I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4037
To amend the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act
to identify and register certain Central Americans residing in the United
States.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 20, 2002
Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia (for himself, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. CANNON, Mr.
MORAN of Virginia, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, and Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary
A BILL
To amend the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American
Relief Act to identify and register certain Central Ameri-
cans residing in the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Central American Se-
curity Act’’.
SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR CERTAIN NATIONALS
FROM EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, AND HON-
DURAS.
Section 202 of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Cen-
tral American Relief Act (8 U.S.C. 1255 note) is
amended—
(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘NICA-
RAGUANS
AND
CUBANS’’ and inserting ‘‘NICA-
RAGUANS, CUBANS, SALVADORANS, GUATEMALANS,
AND HONDURANS’’;
(2) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘April
1, 2000’’ and inserting ‘‘two years after the promul-
gation of a final rule implementing the Central
American Security Act’’;
(3) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘Nicaragua
or Cuba’’ and inserting ‘‘Nicaragua, Cuba, El Sal-
vador, Guatemala, or Honduras’’; and
(4) in subsection (d)(1)(E), by striking ‘‘April
1, 2000’’ and inserting ‘‘two years after the promul-
gation of a final rule implementing the Central
American Security Act’’.
SEC. 3. APPLICATIONS PENDING UNDER AMENDMENTS
MADE BY SECTION 203 OF THE NICARAGUAN
ADJUSTMENT AND CENTRAL AMERICAN RE-
LIEF ACT.
An application for relief properly filed by a national
of Guatemala or El Salvador under the amendments made
by section 203 of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central
American Relief Act which was filed on or before the date
of the enactment of this Act, and on which a final adminis-
trative determination has not been made, shall, at the elec-
tion of the applicant, be considered to be an application
for adjustment of status under the provisions of section
202 of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American
Relief Act, as amended by this Act, upon the payment of
any fees, and in accordance with procedures, that the At-
torney General shall prescribe by regulation. The Attorney
General may not refund any fees paid in connection with
an application filed by a national of Guatemala or El Sal-
vador under the amendments made by section 203 of that
Act.
SEC. 4. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS TO THE NICARAGUAN
ADJUSTMENT AND CENTRAL AMERICAN RE-
LIEF ACT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 202 of the Nicaraguan
Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (8 U.S.C.
1255 note) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) by inserting before the period at the
end of paragraph (1)(B) the following: ‘‘, and
the Attorney General may waive the grounds of
inadmissibility specified in subparagraphs (A)(i)
and (6)(C) of section 212(a)(1) of such Act for
humanitarian purposes, to assure family unity,
or when it is otherwise in the public interest’’;
and
(B) by amending paragraph (3) to read as
follows:
‘‘(3) RELATIONSHIP OF APPLICATION TO CER-
TAIN
ORDERS.—An alien present in the United
States who has been ordered excluded, deported, or
removed, or ordered to depart voluntarily from the
United States under any provision of the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act may, notwithstanding such
order, apply for adjustment of status under para-
graph (1). Such an alien may not be required, as a
condition of submitting or granting such application,
to file a separate motion to reopen, reconsider, or
vacate such order. Such an alien may be required to
seek a stay of such an order in accordance with sub-
section (c) to prevent the execution of the order
pending the adjudication of the application for ad-
justment of status. If the Attorney General denies a
stay of a final order of exclusion, deportation, or re-
moval, or if the Attorney General renders a final ad-
ministrative determination to deny the application
for adjustment of status, the order shall be effective
and enforceable to the same extent as if the applica-
tion had not been made. If the Attorney General
grants the application for adjustment of status, the
Attorney General shall cancel the order.’’;
(2) in subsection (b)(1), by adding at the end
the following: ‘‘Subsection (a) shall not apply to an
alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, un-
less the alien is applying for relief under that sub-
section in deportation or removal proceedings.’’;
(3) in subsection (c)(1), by adding at the end
the following: ‘‘Nothing in this section requires the
Attorney General to stay the removal of an alien
who is ineligible for adjustment of status under this
section.’’;
(4) in subsection (d)—
(A) by amending the subsection heading to
read as follows:
‘‘(d) SPOUSES, CHILDREN, AND UNMARRIED SONS
AND DAUGHTERS.—’’;
(B) by amending the heading of paragraph
(1) to read as follows:
‘‘(1) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—’’;
(C) by amending paragraph (1)(A) to read
as follows:
‘‘(A) the alien entered the United States
on or before the date of the enactment of the
Central American Security Act;’’;
