I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2766 

To grant lawful permanent resident status to certain eligible persons who 

were separated from immediate family members by the Department of 

Homeland Security. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 22, 2021 

Mr. CASTRO of Texas (for himself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Ms. BASS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. JONES, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. 

GALLEGO, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. OMAR, 

Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. CASTEN, Mr. CARSON, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, 

Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Ms. 

PRESSLEY, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. SOTO, 

Mr. POCAN, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. TORRES of New 

York, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. 

GREEN of Texas, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. CHU, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. BUSH, and 

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To grant lawful permanent resident status to certain eligible 

persons who were separated from immediate family members by the Department of Homeland Security. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Families Belong To3 gether Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) ELIGIBLE CHILD.—The term ‘‘eligible 

7 child’’ means a person who, regardless of whether 

8 the person is in the United States or abroad— 

9 (A) entered the United States before at10 taining 18 years of age at a port of entry or be11 tween ports of entry; 

12 (B) was separated from his or her parent 

13 or legal guardian by the Department of Home14 land Security between January 20, 2017, and 

15 January 20, 2021; and 

16 (C) is not inadmissible under paragraph 

17 (2)(C)(i), (2)(E), (2)(G), (2)(I), or (3) of sec18 tion 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

19 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)). 

20 (2) ELIGIBLE PARENT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

21 parent’’ means a person who, regardless of whether 

22 the person is in the United States or abroad— 

23 (A) is a parent or legal guardian of an eli24 gible child; 

25 (B) entered the United States at a port of 

26 entry, or between ports of entry, with an eligiVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2766.IH H2766

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1 ble child to whom he or she is a parent or legal 

2 guardian; 

3 (C) was separated from his or her eligible 

4 child by the Department of Homeland Security 

5 between January 20, 2017, and January 20, 

6 2021; and 

7 (D) is not inadmissible under paragraph 

8 (2)(C)(i), (2)(E), (2)(G), (2)(I), or (3) of sec9 tion 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

10 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)). 

11 SEC. 3. HUMANITARIAN PAROLE. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu13 rity shall grant humanitarian parole into the United 

14 States to any eligible parent or eligible child who expressly 

15 requests and applies for such parole, whether or not such 

16 eligible parent or eligible child is physically present in the 

17 United States. 

18 (b) FEE AND SPONSOR PROHIBITED.—The Secretary 

19 of Homeland Security may not— 

20 (1) impose a fee in conjunction with a request 

21 or application for parole under subsection (a); or 

22 (2) require the applicant to secure a fiscal spon23 sor. 

24 (c) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary 

25 of Homeland Security shall consult with the Secretary of 


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1 State to ensure coordination with local consular officials 

2 abroad. 

3 SEC. 4. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS. 

4 (a) ELIGIBLE PARENTS.— 

5 (1) APPLICATION.—Eligible parents in the 

6 United States may submit an application to the Di7 rector of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 

8 to have their status adjusted to that of an alien law9 fully admitted for permanent residence. 

10 (2) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—Not later than 

11 30 days after receiving an application from an eligi12 ble parent pursuant to paragraph (1), the Director 

13 shall adjust the status of such eligible parent to that 

14 of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent resi15 dence. 

16 (b) ELIGIBLE CHILDREN.— 

17 (1) APPLICATION.—Eligible children in the 

18 United States may submit an application to the Di19 rector of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 

20 to have their status adjusted to that of an alien law21 fully admitted for permanent residence. 

22 (2) ADJUSTMENT.—Not later than 30 days 

23 after receiving an application from an eligible child 

24 pursuant to paragraph (1), the Director shall adjust 


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1 the status of such child to that of an alien lawfully 

2 admitted for permanent residence. 

3 (c) EXEMPTION FROM NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.— 

4 The numerical limitations set forth in sections 201 and 

5 202 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

6 1151 and 1152) shall not apply to aliens whose status is 

7 adjusted pursuant to subsection (a) or (b). 

