements: 

8 ‘‘(1) PRESENCE IN UNITED STATES.—The alien 

9 maintained a continuous physical presence in the 

10 United States for a period of not less than 10 years 

11 immediately prior to the date of the submission of 

12 an application under this section. For the purposes 

13 of this section an alien shall be considered to have 

14 failed to maintain continuous physical presence in 

15 the United States for the purposes of this section if 

16 the alien has departed from the United States for 

17 any period in excess of 90 days or for any periods 

18 in the aggregate exceeding 365 days. 

19 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATION.—The alien fulfills at 

20 least 1 of the following qualifications: 

21 ‘‘(A) ALIEN SPONSORED BY A LABOR OR22 GANIZATION AND EMPLOYED IN AN OCCUPA23 TION WITH A WORKER SHORTAGE.—The alien 

24 is employed in the United States in an occupa25 tion which during the 2-year period prior to the 
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1 date of the submission of an application under 

2 this section has experienced a shortage of work3 ers and the application of the alien under this 

4 section is sponsored by a labor organization. 

5 ‘‘(B) ALIEN ELIGIBLE FOR ADMISSION AS

6 STUDENT AT AN INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU7 CATION.—The alien is eligible for admission as 

8 a student at an accredited institution of higher 

9 education in the United States. 

10 ‘‘(C) AGE.—The alien has attained the age 

11 of 65 years. 

12 ‘‘(3) ADMISSIBLE AS IMMIGRANT.—The alien is 

13 admissible to the United States as an immigrant, ex14 cept as otherwise provided under subsection (b)(2). 

15 ‘‘(b) WAIVER OF NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS AND

16 CERTAIN GROUNDS FOR EXCLUSION.—

17 ‘‘(1) NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.—The numerical 

18 limitations of sections 201 and 202 shall not apply 

19 to the adjustment of aliens to lawful permanent resi20 dent status under this section. 

21 ‘‘(2) GROUNDS FOR EXCLUSION.—With respect 

22 to the determination of an alien’s admissibility under 

23 subsection (a)(3): 
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1 ‘‘(A) NOT APPLICABLE.—The provisions of 

2 paragraphs (6) and (7) of section 212(a) shall 

3 not apply. 

4 ‘‘(B) DISCRETIONARY.—

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro6 vided in clause (ii), in the determination of 

7 such an alien’s admissibility, the Attorney 

8 General may waive any other provision of 

9 section 212(a) in the case of individual 

10 aliens for humanitarian purposes, to assure 

11 family unity, or when it is otherwise in the 

12 public interest. 

13 ‘‘(ii) GROUNDS THAT MAY NOT BE

14 WAIVED.—The following provisions of sec15 tion 212(a) may not be waived by the At16 torney General under clause (i): 

17 ‘‘(I) Paragraph (2)(A) and 

18 (2)(B) (relating to criminals). 

19 ‘‘(II) Paragraph (2)(C) (relating 

20 to drug offenses), except for so much 

21 of such paragraph as relates to a sin22 gle offense of simple possession of 30 

23 grams or less of marihuana. 
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1 ‘‘(III) Paragraph (3) (relating to 

2 security and related grounds), other 

3 than subparagraph (E) thereof. 

4 ‘‘(c) TEMPORARY STAY OF EXCLUSION OR DEPORTA5 TION FOR CERTAIN APPLICANTS.—The Attorney General 

6 shall provide that in the case of an alien who presents 

7 a nonfrivolous application under subsection (a), and until 

8 a final determination on the application has been made 

9 in accordance with this section, the alien may not be ex10 cluded or deported. 

11 ‘‘(d) TEMPORARY WORK AUTHORIZATION FOR CER12 TAIN APPLICANTS.—An applicant under this section is not 

13 entitled to employment authorization, but such authoriza14 tion may be provided in the discretion of the Attorney 

15 General.’’. 

16 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

17 of the Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by in18 serting after the item relating to section 210 the following 

19 new item:

‘‘Sec. 210A. Alien worker amnesty.’’.

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