[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 672 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 672

    To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for the 
continued classification of certain aliens as children for purposes of 
     that Act in cases where the aliens ``age-out'' while awaiting 
            immigration processing, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               April 2 (legislative day, March 30), 2001

Mrs. Feinstein introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for the 
continued classification of certain aliens as children for purposes of 
     that Act in cases where the aliens ``age-out'' while awaiting 
            immigration processing, 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 ``Child Status Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. CHILD STATUS PROTECTION.

    (a) Immediate Relatives.--Section 201(b)(2)(A) of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(2)(A)) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
            ``(iii) Notwithstanding section 101(b)(1), an unmarried 
        alien 21 years of age or older on whose behalf a petition was 
        filed under section 204 to classify the alien as an immediate 
        relative under clause (i) shall be classified as a child of a 
        citizen of the United States for purposes of that clause, and 
        the petition shall be considered a petition for classification 
        under that clause, if the alien attained 21 years of age after 
        the date on which the petition was filed but while the petition 
        is pending before the Attorney General.
            ``(iv) An unmarried alien under 21 years of age on whose 
        behalf a petition was filed under section 204 to classify the 
        alien as an immigrant under section 203(a)(2)(A) shall be 
        classified as a child of a citizen of the United States for 
        purposes of clause (i), and the petition shall be considered a 
        petition for classification under that clause, if a petitioning 
        parent became a naturalized citizen of the United States after 
        the petition was filed but while the petition is pending before 
        the Attorney General.
            ``(v) An unmarried alien who was in a marriage on the date 
        a petition was filed under section 204 to classify the alien as 
        an immigrant under section 203(a)(3) shall be classified as a 
        child of a citizen of the United States for purposes of clause 
        (i), and the petition shall be considered a petition for 
        classification under that clause, if--
                    ``(I) the alien's marriage was legally terminated 
                while the petition is pending before the Attorney 
                General; and
                    ``(II) the alien was under 21 years of age on the 
                date of legal termination of the marriage.''.
    (b) Family-Sponsored, Employment-Based, and Diversity Immigrants.--
Section 203(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1153(d)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(d) Treatment of Family Members.--
            ``(1) In general.--A spouse or child (as defined in 
        subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (D), or (E) of section 101(b)(1)) 
        shall, if not otherwise entitled to immigrant status and the 
        immediate issuance of a visa under subsection (a), (b), or (c), 
        be entitled to the same status, and the same order of 
        consideration provided in the respective subsection, if 
        accompanying or following to join, the spouse or parent.
            ``(2) Continued classification of certain aliens as 
        children.--An unmarried alien 21 years of age or older on whose 
        behalf a petition was filed under section 204 to classify the 
        alien as an immigrant under subsection (a), (b), or (c), who is 
        accompanying or following to join his or her parent under this 
        section, shall be classified as a child for purposes of 
        entitlement to the same immigrant status of the parent, and the 
        petition shall be considered a petition for classification for 
        such purposes, if the alien attained 21 years of age after the 
        date on which the petition was filed but while the petition is 
        pending before the Attorney General.''.
    (c) Asylees.--Section 208(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(3)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``A spouse'' and inserting ``(A) In 
        general.--A spouse''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Continued classification of certain aliens as 
                children for asylum eligibility.--An unmarried alien 
                who is accompanying or seeking to join a parent granted 
                asylum under this subsection, who is seeking to be 
                granted asylum under this paragraph, and who was under 
                21 years of age on the date on which the alien's parent 
                applied for asylum under this section shall continue to 
                be classified as a child for purposes of this 
                paragraph, if the alien attained 21 years of age after 
                the application was filed but while the application is 
                pending before the Attorney General.''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    Section 2, and the amendments made by section 2, shall apply to--
            (1) all applications and petitions filed before the date of 
        enactment of this Act and pending on such date; and
            (2) all applications and petitions filed on or after such 
        date.
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