8 (d) APPLICATION FEES PROHIBITED.—The Director 

9 of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services may not im10 pose a fee for— 

11 (1) any application submitted under this sec12 tion; or 

13 (2) any filing related to such application, in14 cluding the submission of biometric information or 

15 an application for waiver of grounds of inadmis16 sibility. 

17 (e) ELIGIBILITY FOR BENEFITS AND SERVICES.— 

18 Notwithstanding title IV of the Personal Responsibility 

19 and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 

20 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), an eligible parent or eligible child 

21 whose status is adjusted to that of an alien lawfully admit22 ted for permanent residence shall be eligible for benefits 

23 and services under any Federal or State program or activ24 ity to the same extent as an alien who is admitted to the 


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1 United States as a refugee under section 207 of the Immi2 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157). 

3 SEC. 5. DISCRETION OF THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND 

4 SECURITY. 

5 (a) WAIVER OF GROUNDS OF INADMISSIBILITY.— 

6 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary 

7 of Homeland Security may waive the operation of one or 

8 more grounds of inadmissibility set forth in section 212(a) 

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

10 1182(a)) (other than paragraph (3)(E) of such section) 

11 with respect to an eligible child or an eligible parent, for 

12 humanitarian purposes, to ensure family unity, or when 

13 such waiver is otherwise in the public interest. 

14 (b) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this Act may 

15 be construed to reduce or diminish the discretion provided 

16 to the Secretary of Homeland Security under section 

17 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

18 1182(a)). 

19 SEC. 6. AVAILABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL 

20 REVIEW. 

21 (a) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—Not later than 30 

22 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec23 retary of Homeland Security shall provide a process for 

24 aliens who have applied for adjustment of status under 

25 this Act to seek administrative appellate review of a denial 


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1 of an application for adjustment of status, or a revocation 

2 of such status. 

3 (b) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

5 provision of law, an alien may seek judicial review of 

6 a denial of an application for adjustment of status, 

7 or a revocation of such status, under this Act in an 

8 appropriate United States district court. 

9 (2) SCOPE OF REVIEW AND DECISION.—Not10 withstanding any other provision of law, the review 

11 authorized under paragraph (1) shall be de novo and 

12 shall be based solely on the administrative record, 

13 except that the applicant shall be given the oppor14 tunity to supplement the administrative record and 

15 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall be given 

16 the opportunity to rebut the evidence and arguments 

17 raised in such submission. Upon issuing its decision, 

18 the court shall remand the matter, with appropriate 

19 instructions, to the Department of Homeland Secu20 rity to render a final decision on the application. 

21 (c) APPOINTED COUNSEL.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

23 provision of law, an applicant seeking judicial review 

24 under this section shall be represented by counsel, 

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1 plicant, in accordance with procedures established by 

2 the Attorney General. 

3 (2) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 90 days 

4 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the At5 torney General shall establish procedures for the ap6 pointment of counsel under paragraph (1). 

7 (3) FUNDING.—Counsel appointed pursuant to 

8 paragraph (1) shall be paid from amounts appro9 priated pursuant to section 7(2). 

10 (d) STAY OF REMOVAL.—An alien seeking adminis11 trative or judicial review under this section may not be 

12 removed from the United States until a final decision is 

13 rendered establishing that the alien is ineligible for adjust14 ment of status under section 4. 

15 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any other amounts 

17 otherwise authorized to be appropriated for such purpose, 

18 there is authorized to be appropriated— 

19 (1) $5,000,000 to the Department of State in 

20 fiscal year 2021 to locate and educate eligible par21 ents and children abroad about opportunities for hu22 manitarian parole; and 

23 (2) $5,000,000 to the Executive Office for Im24 migration Review of the Department of Justice in 

25 fiscal year 2021 for the provision of legal services, 


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1 including educating eligible parents and eligible chil2 dren of their rights under this Act. 

3 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro4 priated pursuant to subsection (a) shall remain available 

5 until expended. 

Æ 


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