[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 347 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 347

 To effect a moratorium on immigration by aliens other than refugees, 
    priority workers, and the spouses and children of United States 
                               citizens.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 7, 1997

Mr. Stump (for himself and Mr. Callahan) introduced the following bill; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To effect a moratorium on immigration by aliens other than refugees, 
    priority workers, and the spouses and children of United States 
                               citizens.

    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 ``Immigration Moratorium Act of 
1997''.

SEC. 2. IMMIGRATION MORATORIUM DEFINED.

    As used in this Act, the term ``immigration moratorium'' means the 
period beginning on October 1, 1997, and ending on September 30 of the 
first fiscal year after fiscal year 2002 during which the President 
submits a report to Congress, which is approved by a joint resolution 
of Congress, that the flow of illegal immigration has been reduced to 
less than 10,000 aliens per year and that any increase in legal 
immigration resulting from termination of the immigration moratorium 
would have no adverse impact on the wages and working conditions of 
United States citizens, the achievement or maintenance of Federal 
environmental quality standards, or the capacity of public schools, 
public hospitals, and other public facilities to serve the resident 
population in those localities where immigrants are likely to settle.

SEC. 3. WORLDWIDE LEVELS OF IMMIGRATION.

    Notwithstanding section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 
during the immigration moratorium under section 2 in lieu of the 
worldwide levels of immigration under section 201 of such Act--
            (1) the worldwide level of family-sponsored immigrants 
        under section 201(c) of such Act is 10,000;
            (2) the worldwide level of employment-based immigrants 
        under section 201(d) of such Act is 5,000; and
            (3) the worldwide level of diversity immigrants under 
        section 201(e) of such Act is zero.

SEC. 4. ALLOTMENT OF VISAS.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding section 203 of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act, during the immigration moratorium under section 2, in 
lieu of the number of visas that may be allotted under section 203 of 
such Act--
            (1) the number of visas that shall be allotted to family-
        sponsored immigrants under section 203(a) of such Act shall be 
        10,000 for qualified immigrants under section 203(a)(2)(A) of 
        such Act and zero for other family-sponsored immigrants;
            (2) the number of visas that shall be allotted in any 
        fiscal year to priority workers under section 203(b)(1) of such 
        Act shall not exceed the worldwide level of employment-based 
        immigrants for that fiscal year, and the number of visas that 
        shall be allotted to other aliens subject to the worldwide 
        level for employment-based immigrants shall be zero; and
            (3) the number of visas that shall be allotted to diversity 
        immigrants under section 203(c) of such Act shall be zero.
    (b) Limitation on Sponsorship by Certain Aliens.--Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, no visa may be allotted to any immigrant on 
the basis of a petition by an individual who has filed an application 
under section 210 or 245A of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

SEC. 5. GRANTING IMMIGRANT STATUS.

    During the immigration moratorium under section 2, the Attorney 
General may not approve any petition for classification under section 
204 of the Immigration and Nationality Act except for classification by 
reason of a family relationship described in section 201(b)(2) of such 
Act or priority worker status under section 203(b)(1) of such Act. 
Petitions that may not be approved during the moratorium shall be 
returned to the persons who filed the petitions.

SEC. 6. ANNUAL ADMISSION OF REFUGEES.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, during the immigration 
moratorium under section 2 the number of refugees who may be admitted 
under section 207 of such Act, including the number of admissions made 
available to adjust to the status of permanent residence the status of 
aliens granted asylum under section 209(b) of such Act, shall not 
exceed 25,000 in any fiscal year.

SEC. 7. IMMEDIATE RELATIVES DEFINED.

    During the immigration moratorium, the term ``immediate relatives'' 
for purposes of section 201(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
means the children and spouse of a citizen of the United States.

SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall take effect October 1, 1997.
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