American Hope Act of 2017

Bill: 115-hr-3591
Sponsor: Rep. Gutierrez, Luis V. [D-IL-4]
Introduced: 2017-07-28 in the House
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Citizenship and naturalization
Congressional oversight
Department of Homeland Security
Foreign language and bilingual programs
Government studies and investigations
Higher education
Immigration status and procedures
Language arts
Right of privacy
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
State and local government operations
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2017-07-28
text: 

American Hope Act of 2017

 
This bill amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to allow a state to extend higher-education benefits to state residents regardless of whether they are lawfully present in the United States.
 
In addition, the bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to cancel the removal, and adjust the status, of certain residents who entered the United States as children prior to 2017. An individual whose status has been so adjusted shall be considered to have obtained conditional permanent-resident status, valid for a period of eight years and subject to termination on the basis of specified deportable conduct.
 
In order for an individual's conditional status to become permanent, the individual must timely file with DHS a petition indicating, among other specified information, that the individual has maintained conditional permanent-resident status for at least three years. Any period of time in which the individual was granted deferred action pursuant to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy shall count toward this three-year period. Information furnished by an individual in such a petition may not be used by an officer or employee of the United States to initiate removal proceedings.
 
The bill also: (1) allows DHS to establish a competitive grant program for the provision of nonprofit assistance to eligible applicants for conditional permanent-resident status; (2) establishes the Presidential Award for Business Leadership in Promoting American Citizenship; (3) allows the Department of Education to develop an open-source, electronic English-learning program; (4) specifies requirements related to federal higher-education assistance for individuals with conditional permanent-resident status; and (5) requires the Government Accountability Office to report on specified data related to the bill.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2017-09-06
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.
action_date: 2017-07-28
text: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2017-07-28
text: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2017-07-28
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2017-07-28
text: Introduced in House