[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.

                                
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