I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3272
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to restore certain provisions
relating to the definition of aggravated felony and other provisions as
they were before the enactment of the Illegal Immigration Reform and
Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 9, 1999
Mr. FILNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to restore
certain provisions relating to the definition of aggravated
felony and other provisions as they were before the enact-
ment of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Keeping Families Together Act of 1999’’.
(b) SHORT TITLE.—The table of contents of this Act
is as follows:
safety of other persons or of property and is
likely to appear for any scheduled proceeding.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by
subsection (a) shall be effective as if included in the Illegal
Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of
1996.
SEC. 4. REPEAL OF TIME STOP PROVISIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 240A(d) of the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229b(d)) is repealed.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The repeal made by sub-
section (a) shall be effective as if included in the enact-
ment of subtitle A of title III of the Illegal Immigration
Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.
SEC. 5. REPEAL OF SECTION 101(A)(48).
(a) IN
GENERAL.—Paragraph (48) of section
101(a)(48) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1101(a)) is repealed.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The repeal made by sub-
section (a) shall take effect as if included in the enactment
of section 322(a) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and
Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.
SEC. 6. RESTORATION OF SECTION 212(C).
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 212 of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182) is amended by insert-
ing after subsection (b) the following new subsection:
‘‘(c) Aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence
who temporarily proceeded abroad voluntarily and not
under an order of deportation or removal, and who are
returning to a lawful unrelinquished domicile of seven con-
secutive years, may be admitted in the discretion of the
Attorney General without regard to the provisions of sub-
section (a) (other than paragraphs (3) and (10)(C)).
Nothing contained in this subsection shall limit the au-
thority of the Attorney General to exercise the discretion
vested in him under section 211(b). The first sentence of
this subsection shall not apply to an alien who has been
convicted of one or more aggravated felonies and has
served for such felony or felonies a term of imprisonment
of at least 5 years.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by
subsection (a) applies as of April 24, 1996, as if section
440(d) of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty
Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–132) and section 304(b) of
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility
Act of 1996 (division C of Public Law 104–208) had not
been enacted.
SEC. 7. RESTORATION OF JUDICIAL REVIEW PROVISIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 242 of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1252) is amended to read
as follows:
‘‘JUDICIAL REVIEW OF ORDERS OF REMOVAL
‘‘SEC. 242. (a) The procedure prescribed by, and all
the provisions of chapter 158 of title 28, United States
Code, shall apply to, and shall be the sole and exclusive
procedure for, the judicial review of all final orders of re-
moval heretofore or hereafter made against aliens within
the United States pursuant to administrative proceedings
under section 240 of this Act or comparable provisions of
any prior Act, except that—
‘‘(1) a petition for review may be filed not later
than 90 days after the date of the issuance of the
final removal order, or, in the case of an alien con-
victed of an aggravated felony not later than 30
days after the issuance of such order;
‘‘(2) the venue of any petition for review under
this section shall be in the judicial circuit in which
the administrative proceedings before an immigra-
tion judge were conducted in whole or in part, or in
the judicial circuit wherein is the residence, as de-
fined in this Act, of the petitioner, but not in more
than one circuit;
‘‘(3) the action shall be brought against the Im-
migration and Naturalization Service, as respondent.
