[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 604 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 604

   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

                            February 5, 2003

  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 2003''.

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.''.
                                 <all>