[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1572 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1572
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for legal
permanent resident status for certain undocumented or nonimmigrant
aliens.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 24, 2001
Mr. Owens introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for legal
permanent resident status for certain undocumented or nonimmigrant
aliens.
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 ``Worker Amnesty and Opportunity Act
of 2001''.
SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF CERTAIN UNDOCUMENTED AND NONIMMIGRANT
ALIENS.
(a) In General.--The Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by
inserting after section 210 the following new section:
``alien worker amnesty
``Sec. 210A. (a) Lawful Permanent Residence.--The Attorney General
shall adjust the status of an alien to that of an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence if the alien submits an application
and the Attorney General determines that the alien meets the following
requirements:
``(1) Presence in united states.--The alien maintained a
continuous physical presence in the United States for a period
of not less than 10 years immediately prior to the date of the
submission of an application under this section. For the
purposes of this section an alien shall be considered to have
failed to maintain continuous physical presence in the United
States for the purposes of this section if the alien has
departed from the United States for any period in excess of 90
days or for any periods in the aggregate exceeding 365 days.
``(2) Qualification.--The alien fulfills at least 1 of the
following qualifications:
``(A) Alien sponsored by a labor organization and
employed in an occupation with a worker shortage.--The
alien is employed in the United States in an occupation
which during the 2-year period prior to the date of the
submission of an application under this section has
experienced a shortage of workers and the application
of the alien under this section is sponsored by a labor
organization.
``(B) Alien eligible for admission as student at an
institution of higher education.--The alien is eligible
for admission as a student at an accredited institution
of higher education in the United States.
``(C) Age.--The alien has attained the age of 65
years.
``(3) Admissible as immigrant.--The alien is admissible to
the United States as an immigrant, except as otherwise provided
under subsection (b)(2).
``(b) Waiver of Numerical Limitations and Certain Grounds for
Exclusion.--
``(1) Numerical limitations.--The numerical limitations of
sections 201 and 202 shall not apply to the adjustment of
aliens to lawful permanent resident status under this section.
``(2) Grounds for exclusion.--With respect to the
determination of an alien's admissibility under subsection
(a)(3):
``(A) Not applicable.--The provisions of paragraphs
(6) and (7) of section 212(a) shall not apply.
``(B) Discretionary.--
``(i) In general.--Except as provided in
clause (ii), in the determination of such an
alien's admissibility, the Attorney General may
waive any other provision of section 212(a) in
the case of individual aliens for humanitarian
purposes, to assure family unity, or when it is
otherwise in the public interest.
``(ii) Grounds that may not be waived.--The
following provisions of section 212(a) may not
be waived by the Attorney General under clause
(i):
``(I) Paragraph (2)(A) and (2)(B)
(relating to criminals).
``(II) Paragraph (2)(C) (relating
to drug offenses), except for so much
of such paragraph as relates to a
single offense of simple possession of
30 grams or less of marihuana.
``(III) Paragraph (3) (relating to
security and related grounds), other
than subparagraph (E) thereof.
``(c) Temporary Stay of Exclusion or Deportation for Certain
Applicants.--The Attorney General shall provide that in the case of an
alien who presents a nonfrivolous application under subsection (a), and
until a final determination on the application has been made in
accordance with this section, the alien may not be excluded or
deported.
``(d) Temporary Work Authorization for Certain Applicants.--An
applicant under this section is not entitled to employment
authorization, but such authorization may be provided in the discretion
of the Attorney General.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of the Immigration
and Nationality Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to
section 210 the following new item:
``Sec. 210A. Alien worker amnesty.''.
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