Reentry and Reunification Act
Bill: H.R.168 | Sponsor: Rep. Green, Al (D-TX)
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
Reentry and Reunification Act
This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to admit certain aliens for lawful permanent residence if the alien is the spouse, parent, or guardian of a U.S. citizen.
Qualifying aliens shall be those who were removed from the United States before the bill's enactment, or are subject to a removal order or in removal proceedings on the bill's enactment date. A qualifying alien shall also (1) be of good moral character; (2) not be deportable or inadmissible for various grounds, including those related to health or having been convicted of certain crimes; (3) not have participated in the persecution of any person on account of characteristics such as race, religion, or nationality; and (4) not have been convicted for certain crimes under federal or state law where the maximum sentence was more than one year. DHS may waive the requirement relating to a conviction for a state or federal crime and other specified requirements for humanitarian, family unity, or public interest purposes.
For an alien subject to a removal order or under removal proceedings, the alien must have been continuously physically present in the United States for the four years before the bill's enactment date.


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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Reentry and Reunification Act''.

SEC. 2. LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS FOR PREVIOUSLY 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 admitted 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 entered the United 
                States;
                    (D) subject to paragraph (2), the alien--
                            (i) is not inadmissible under paragraph 
                        (1), (2), (3), (4), (6)(E), (8), (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 
                        section 237(a) of the Immigration and 
                        Nationality 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 social 
                        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 
                                more than 1 year in the aggregate; and
                    (E) in the case of an alien described in 
                subparagraph (B)(ii), the alien has been continuously 
                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 paragraph (1), (4), or (6)(E) of section 212(a) of the 
        Immigration 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 (a)(1)(B)(ii) who applies for status 
        under this section shall not terminate when the alien is served 
        a notice to appear under section 239(a) of the Immigration and 
        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229(a)).
            (2) Treatment of certain breaks in presence.--
                    (A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraphs (B) and (C), an alien shall be considered 
                to have failed to maintain continuous physical presence 
                in the United States under subsection (a)(1)(E) if the 
                alien has departed from the United States for any 
                period exceeding 90 days or for any periods, in the 
                aggregate, exceeding 180 days.
                    (B) Extensions for extenuating circumstances.--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 secretary.--Any period 
                of travel outside of the 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.).
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