[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1300 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1300

 To amend the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act to 
identify and register certain Central Americans residing in the United 
                                States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 17, 2003

  Mr. Tom Davis of Virginia (for himself, Mr. Berman, Mr. Cannon, Mr. 
Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Ms. Solis, Mr. Lincoln 
 Diaz-Balart of Florida, Ms. Roybal-Allard, and Mr. Moran of Virginia) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act to 
identify and register certain Central Americans residing in the United 
                                States.

    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 ``Central American Security Act''.

SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR CERTAIN NATIONALS FROM EL SALVADOR, 
              GUATEMALA, AND HONDURAS.

    Section 202 of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American 
Relief Act (8 U.S.C. 1255 note) is amended--
            (1) in the section heading, by striking ``nicaraguans and 
        cubans'' and inserting ``nicaraguans, cubans, salvadorans, 
        guatemalans, and hondurans'';
            (2) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by striking ``April 1, 2000'' 
        and inserting ``two years after the promulgation of a final 
        rule implementing the Central American Security Act'';
            (3) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``Nicaragua or Cuba'' 
        and inserting ``Nicaragua, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, or 
        Honduras''; and
            (4) in subsection (d)(1)(E), by striking ``April 1, 2000'' 
        and inserting ``two years after the promulgation of a final 
        rule implementing the Central American Security Act''.

SEC. 3. APPLICATIONS PENDING UNDER AMENDMENTS MADE BY SECTION 203 OF 
              THE NICARAGUAN ADJUSTMENT AND CENTRAL AMERICAN RELIEF 
              ACT.

    An application for relief properly filed by a national of Guatemala 
or El Salvador under the amendments made by section 203 of the 
Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act which was filed 
on or before the date of the enactment of this Act, and on which a 
final administrative determination has not been made, shall, at the 
election of the applicant, be considered to be an application for 
adjustment of status under the provisions of section 202 of the 
Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act, as amended by 
this Act, upon the payment of any fees, and in accordance with 
procedures, that the Attorney General shall prescribe by regulation. 
The Attorney General may not refund any fees paid in connection with an 
application filed by a national of Guatemala or El Salvador under the 
amendments made by section 203 of that Act.

SEC. 4. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS TO THE NICARAGUAN ADJUSTMENT AND CENTRAL 
              AMERICAN RELIEF ACT.

