[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 119 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 119

 Expressing the sense of Congress that wrongfully or unjustly deported 
 people who have established significant ties through years of life in 
 the United States deserve a chance to come home to reunite with loved 
   ones through a fair and central process within the Department of 
                           Homeland Security.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 10, 2024

 Mr. Cleaver (for himself, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Trone, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. 
 Barragan, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Ms. Williams of Georgia, 
Mrs. Ramirez, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. 
     Norton, and Mr. McGovern) submitted the following concurrent 
    resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of Congress that wrongfully or unjustly deported 
 people who have established significant ties through years of life in 
 the United States deserve a chance to come home to reunite with loved 
   ones through a fair and central process within the Department of 
                           Homeland Security.

Whereas the United States has deported over 2,000,000 people in the last 10 
        years, and not every deportation was fair, just, or accurate under 
        Federal law;
Whereas many of those wrongfully or unjustly deported have resided in the United 
        States for years or even decades, raising their families, building their 
        own businesses, and contributing to their communities and the United 
        States economy;
Whereas the Supreme Court recognizes deportation to be a ``particularly harsh 
        penalty'' and ``the severity of deportation'' as ``the equivalent of 
        banishment or exile'' (Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356 at 365, 373 
        (2010));
Whereas nearly all people who were deported on the basis of an unjust removal 
        order, or who have a new claim to lawful status since their deportation, 
        have no avenue to meaningfully present their case to return home and 
        reunite with their loved ones in the United States;
Whereas Congress offers limited, but critical, procedures within United States 
        immigration law for allowing wrongfully or unjustly deported people to 
        seek return to the United States following deportation, but in practice, 
        these mechanisms are difficult to access, onerous to navigate, and 
        rarely result in permission to return;
Whereas people wrongfully or unjustly deported from the United States include--

    (1) people who have been separated from their children, families, and 
loved ones after residing in the United States for years or decades;

    (2) recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) 
program who lost their status as a result of protracted litigation related 
to the program;

    (3) people targeted for deportation as retaliation for exercising their 
First Amendment right to protest conditions in the immigration system;

    (4) people who succeeded in winning their immigration cases subsequent 
to deportation, but are still unable to return;

    (5) people deported for past nonviolent criminal convictions who have 
subsequently demonstrated a commitment to renewal and to their community;

    (6) people whose criminal convictions that were the basis of 
deportation have been expunged or pardoned; and

    (7) veterans who served the United States;

Whereas deportation, by permanently separating people from their children, 
        spouses, and communities, leads to destabilizing and enduring poverty, 
        food and housing insecurity, and irreparable psychological harm to 
        children left behind;
Whereas many deported people are sent back to dangerous conditions that put 
        their life and well-being at significant risk, or to places where they 
        have no personal ties at all;
Whereas the harms of deportation disproportionately affect Black and brown 
        immigrant families, who are overrepresented within the deportation 
        system;
Whereas the Immigration Nationality Act, relevant regulations, and agency 
        policy, as written, do include certain legal mechanisms and avenues 
        designed to allow a person to make a case for return subsequent to 
        deportation, including through procedures to reopen a closed immigration 
        court case, to effectuate return upon prevailing on an appeal, or to 
        seek discretionary authority to return;
Whereas these mechanisms that Congress and the agency intended for remedying 
        wrongful or unjust deportations are largely ineffective and insufficient 
        due to a decentralized review process, associated lengthy wait times, 
        complicated and opaque application procedures, little to no access to 
        counsel, and a lack of resources for line-level decision makers with the 
        Department of Homeland Security to meaningfully consider such requests;
Whereas a centralized, dedicated unit within the Department of Homeland Security 
        that offers a fair and independent process for reviewing applications 
        from individuals seeking to return to the United States following a 
        wrongful or unjust deportation would ensure greater fairness and 
        consistency in adjudication, alleviate the burden on individual 
        government attorneys and immigration courts, and reorient the Department 
        of Homeland Security toward remedying past wrongful or unjust decisions 
        to deport;
Whereas such a centralized, dedicated Department of Homeland Security unit 
        focused on considering requests to return from wrongfully or unjustly 
        deported people could utilize the legal and discretionary authority 
        already provided under Federal law to facilitate the return of those 
        whose removal orders were contrary to law or justice;
Whereas the Department of Homeland Security has already established a successful 
        central removal review unit, known as ``ImmVets'', for the repatriation 
        of wrongfully or unjustly deported United States veterans, including 
        approximately 100 that have returned to the United States 
        postdeportation, demonstrating the feasibility and effectiveness of such 
        an approach;
Whereas establishing a centralized unit to review requests to return to the 
        United States from other people who have been wrongfully or unjustly 
        deported is wholly within the Department of Homeland Security's broad 
        legal authority and would bring fairness and credibility to the United 
        States immigration system; and
Whereas bringing home wrongfully or unjustly deported fathers, mothers, 
        community leaders, and workers is essential for moving toward an 
        immigration system that prioritizes family unity, community well-being, 
        economic prosperity, and basic due process: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that wrongfully or unjustly deported 
people deserve a meaningful chance to come home to reunite with their 
loved ones through a centralized unit within the United States 
Department of Homeland Security dedicated to reviewing requests for 
return to the United States.
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