[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 559 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.559

                     One Hundred Sixteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday,
           the third day of January, two thousand and nineteen


                                 An Act


 
To amend section 6 of the Joint Resolution entitled ``A Joint Resolution 
  to approve the Covenant To Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern 
 Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America, 
                        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 ``Northern Mariana Islands Long-Term 
Legal Residents Relief Act''.
SEC. 2. LONG-TERM LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN 
MARIANA ISLANDS.
    Section 6(e) of the Joint Resolution entitled ``A Joint Resolution 
to approve the Covenant To Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America, 
and for other purposes'', approved March 24, 1976 (48 U.S.C. 1806), is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
        ``(6) Special provision regarding long-term residents of the 
    commonwealth.--
            ``(A) CNMI resident status.--An alien described in 
        subparagraph (B) may, upon the application of the alien, be 
        admitted in CNMI Resident status to the Commonwealth subject to 
        the following rules:
                ``(i) The alien shall be treated as an alien lawfully 
            admitted to the Commonwealth only, including permitting 
            entry to and exit from the Commonwealth, until the earlier 
            of the date on which--

                    ``(I) the alien ceases to reside in the 
                Commonwealth; or
                    ``(II) the alien's status is adjusted under section 
                245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
                1255) to that of an alien lawfully admitted for 
                permanent residence in accordance with all applicable 
                eligibility requirements.

                ``(ii) The Secretary of Homeland Security--

                    ``(I) shall establish a process for such alien to 
                apply for CNMI Resident status during the 180-day 
                period beginning on a date determined by the Secretary 
                but not later than the first day of the sixth month 
                after the date of the enactment of this paragraph; and
                    ``(II) may, in the Secretary's discretion, 
                authorize deferred action or parole, as appropriate, 
                with work authorization, for such alien beginning on 
                the date of the enactment of this paragraph and 
                continuing through the end of such 180-day period or 
                the date of adjudication of the alien's application for 
                CNMI Resident status, whichever is later.

                ``(iii) Nothing in this subparagraph may be construed 
            to provide any alien granted status under this subparagraph 
            with public assistance to which the alien is not otherwise 
            entitled.
                ``(iv) An alien granted status under this paragraph--

                    ``(I) is subject to all grounds of deportability 
                under section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality 
                Act (8 U.S.C. 1227);
                    ``(II) is subject to all grounds of inadmissibility 
                under section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality 
                Act (8 U.S.C. 1182) if seeking admission to the United 
                States at a port of entry in the Commonwealth;
                    ``(III) is inadmissible to the United States at any 
                port of entry outside the Commonwealth, except that the 
                Secretary of Homeland Security may in the Secretary's 
                discretion authorize admission of such alien at a port 
                of entry in Guam for the purpose of direct transit to 
                the Commonwealth, which admission shall be considered 
                an admission to the Commonwealth;
                    ``(IV) automatically shall lose such status if the 
                alien travels from the Commonwealth to any other place 
                in the United States, except that the Secretary of 
                Homeland Security may in the Secretary's discretion 
                establish procedures for the advance approval on a 
                case-by-case basis of such travel for a temporary and 
                legitimate purpose, and the Secretary may in the 
                Secretary's discretion authorize the direct transit of 
                aliens with CNMI Resident status through Guam to a 
                foreign place;
                    ``(V) shall be authorized to work in the 
                Commonwealth incident to status; and
                    ``(VI) shall be issued appropriate travel 
                documentation and evidence of work authorization by the 
                Secretary.

            ``(B) Aliens described.--An alien is described in this 
        subparagraph if the alien--
                ``(i) was lawfully present on the date of the enactment 
            of this paragraph or on December 31, 2018, in the 
            Commonwealth under the immigration laws of the United 
            States, including pursuant to a grant of parole under 
            section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
            U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)) or deferred action;
                ``(ii) is admissible as an immigrant to the United 
            States under the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
            1101 et seq.), except that no immigrant visa is required;
                ``(iii) resided continuously and lawfully in the 
            Commonwealth from November 28, 2009, through the date of 
            the enactment of this paragraph;
                ``(iv) is not a citizen of the Republic of the Marshall 
            Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the 
            Republic of Palau; and
                ``(v) in addition--

                    ``(I) was born in the Northern Mariana Islands 
                between January 1, 1974, and January 9, 1978;
                    ``(II) was, on November 27, 2009, a permanent 
                resident of the Commonwealth (as defined in section 
                4303 of title 3 of the Northern Mariana Islands 
                Commonwealth Code, in effect on May 8, 2008);
                    ``(III) is the spouse or child (as defined in 
                section 101(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality 
                Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1))) of an alien described in 
                subclause (I) or (II);
                    ``(IV) was, on November 27, 2011, a spouse, child, 
                or parent of a United States citizen, notwithstanding 
                the age of the United States citizen, and continues to 
                have such family relationship with the citizen on the 
                date of the application described in subparagraph (A); 
                or
                    ``(V) had a grant of parole under section 212(d)(5) 
                of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
                1182(d)(5)) on December 31, 2018, under the former 
                parole program for certain in-home caregivers 
                administered by United States Citizenship and 
                Immigration Services.

            ``(C) Authority of attorney general.--Beginning on the 
        first day of the 180-day period established by the Secretary of 
        Homeland Security under subparagraph (A)(ii)(I), the Attorney 
        General may accept and adjudicate an application for CNMI 
        Resident status under this paragraph by an alien who is in 
        removal proceedings before the Attorney General if the alien--
                ``(i) makes an initial application to the Attorney 
            General within such 180-day period; or
                ``(ii) applied to the Secretary of Homeland Security 
            during such 180-period and before being placed in removal 
            proceedings, and the Secretary denied the application.
            ``(D) Judicial review.--Notwithstanding any other law, no 
        court shall have jurisdiction to review any decision of the 
        Secretary of Homeland Security or the Attorney General on an 
        application under this paragraph or any other action or 
        determination of the Secretary of Homeland Security or the 
        Attorney General to implement, administer, or enforce this 
        paragraph.
            ``(E) Procedure.--The requirements of chapter 5 of title 5, 
        United States Code (commonly referred to as the Administrative 
        Procedure Act), or any other law relating to rulemaking, 
        information collection or publication in the Federal Register 
        shall not apply to any action to implement, administer or 
        enforce this paragraph.''.
SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.
    The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying 
with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by 
reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO 
Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional 
Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that 
such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.