[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2453 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2453

 To amend section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to 
           reform immigration parole, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 30, 2023

 Mr. Tiffany introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to 
           reform immigration parole, 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 ``Immigration Parole Reform Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. IMMIGRATION PAROLE REFORM.

    Section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1182(d)(5)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(5)(A) Except as provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C) 
        and section 214(f), the Secretary of Homeland Security, in the 
        discretion of the Secretary, may temporarily parole into the 
        United States any alien applying for admission to the United 
        States who is not present in the United States, under such 
        conditions as the Secretary may prescribe, on a case-by-case 
        basis, and not according to eligibility criteria describing an 
        entire class of potential parole recipients, for urgent 
        humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. Parole 
        granted under this subparagraph may not be regarded as an 
        admission of the alien. When the purposes of such parole have 
        been served in the opinion of the Secretary, the alien shall 
        immediately return or be returned to the custody from which the 
        alien was paroled. After such return, the case of the alien 
        shall be dealt with in the same manner as the case of any other 
        applicant for admission to the United States.
            ``(B) The Secretary of Homeland Security may grant parole 
        to any alien who--
                    ``(i) is present in the United States without 
                lawful immigration status;
                    ``(ii) is the beneficiary of an approved petition 
                under section 203(a);
                    ``(iii) is not otherwise inadmissible or removable; 
                and
                    ``(iv) is the spouse or child of a member of the 
                Armed Forces serving on active duty.
            ``(C) The Secretary of Homeland Security may grant parole 
        to any alien--
                    ``(i) who is a national of the Republic of Cuba and 
                is living in the Republic of Cuba;
                    ``(ii) who is the beneficiary of an approved 
                petition under section 203(a);
                    ``(iii) for whom an immigrant visa is not 
                immediately available;
                    ``(iv) who meets all eligibility requirements for 
                an immigrant visa;
                    ``(v) who is not otherwise inadmissible; and
                    ``(vi) who is receiving a grant of parole in 
                furtherance of the commitment of the United States to 
                the minimum level of annual legal migration of Cuban 
                nationals to the United States specified in the U.S.-
                Cuba Joint Communique on Migration, done at New York 
                September 9, 1994, and reaffirmed in the Cuba-United 
                States: Joint Statement on Normalization of Migration, 
                Building on the Agreement of September 9, 1994, done at 
                New York May 2, 1995.
            ``(D) The Secretary of Homeland Security may grant parole 
        to an alien who is returned to a contiguous country under 
        section 235(b)(2)(C) to allow the alien to attend the alien's 
        immigration hearing. The grant of parole shall not exceed the 
        time required for the alien to be escorted to, and attend, the 
        alien's immigration hearing scheduled on the same calendar day 
        as the grant, and to immediately thereafter be escorted back to 
        the contiguous country. A grant of parole under this 
        subparagraph shall not be considered for purposes of 
        determining whether the alien is inadmissible under this Act.
            ``(E) For purposes of determining an alien's eligibility 
        for parole under subparagraph (A), an urgent humanitarian 
        reason shall be limited to circumstances in which the alien 
        establishes that--
                    ``(i)(I) the alien has a medical emergency; and
                    ``(II)(aa) the alien cannot obtain necessary 
                treatment in the foreign state in which the alien is 
                residing; or
                    ``(bb) the medical emergency is life-threatening 
                and there is insufficient time for the alien to be 
                admitted through the normal visa process;
                    ``(ii) the alien is the parent or legal guardian of 
                an alien described in clause (i) and the alien 
                described in clause (i) is a minor;
                    ``(iii) the alien is needed in the United States in 
                order to donate an organ or other tissue for transplant 
                and there is insufficient time for the alien to be 
                admitted through the normal visa process;
                    ``(iv) the alien has a close family member in the 
                United States whose death is imminent and the alien 
                could not arrive in the United States in time to see 
                such family member alive if the alien were to be 
                admitted through the normal visa process;
                    ``(v) the alien is seeking to attend the funeral of 
                a close family member and the alien could not arrive in 
                the United States in time to attend such funeral if the 
                alien were to be admitted through the normal visa 
                process;
                    ``(vi) the alien is an adopted child with an urgent 
                medical condition who is in the legal custody of the 
                petitioner for a final adoption-related visa and whose 
                medical treatment is required before the expected award 
                of a final adoption-related visa; or
                    ``(vii) the alien is a lawful applicant for 
                adjustment of status under section 245 and is returning 
                to the United States after temporary travel abroad.
            ``(F) For purposes of determining an alien's eligibility 
        for parole under subparagraph (A), a significant public benefit 
        may be determined to result from the parole of an alien only 
        if--
                    ``(i) the alien has assisted (or will assist, 
                whether knowingly or not) the United States Government 
                in a law enforcement matter;
                    ``(ii) the alien's presence is required by the 
                Government in furtherance of such law enforcement 
                matter; and
                    ``(iii) the alien is inadmissible, does not satisfy 
                the eligibility requirements for admission as a 
                nonimmigrant, or there is insufficient time for the 
                alien to be admitted through the normal visa process.
            ``(G) For purposes of determining an alien's eligibility 
        for parole under subparagraph (A), the term `case-by-case 
        basis' means that the facts in each individual case are 
        considered and parole is not granted based on membership in a 
        defined class of aliens to be granted parole. The fact that 
        aliens are considered for or granted parole one-by-one and not 
        as a group is not sufficient to establish that the parole 
        decision is made on a `case-by-case basis'.
            ``(H) The Secretary of Homeland Security may not use the 
        parole authority under this paragraph to parole an alien into 
        the United States for any reason or purpose other than those 
        described in subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), (E), and (F).
            ``(I) An alien granted parole may not accept employment, 
        except that an alien granted parole pursuant to subparagraph 
        (B) or (C) is authorized to accept employment for the duration 
        of the parole, as evidenced by an employment authorization 
        document issued by the Secretary of Homeland Security.
            ``(J) Parole granted after a departure from the United 
        States shall not be regarded as an admission of the alien. An 
        alien granted parole, whether as an initial grant of parole or 
        parole upon reentry into the United States, is not eligible to 
        adjust status to lawful permanent residence or for any other 
        immigration benefit if the immigration status the alien had at 
        the time of departure did not authorize the alien to adjust 
        status or to be eligible for such benefit.
            ``(K)(i) Except as provided in clauses (ii) and (iii), 
        parole shall be granted to an alien under this paragraph for 
        the shorter of--
                    ``(I) a period of sufficient length to accomplish 
                the activity described in subparagraph (D), (E), or (F) 
                for which the alien was granted parole; or
                    ``(II) 1 year.
            ``(ii) Grants of parole pursuant to subparagraph (A) may be 
        extended once, in the discretion of the Secretary, for an 
        additional period that is the shorter of--
                    ``(I) the period that is necessary to accomplish 
                the activity described in subparagraph (E) or (F) for 
                which the alien was granted parole; or
                    ``(II) 1 year.
            ``(iii) Aliens who have a pending application to adjust 
        status to permanent residence under section 245 may request 
        extensions of parole under this paragraph, in 1-year 
        increments, until the application for adjustment has been 
        adjudicated. Such parole shall terminate immediately upon the 
        denial of such adjustment application.
            ``(L) Not later than 90 days after the last day of each 
        fiscal year, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to 
        the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee 
        on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and make 
        available to the public, a report--
                    ``(i) identifying the total number of aliens 
                paroled into the United States under this paragraph 
                during the previous fiscal year; and
                    ``(ii) containing information and data regarding 
                all aliens paroled during such fiscal year, including--
                            ``(I) the duration of parole;
                            ``(II) the type of parole; and
                            ``(III) the current status of the aliens so 
                        paroled.''.

SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), this Act and 
the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date that is 
30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Exceptions.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), each of the 
following exceptions apply:
            (1) Any application for parole or advance parole filed by 
        an alien before the date of the enactment of this Act shall be 
        adjudicated under the law that was in effect on the date on 
        which the application was properly filed and any approved 
        advance parole shall remain valid under the law that was in 
        effect on the date on which the advance parole was approved.
            (2) Section 212(d)(5)(J) of the Immigration and Nationality 
        Act, as added by section 2, shall take effect on the date of 
        the enactment of this Act.
            (3) Aliens who were paroled into the United States pursuant 
        to section 212(d)(5)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
        (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)(A)) before January 1, 2023, shall continue 
        to be subject to the terms of parole that were in effect on the 
        date on which their respective parole was approved.

SEC. 4. CAUSE OF ACTION.

    Any person, State, or local government that experiences financial 
harm in excess of $1,000 due to a failure of the Federal Government to 
lawfully apply the provisions of this Act or the amendments made by 
this Act shall have standing to bring a civil action against the 
Federal Government in an appropriate district court of the United 
States for appropriate relief.

SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY.

    If any provision of this Act or any amendment by this Act, or the 
application of such provision or amendment to any person or 
circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act 
and the application of such provision or amendment to any other person 
or circumstance shall not be affected.
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