[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5062 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5062

 To establish the eligibility of certain aliens lawfully admitted for 
 permanent residence for cancellation of removal under section 240A of 
                  the Immigration and Nationality Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 27, 2000

 Mr. McCollum (for himself, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. Frost, Mr. 
Diaz-Balart, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Filner, Mr. Bilbray, Mr. Rogan, and 
   Mr. Ose) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish the eligibility of certain aliens lawfully admitted for 
 permanent residence for cancellation of removal under section 240A of 
                  the Immigration and Nationality Act.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. LIMITING DISQUALIFICATION FROM CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL FOR 
              CERTAIN PERMANENT RESIDENT ALIENS.

    (a) Termination of Period of Continuous Residence.--
            (1) In general.--Section 240A(d)(1) of the Immigration and 
        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229b(d)(1)) is amended by adding at 
        the end the following:
        ``Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, in determining under 
        such sentence whether a period of continuous residence 
        described in subsection (a)(2) has ended, any offense committed 
        on or before September 30, 1996, shall be disregarded.''.
            (2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) 
        shall take effect as if included in the enactment of section 
        304 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant 
        Responsibility Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-208; 110 Stat. 3009-
        587).
    (b) Treatment of Particular Crimes as Aggravated Felonies.--
            (1) In general.--Section 304 of the Illegal Immigration 
        Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (as contained 
        in title III of division C of Public Law 104-208; 110 Stat. 
        3009-587) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Transition Rule for Cancellation of Removal for Certain 
Permanent Residents.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), 
        notwithstanding section 321 or 322 of this Act, section 440 of 
        the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (8 
        U.S.C. 1101 note), or any other provision of law (including any 
        effective date), in applying section 240A(a)(3) of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229b(a)(3)) to a 
        criminal offense committed on or before September 30, 1996, the 
        term `aggravated felony' shall not be construed to include the 
        offense if the offense--
                    ``(A) was not considered to be within the meaning 
                of that term (as defined in section 101(a) of the 
                Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) on 
                the date on which the offense was committed; and
                    ``(B) is considered to be within the meaning of 
                that term (as so defined) by reason of the enactment 
                of--
                            ``(i) this Act, in the case of an offense 
                        committed during the period beginning on April 
                        25, 1996, and ending on September 30, 1996; or
                            ``(ii) this Act or the Antiterrorism and 
                        Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, in the 
                        case of an offense committed on or before April 
                        24, 1996.
            ``(2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to an 
        offense of rape or sexual abuse of a minor. The amendment made 
        by section 321(a)(1) of this Act shall not be affected by such 
        paragraph.
            ``(3) Course of conduct.--In the case in which a course of 
        conduct is an element of a criminal offense, for purposes of 
        paragraph (1), the date on which the last act or omission of 
        that course of conduct occurs shall be considered to be the 
        date on which the offense is committed.''.
            (2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) 
        shall take effect as if included in the enactment of section 
        304 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant 
        Responsibility Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-208; 110 Stat. 3009-
        587).

SEC. 2. POST-PROCEEDING RELIEF FOR AFFECTED ALIENS.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding section 240(c)(6) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)(6)) or any other 
limitation imposed by law on motions to reopen removal proceedings, the 
Attorney General shall establish a process (whether through permitting 
the reopening of a removal proceeding or otherwise) under which an 
alien--
            (1) who is (or was) in removal proceedings before the date 
        of the enactment of this Act (whether or not the alien has been 
        removed as of such date); and
            (2) whose eligibility for cancellation of removal has been 
        established by section 1 of this Act;
may apply (or reapply) for cancellation of removal under section 
240A(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229b(a)) as a 
beneficiary of the relief provided under section 1 of this Act.
    (b) Parole.--The Attorney General should exercise the parole 
authority under section 212(d)(5)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)(A)) for the purpose of permitting aliens 
removed from the United States to participate in the process 
established under subsection (a).
                                 <all>