I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 168 
To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to provide lawful permanent 
resident status to previously removed alien parents and spouses of citi-
zens of the United States, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 3, 2019 
Mr. GREEN of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to provide 
lawful permanent resident status to previously removed 
alien parents and spouses of citizens of the United 
States, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Reentry and Reunifica-
tion Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS FOR PRE-
VIOUSLY REMOVED SPOUSES AND PARENTS 
OF CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
(a) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Security 
shall admit to the United States as an alien admit-
ted for lawful permanent residence an alien who is 
inadmissible to or deportable from the United States 
if the alien demonstrates that— 
(A) the alien is the spouse, parent, or 
guardian of a citizen of the United States; 
(B)(i) prior to the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the alien departed the United 
States pursuant to an order of removal; or 
(ii) as of the date of the enactment of this 
Act, is subject to an order of removal, or is in 
removal proceedings; 
(C) the alien has been a person of good 
moral character (as defined in section 101(f) of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1101(f))) since the date the alien initially en-
tered the United States; 
(D) subject to paragraph (2), the alien— 
(i) is not inadmissible under para-
graph (1), (2), (3), (4), (6)(E), (8), 
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(10)(A), (10)(C), or (10)(D) of section 
212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)); 
(ii) is not deportable under paragraph 
(1)(E), (1)(G), (2), (4), (5), or (6) of sec-
tion 237(a) of the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)); 
(iii) has not ordered, incited, assisted, 
or otherwise participated in the persecution 
of any person on account of race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular so-
cial group, or political opinion; and 
(iv) other than an offense under State 
or local law for which an essential element 
was the alien’s immigration status, a 
minor traffic offense, or a violation of the 
immigration laws, has not been convicted 
of— 
(I) any offense under Federal or 
State law punishable by a maximum 
term of imprisonment of more than 1 
year; or 
(II) any combination of offenses 
under Federal or State law, for which 
the alien was imprisoned for a total of 
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more than 1 year in the aggregate; 
and 
(E) in the case of an alien described in 
subparagraph (B)(ii), the alien has been con-
tinuously physically present in the United 
States since the date that is 4 years before the 
date of the enactment of this Act. 
(2) WAIVER.—With respect to any benefit 
under this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security 
may waive subclauses (I) and (II) of paragraph 
(1)(D)(iv), the ground of inadmissibility under para-
graph (1),(4), or (6)(E) of section 212(a) of the Im-
migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)), 
and the ground of deportability under paragraph (1) 
of section 237(a) of that Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)), for 
humanitarian purposes or family unity or when it is 
otherwise in the public interest. 
(b) APPLICATION PERIOD.—An alien seeking status 
under this Act may file an application during the period 
beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and 
ending on the date that is 3 years after such date. 
(c) DETERMINATION OF CONTINUOUS PRESENCE.— 
(1) TERMINATION OF CONTINUOUS PERIOD.— 
Any period of continuous physical presence in the 
United States of an alien described in subsection 
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(a)(1)(B)(ii) who applies for status under this sec-
tion shall not terminate when the alien is served a 
notice to appear under section 239(a) of the Immi-
gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229(a)). 
(2) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN BREAKS IN PRES-
ENCE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraphs (B) and (C), an alien shall be 
considered to have failed to maintain contin-
uous physical presence in the United States 
under subsection (a)(1)(E) if the alien has de-
parted from the United States for any period 
exceeding 90 days or for any periods, in the ag-
gregate, exceeding 180 days. 
(B) EXTENSIONS FOR EXTENUATING CIR-
CUMSTANCES.—The Secretary may extend the 
time periods described in subparagraph (A) for 
an alien who demonstrates that the failure to 
timely return to the United States was due to 
extenuating circumstances beyond the alien’s 
control, including the serious illness of the 
alien, or death or serious illness of a parent, 
grandparent, sibling, or child of the alien. 
(C) TRAVEL
AUTHORIZED
BY
THE
SEC-
RETARY.—Any period of travel outside of the 
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United States by an alien that was authorized 
by the Secretary may not be counted toward 
any period of departure from the United States 
under subparagraph (A). 
(d) NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.—An alien admitted to 
the United States under this section shall not be subject 
to any numerical limitation under the immigration laws. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—Except as specifically provided, 
the terms in this Act have the meanings given those terms 
in the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 
et seq.). 
Æ 
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