    (a) In General.--Section 202 of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and 
Central American Relief Act (8 U.S.C. 1255 note) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by inserting before the period at the end of 
                paragraph (1)(B) the following: ``, and the Attorney 
                General may waive the grounds of inadmissibility 
                specified in subparagraphs (A)(i) and (6)(C) of section 
                212(a)(1) of such Act for humanitarian purposes, to 
                assure family unity, or when it is otherwise in the 
                public interest''; and
                    (B) by amending paragraph (3) to read as follows:
            ``(3) Relationship of application to certain orders.--An 
        alien present in the United States who has been ordered 
        excluded, deported, or removed, or ordered to depart 
        voluntarily from the United States under any provision of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act may, notwithstanding such 
        order, apply for adjustment of status under paragraph (1). Such 
        an alien may not be required, as a condition of submitting or 
        granting such application, to file a separate motion to reopen, 
        reconsider, or vacate such order. Such an alien may be required 
        to seek a stay of such an order in accordance with subsection 
        (c) to prevent the execution of the order pending the 
        adjudication of the application for adjustment of status. If 
        the Attorney General denies a stay of a final order of 
        exclusion, deportation, or removal, or if the Attorney General 
        renders a final administrative determination to deny the 
        application for adjustment of status, the order shall be 
        effective and enforceable to the same extent as if the 
        application had not been made. If the Attorney General grants 
        the application for adjustment of status, the Attorney General 
        shall cancel the order.'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(1), by adding at the end the 
        following: ``Subsection (a) shall not apply to an alien 
        lawfully admitted for permanent residence, unless the alien is 
        applying for relief under that subsection in deportation or 
        removal proceedings.'';
            (3) in subsection (c)(1), by adding at the end the 
        following: ``Nothing in this section requires the Attorney 
        General to stay the removal of an alien who is ineligible for 
        adjustment of status under this section.'';
            (4) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) by amending the subsection heading to read as 
                follows:
    ``(d) Spouses, Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters.--'';
                    (B) by amending the heading of paragraph (1) to 
                read as follows:
    ``(1) Adjustment of status.--'';
                    (C) by amending paragraph (1)(A) to read as 
                follows:
                    ``(A) the alien entered the United States on or 
                before the date of the enactment of the Central 
                American Security Act;'';
                    (D) by amending paragraph (1)(B) to read as 
                follows:
                    ``(B) the alien--
                            ``(i) is the spouse, child, or unmarried 
                        son or daughter of an alien whose status is 
                        adjusted to that of an alien lawfully admitted 
                        for permanent residence under subsection (a) or 
                        pursuant to the amendments made by section 203, 
                        except that--
                                    ``(I) any determination of whether 
                                the alien satisfies the age requirement 
                                in the matter preceding subparagraph 
                                (A) of section 101(b)(1) shall be made 
                                using the age of the alien on the date 
                                on which the principal alien filed for 
                                adjustment under  subsection (a) or 
pursuant to the amendments made by section 203;
                                    ``(II) in the case of such a 
                                spouse, stepchild, or unmarried stepson 
                                or stepdaughter, the spouse, stepchild, 
                                stepson, or stepdaughter shall be 
                                required to establish that the 
                                qualifying marriage was entered into 
                                before the date of the enactment of the 
                                Central American Security Act; and
                                    ``(III) in the case of such an 
                                unmarried son or daughter, the son or 
                                daughter shall be required to establish 
                                that the son or daughter has been 
                                physically present in the United States 
                                for a continuous period beginning not 
                                later than December 1, 1995, and ending 
                                not earlier than the date on which the 
                                application for adjustment under this 
                                subsection is filed; or
                            ``(ii) was, at the time at which a 
                        principal alien filed for adjustment under 
                        subsection (a) or pursuant to the amendments 
                        made by section 203, the spouse or child of 
                        such principal alien, the status of such 
                        principal alien is adjusted to that of an alien 
                        lawfully admitted for permanent residence under 
                        subsection (a) or pursuant to the amendments 
                        made by section 203, and the spouse, child, or 
                        child of the spouse has been battered or 
                        subjected to extreme cruelty by such principal 
                        alien;''; and
                    (E) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(3) Eligibility of certain spouses and children for 
        issuance of immigrant visas.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In accordance with regulations 
                to be promulgated by the Attorney General and the 
                Secretary of State, upon approval of an application for 
                adjustment of status to that of an alien lawfully 
                admitted for permanent residence under subsection (a) 
                or pursuant to the amendments made by section 203, an 
                alien who is the spouse or child of the alien being 
                granted such status may be issued a visa for admission 
                to the United States as an immigrant following to join 
                the principal applicant, if the spouse or child--
                            ``(i) satisfies the requirements in 
                        paragraphs (1)(B) and (1)(D); and
                            ``(ii) applies for such a visa within a 
                        time period to be established by such 
                        regulations.
                    ``(B) Retention of fees for processing 
                applications.--The Secretary of State may retain fees 
                to recover the cost of immigrant visa application 
                processing and issuance for certain spouses and 
                children of aliens whose applications for adjustment of 
                status under subsection (a) have been approved. Such 
                fees--
                            ``(i) shall be deposited as an offsetting 
                        collection to any Department of State 
                        appropriation to recover the cost of such 
                        processing and issuance; and
                            ``(ii) shall be available until expended 
                        for the same purposes of such appropriation to 
                        support consular activities.'';
            (5) in subsection (g), by inserting ``, or an immigrant 
        classification,'' after ``for permanent residence''; and
            (6) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(i) Statutory Construction.--Nothing in this section authorizes 
any alien to apply for admission to, be admitted to, be paroled into, 
or otherwise lawfully return to the United States, to apply for, or to 
pursue an application for adjustment of status under this section 
without the express authorization of the Attorney General.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by paragraphs (1)(B), (2), 
and (6) shall be effective as if included in the enactment of the 
Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act. The amendments 
made by paragraphs (1)(A), (3), (4), and (5) shall take effect on the 
date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. SECURITY AND CRIMINAL BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no applicant for relief 
under this Act, or the amendments made by this Act, is eligible to 
receive a waiver from any security or criminal background investigation 
required to process an application under section 202 of the Nicaraguan 
Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (8 U.S.C. 1255 note). All 
applicants seeking relief under this Act, or the amendments made by 
this Act, shall submit fingerprints to the appropriate government 
agency in order to facilitate such processing.

SEC. 6. MOTIONS TO REOPEN.

    Notwithstanding any time and number limitations imposed by law on 
motions to reopen, a national of Cuba or Nicaragua who, on the date of 
the enactment of the Act, has a final administrative denial of an 
application for adjustment of status under the Nicaraguan Adjustment 
and Central American Relief Act, and who is made eligible for 
adjustment of status under that Act by the amendments made by this Act, 
may file one motion to reopen an exclusion, deportation, or removal 
proceeding to have the application reconsidered. Any such motion shall 
be filed within 180 days of the date of the enactment of this Act. The 
scope of any proceeding reopened on this basis shall be limited to a 
determination of the alien's eligibility for adjustment of status under 
the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act.
                                 <all>