[House Report 104-810]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
104th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 104-810
_______________________________________________________________________
FOR THE RELIEF OF OSCAR SALAS-VELAZQUEZ
_______
September 20, 1996.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and
ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Hyde, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1031]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 1031) for the relief of Oscar Salas-Velazquez, having
considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment
and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu
thereof the following:
SECTION 1. WAIVER OF GROUNDS FOR DISAPPROVAL OF REQUESTS FOR
CLASSIFICATION AND ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding section 204(c) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act, the Attorney General may not disapprove a petition
for classification of Oscar Salas-Velazquez under section
201(b)(2)(A)(i) of such Act, or an application for adjustment of the
status of Oscar Salas-Velazquez under section 245 of such Act, on any
ground relating to a determination that the marriage of Oscar Salas-
Velazquez and Jennifer Christine Brady was entered into for the purpose
of evading the immigration laws.
(b) Waiver of Inadmissibility.--Notwithstanding subparagraphs (A),
(B), and (C) of section 212(a)(6) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act, Oscar Salas-Velazquez may not be considered to be within a class
of excludable aliens at any time on or after the date of the enactment
of this Act on any ground relating to--
(1) a determination that the marriage of Oscar Salas-
Velazquez and Jennifer Christine Brady was entered into for the
purpose of evading the immigration laws; or
(2) the deportation of Oscar Salas-Velazquez on February 9,
1995.
(c) Denial of Preferential Immigration Treatment for Certain
Relatives.--The natural parents, brothers, and sisters of Oscar Salas-
Velazquez shall not, by virtue of such relationship, be accorded any
right, privilege, or status under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
(d) Reduction of Immigrant Visa Number.--Upon the granting of an
immigrant visa or permanent residence to Oscar Salas-Velazquez, the
Secretary of State shall instruct the proper officer to reduce by 1,
for the current or next following fiscal year, the worldwide level of
family-sponsored immigrants under section 201(c)(1)(A) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act.
PURPOSE
H.R. 1031 would provide the required waiver necessary to
allow Mr. Oscar Salas-Velazquez to adjust his status to that of
a permanent resident.
BACKGROUND
Mr. Oscar Salas-Velazquez is a 34-year-old Mexican
national. In 1984, at 22 years of age, Mr. Salas-Velazquez
entered the United States on a B-2 visitor visa. In 1986, in a
mutual understanding, he married Jennifer Brady to obtain legal
immigration status. In 1989, both parties admitted at an
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) interview that
they married so Mr. Salas-Velazquez could obtain legal
immigration status. At that interview, INS initially held Mr.
Salas-Velazquez, and then told him to go home. Shortly
thereafter, Mr. Salas-Velazquez met his current wife, Shari
Libby, an American citizen. Subsequently he divorced Jennifer
Brady. In 1990, after consulting counsel who assured Mr. Salas-
Velazquez there would be no problem with INS, he married his
current wife and they now have two children, ages 5 and 3. The
attorney indicated that Mr. Salas-Velazquez could qualify for a
waiver and subsequent citizenship. Later, on the advice of
counsel, Mr. and Mrs. Salas-Velazquez went to the INS,
explained the situation, and filed for citizenship based upon
their legitimate marriage. Finally at that point, INS began
actively pursuing the deportation of Mr. Salas-Velazquez. In
January 1995, Mr. Salas-Velazquez was deported based on the
prior admitted fraudulent marriage.
During the time period when INS was actively pursuing the
deportation of Mr. Salas-Velazquez, it was found that Mrs.
Salas-Velazquez and possibly one of their children are carriers
of the HLA-27 antigen, which predisposes them to developing
Reiter's syndrome. Reiter's syndrome is triggered in these
carriers by intestinal infection by certain organisms which are
widespread in the food and water supplies of Mexico. Reiter's
syndrome is a severe disabling arthritic disease with no cure.
In fact, Mrs. Salas-Velazquez's sister, who also carries the
HLA-27 antigen, developed Reiter's syndrome immediately
following a trip to Mexico. This medical information has been
confirmed by Dr. Elizabeth Brackett, the family's doctor, as
well as Dr. Juan Carlos Manivel, Associate Professor of
Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and Assistant Director of
Anatomic Pathology at the University of Minnesota's Department
of Pathology.
There is a genuine health risk for Mrs. Salas-Velazquez and
possibly one of their children should they join or even visit
Mr. Salas-Velazquez in Mexico, as well as the financial and
emotional hardship normally suffered in these cases.
It is not the Committee's intent in any way that this
legislation serve as a precedent for other private legislation
to waiver the exclusion standard for marriage fraud. Rather,
this legislation acknowledges the previously set precedent in
private legislation that separation due to medical
circumstances is viewed by the Congress as satisfying the
standard of extreme hardship to an American citizen. Because of
almost certain development of Reiter's syndrome, Mrs. Salas-
Velazquez, and possibly one of her children, cannot even visit
Mexico to maintain a familial relationship.
An amendment was adopted by the Committee prohibiting Mr.
Salas-Velazquez from petitioning for any of his family from
Mexico to naturalize as well as reducing the worldwide level of
family-sponsored immigrants by one (1) upon the granting of
permanent residence to Mr. Salas-Velazquez.
COMMITTEE ACTION
On May 23, 1996, the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims
favorably reported the bill H.R. 1031, as amended by voice
vote, to the Judiciary Committee.