Service of the petition to review shall be made upon
the Attorney General of the United States and upon
the official of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service in charge of the Service district in which the
office of the clerk of the court is located. The service
of the petition for review upon such official of the
Service shall stay the removal of the alien pending
determination of the petition by the court, unless the
court otherwise directs or unless the alien is con-
victed of an aggravated felony, in which case the
Service shall not stay the removal of the alien pend-
ing determination of the petition of the court unless
the court otherwise directs;
‘‘(4) except as provided in clause (B) of para-
graph (5) of this subsection, the petition shall be de-
termined solely upon the administrative record upon
which the removal order is based and the Attorney
General’s findings of fact, if supported by reason-
able, substantial, and probative evidence on the
record considered as a whole, shall be conclusive;
‘‘(5) whenever any petitioner, who seeks review
of an order under this section, claims to be a na-
tional of the United States and makes a showing
that his claim is not frivolous, the court shall (A)
pass upon the issues presented when it appears from
the pleadings and affidavits filed by the parties that
no genuine issue of material fact is presented; or (B)
where a genuine issue of material fact as to the peti-
tioner’s nationality is presented, transfer the pro-
ceedings to a United States district court for the
district where the petitioner has his residence for
hearing de novo of the nationality claim and deter-
mination as if such proceedings were originally initi-
ated in the district court under the provisions of sec-
tion 2201 of title 28, United States Code. Any such
petitioner shall not be entitled to have such issue de-
termined under section 360(a) of this Act or other-
wise;
‘‘(6) whenever a petitioner seeks review of an
order under this section, any review sought with re-
spect to a motion to reopen or reconsider such an
order shall be consolidated with the review of the
order;
‘‘(7) if the validity of a removal order has not
been judicially determined, its validity may be chal-
lenged in a criminal proceeding against the alien for
violation of subsection (a) or (b) of section 243 of
this Act only by separate motion for judicial review
before trial. Such motion shall be determined by the
court without a jury and before the trial of the gen-
eral issue. Whenever a claim to United States na-
tionality is made in such motion, and in the opinion
of the court, a genuine issue of material fact as to
the alien’s nationality is presented, the court shall
accord him a hearing de novo on the nationality
claim and determine that issue as if proceedings had
been initiated under the provisions of section 2201
of title 28, United States Code. Any such alien shall
not be entitled to have such issue determined under
section 360(a) of this Act or otherwise. If no such
hearing de novo as to nationality is conducted, the
determination shall be made solely upon the admin-
istrative record upon which the removal order is
based and the Attorney General’s findings of fact, if
supported by reasonable, substantial, and probative
evidence on the record considered as a whole, shall
be conclusive. If the removal order is held invalid,
the court shall dismiss the indictment and the
United States shall have the right to appeal to the
court of appeals within 30 days. The procedure on
such appeals shall be as provided in the Federal
rules of criminal procedure. No petition for review
under this section may be filed by any alien during
the pendency of a criminal proceeding against such
alien for violation of subsection (a) or (b) of section
243 of this Act;
‘‘(c) An order of removal shall not be reviewed by any
court if the alien has not exhausted the administrative
remedies available to the alien as of right under the immi-
gration laws and regulations or if the alien has departed
from the United States after the issuance of the order.
Every petition for review or for habeas corpus shall state
whether the validity of the order has been upheld in any
prior judicial proceeding, and, if so, the nature and date
thereof, and the court in which such proceeding took place.
No petition for review or for habeas corpus shall be enter-
tained if the validity of the order has been previously de-
termined in any civil or criminal proceeding, unless the
petition presents grounds which the court finds could not
have been presented in such prior proceeding, or the court
finds that the remedy provided by such prior proceeding
was inadequate or ineffective to test the validity of the
order.
‘‘(d)(1) A petition for review or for habeas corpus on
behalf of an alien against whom a final order of removal
has been issued pursuant to section 238(b) may challenge
only—
‘‘(A) whether the alien is in fact the alien de-
scribed in the order;
‘‘(B) whether the alien is in fact an alien de-
scribed in section 238(b)(2);
‘‘(C) whether the alien has been convicted of an
aggravated felony and such conviction has become
final; and
‘‘(D) whether the alien was afforded the proce-
dures required by section 238(b)(4).
‘‘(2) No court shall have jurisdiction to review any
issue other than an issue described in paragraph (1).’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by
subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act and shall apply to determinations pending
on or after such date with respect to which—
(1) a final administrative decision has been not
been rendered as of such date; or
(2) such a decision has been rendered but the
period for seeking judicial review of the decision has
not expired.
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