(D) by amending paragraph (1)(B) to read
as follows:
‘‘(B) the alien—
‘‘(i) is the spouse, child, or unmarried
son or daughter of an alien whose status is
adjusted to that of an alien lawfully admit-
ted for permanent residence under sub-
section (a) or pursuant to the amendments
made by section 203, except that—
‘‘(I) any determination of wheth-
er the alien satisfies the age require-
ment in the matter preceding sub-
paragraph (A) of section 101(b)(1)
shall be made using the age of the
alien on the date on which the prin-
cipal alien filed for adjustment under
subsection (a) or pursuant to the
amendments made by section 203;
‘‘(II) in the case of such a
spouse, stepchild, or unmarried step-
son or stepdaughter, the spouse, step-
child, stepson, or stepdaughter shall
be required to establish that the quali-
fying marriage was entered into be-
fore the date of the enactment of the
Central American Security Act; and
‘‘(III) in the case of such an un-
married son or daughter, the son or
daughter shall be required to establish
that the son or daughter has been
physically present in the United
States for a continuous period begin-
ning not later than December 1,
1995, and ending not earlier than the
date on which the application for ad-
justment under this subsection is
filed; or
‘‘(ii) was, at the time at which a prin-
cipal alien filed for adjustment under sub-
section (a) or pursuant to the amendments
made by section 203, the spouse or child of
such principal alien, the status of such
principal alien is adjusted to that of an
alien lawfully admitted for permanent resi-
dence under subsection (a) or pursuant to
the amendments made by section 203, and
the spouse, child, or child of the spouse
has been battered or subjected to extreme
cruelty by such principal alien;’’; and
(E) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN SPOUSES AND
CHILDREN FOR ISSUANCE OF IMMIGRANT VISAS.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—In accordance with
regulations to be promulgated by the Attorney
General and the Secretary of State, upon ap-
proval of an application for adjustment of sta-
tus to that of an alien lawfully admitted for
permanent residence under subsection (a) or
pursuant to the amendments made by section
203, an alien who is the spouse or child of the
alien being granted such status may be issued
a visa for admission to the United States as an
immigrant following to join the principal appli-
cant, if the spouse or child—
‘‘(i) satisfies the requirements in
paragraphs (1)(B) and (1)(D); and
‘‘(ii) applies for such a visa within a
time period to be established by such regu-
lations.
‘‘(B) RETENTION
OF
FEES
FOR
PROC-
ESSING APPLICATIONS.—The Secretary of State
may retain fees to recover the cost of immi-
grant visa application processing and issuance
for certain spouses and children of aliens whose
applications for adjustment of status under sub-
section (a) have been approved. Such fees—
‘‘(i) shall be deposited as an offsetting
collection to any Department of State ap-
propriation to recover the cost of such
processing and issuance; and
‘‘(ii) shall be available until expended
for the same purposes of such appropria-
tion to support consular activities.’’;
(5) in subsection (g), by inserting ‘‘, or an im-
migrant classification,’’ after ‘‘for permanent resi-
dence’’; and
(6) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(i) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this
section authorizes any alien to apply for admission to, be
admitted to, be paroled into, or otherwise lawfully return
to the United States, to apply for, or to pursue an applica-
tion for adjustment of status under this section without
the express authorization of the Attorney General.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
paragraphs (1)(B), (2), and (6) shall be effective as if in-
cluded in the enactment of the Nicaraguan Adjustment
and Central American Relief Act. The amendments made
by paragraphs (1)(A), (3), (4), and (5) shall take effect
on the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 5. SECURITY AND CRIMINAL BACKGROUND INVES-
TIGATIONS.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no appli-
cant for relief under this Act, or the amendments made
by this Act, is eligible to receive a waiver from any security
or criminal background investigation required to process
an application under section 202 of the Nicaraguan Ad-
justment and Central American Relief Act (8 U.S.C. 1255
note). All applicants seeking relief under this Act, or the
amendments made by this Act, shall submit fingerprints
to the appropriate government agency in order to facilitate
such processing.
SEC. 6. MOTIONS TO REOPEN.
Notwithstanding any time and number limitations
imposed by law on motions to reopen, a national of Cuba
or Nicaragua who, on the date of the enactment of the
Act, has a final administrative denial of an application for
adjustment of status under the Nicaraguan Adjustment
and Central American Relief Act, and who is made eligible
for adjustment of status under that Act by the amend-
ments made by this Act, may file one motion to reopen
an exclusion, deportation, or removal proceeding to have
the application reconsidered. Any such motion shall be
filed within 180 days of the date of the enactment of this
Act. The scope of any proceeding reopened on this basis
shall be limited to a determination of the alien’s eligibility
for adjustment of status under the Nicaraguan Adjust-
ment and Central American Relief Act.
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