On September 11, 1996, the Committee on the Judiciary
ordered reported favorably H.R. 1031 with an amendment by voice
vote, a quorum being present.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS
In compliance with clause 2(l)(3)(A) of rule XI of the
Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee reports
that the findings and recommendations of the Committee, based
on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the
descriptive portions of this report.
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM AND OVERSIGHT FINDINGS
No findings or recommendations of the Committee on
Government Reform and Oversight were received as referred to in
clause 2(l)(3)(D) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives.
NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY AND TAX EXPENDITURES
Clause 2(l)(3)(B) of House Rule XI is inapplicable because
this legislation does not provide new budgetary authority or
increased tax expenditures.
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE
In compliance with clause 2(l)(3)(C) of rule XI of the
Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee sets
forth, with respect to the bill, H.R. 1031, the following
estimate and comparison prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 403 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, September 18, 1996.
Hon. Henry J. Hyde,
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
reviewed H.R. 1031, a bill for the relief of Oscar Salas-
Velazquez, as ordered reported by the House Committee on the
Judiciary on September 11, 1996. The bill would prohibit the
Attorney General from denying the petition of Mr. Salas-
Velazquez for a change of immigration status based on a
determination that his previous marriage was fraudulent. CBO
estimates that enacting H.R. 1031 would result in no
significant cost to the federal government.
H.R. 1031 would impose no private-sector or
intergovernmental mandates as defined by the Unfunded Mandates
Reform Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-4), and CBO estimates that
its enactment would not impose significant costs on the budgets
of state, local, or tribal governments.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark
Grabowicz.
Sincerely,
June E. O'Neill, Director.
inflationary impact statement
Pursuant to clause 2(l)(4) of rule XI of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee estimates that H.R.
1031 will have no significant inflationary impact on prices and
costs in the national economy.
AGENCY VIEWS
The comments of the Immigration and Naturalization Service
are as follows:
U.S. Department of Justice,
Immigration and Naturalization Service,
Washington, DC, September 10, 1996.
Hon. Henry Hyde,
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: In response to your request for a report
relative to H.R. 1031, for the relief of Oscar Salas-Velazquez,
there is attached a memorandum of information.
The bill would direct the removal of the bar to the
approval of the visa petition filed on behalf of the
beneficiary by his United States citizen spouse. The bar is
otherwise mandatory pursuant to section 204(c) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act whenever there is substantial
and probative evidence in the record that the alien spouse has
participated in a prior fraudulent marriage for immigration
purposes. The bill further waives the provision of the
Immigration and Nationality Act which excludes from admission
to the United States an alien who procures or attempts to
procure a visa or other documentation by fraud, or who
willfully misrepresents a material fact.
Absent enactment of the bill, the beneficiary appears to be
ineligible for permanent residence.
Sincerely,
For the Commissioner,
Pamela Barry,
Executive Director,
Congressional and
Intergovernmental
Relations.
Enclosure.
Memorandum of Information From Immigration and Naturalization Service
Files Re: H.R. 1031
The beneficiary, Oscar Salas-Velazquez, is a native and
citizen of Mexico who was born on August 6, 1961. Information
additional to that contained in Immigration and Naturalization
Service files was provided in interviews with Sharron Salas-
Velazquez, nee Libby, spouse of the beneficiary and Jim Libby,
the beneficiary's father-in-law.
The beneficiary resides in Mexico, exact address unknown.
He earns $110 a month as an assistant at an audio-visual
company. Mr. Salas studied automobile mechanics for four years
in the United States, but he did not graduate from the course
of study.
Mr. Salas has six sisters and one brother, all natives and
citizens of Mexico and all reside in Mexico. His parents, who
were Mexican citizens are deceased. On April 20, 1990, he
married Sharron Libby, who was born on June 2, 1967 in the
United States. Mrs. Salas resides in Plymouth, Minnesota, with
their two minor United States citizen children. She is employed
as a sales representative and earns approximately $18,000 per
year.
The beneficiary originally entered the United States on
November 20, 1984 as a visitor. On October 1, 1986, he married
Ms. Jennifer Christine Brady, a United States citizen, and
become a conditional resident in 1987 as a result of that
marriage. In 1989 the marriage was deemed to be fraudulent,
having been entered into to circumvent provisions of the
Immigration and Nationality Act. Subsequently, the
beneficiary's conditional resident status was revoked. Mr.
Salas divorced Ms. Brady on April 10, 1990.
The beneficiary was placed into deportation proceedings in
May 1991. He asked the immigration judge for three forms of
relief to prevent his deportation: an adjustment of status to
permanent residence, based on his second marriage to a United
States citizen; a waiver of excludability; and suspension of
deportation. On February 11, 1991, the immigration judge found
him deportable and ineligible for all forms of relief. That
decision was appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA)
and was reviewed by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Both
forums upheld the decision of the immigration judge.
On February 6, 1992, Mrs. Salas filed an immediate relative
petition for the beneficiary on the basis of their marriage.
The district director denied that petition pursuant to section
204(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act which bars the
approval of a petition when the beneficiary was found to have
participated in a prior fraudulent marriage for immigration
purposes. Mrs. Salas appealed the denial of her immediate
relative petition to the BIA. The denial of that petition by
the district director was upheld by the BIA.
The beneficiary presented himself voluntarily and was
deported from the United States on February 9, 1995, after the
INS had granted him a stay of deportation and the federal court
denied his request for injunctive relief and refused to bar his
deportation from the United States based on the entire record.