[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1190 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1190

 To prohibit an alien who is not in a lawful immigration status in the 
United States from being eligible for postsecondary education benefits 
  that are not available to all citizens and nationals of the United 
                                States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 13, 2019

Mr. Gosar (for himself, Mr. Meadows, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr. Biggs, Mr. 
King of Iowa, Mr. DesJarlais, Mr. Duncan, and Mr. Babin) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, 
 and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period 
    to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To prohibit an alien who is not in a lawful immigration status in the 
United States from being eligible for postsecondary education benefits 
  that are not available to all citizens and nationals of the United 
                                States.

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

SECTION 1. PROHIBITION OF PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS.

    (a) In General.--Section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 
Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1623) is amended to read 
as follows:

``SEC. 505. INELIGIBILITY FOR ALIENS NOT IN LAWFUL IMMIGRATION STATUS 
              IN THE UNITED STATES TO RECEIVE PREFERENTIAL 
              POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION BENEFITS.

    ``(a) In General.--An alien who is not in a lawful immigration 
status in the United States shall not be eligible for any postsecondary 
education benefit unless every citizen and national of the United 
States is eligible to receive such a benefit (in no less an amount, 
duration, and scope).
    ``(b) Enforcement Through Civil Action.--
            ``(1) In general.--Any citizen or national of the United 
        States who is enrolled at a postsecondary educational 
        institution in the United States that is alleged to have 
        violated subsection (a) may petition the district court of the 
        United States in which such institution is located to enforce 
        the restriction described in such subsection by commencing a 
        civil action, on his or her own behalf, in such court against 
        any State official that oversees such institution.
            ``(2) Relief.--If the plaintiff in a civil action commenced 
        under paragraph (1) proves by a preponderance of the evidence 
        that the postsecondary educational institution in which the 
        plaintiff was enrolled violated subsection (a), the court 
        shall--
                    ``(A) provide all appropriate relief to the 
                plaintiff, including damages equal to the monetary 
                value of any benefit provided to an alien who is not in 
                a lawful immigration status in the United States that 
                was denied to the plaintiff; and
                    ``(B) award attorneys' fees and court costs to the 
                plaintiff.''.
    (b) Table of Contents Amendment.--The table of contents in section 
1(d) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act 
of 1996 (110 Stat. 3009-546) is amended by striking the item relating 
to section 505 and inserting the following:

``Sec. 505. Ineligibility for aliens not in lawful immigration status 
                            in the United States to receive 
                            preferential postsecondary education 
                            benefits.''.
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