[House Report 110-826]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



110th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     110-826

======================================================================



 
                 FOR THE RELIEF OF KUMI IIZUKA-BARCENA

                                _______
                                

September 8, 2008.--Referred to the Private Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

    Mr. Conyers, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            ADDITIONAL VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 5243]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 5243) for the relief of Kumi Iizuka-Barcena, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Purpose and Summary..............................................     1
Background and Need for the Legislation..........................     2
Hearings.........................................................     2
Committee Consideration..........................................     2
Committee Votes..................................................     3
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     3
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................     3
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................     3
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     4
Constitutional Authority Statement...............................     4
Advisory on Earmarks.............................................     4
Section-by-Section Analysis......................................     4
Agency Views.....................................................     5
Additional Views.................................................    10

                          Purpose and Summary

    H.R. 5243 would make Kumi Iizuka-Barcena eligible for 
adjustment of her status to that of a permanent resident.

                Background and Need for the Legislation

    Kumi Iizuka was born on October 28, 1965, in Shibukawa 
Gumma, Japan. She is currently 42 years old. She entered the 
United States on an F-1 student visa in 1992. She received a 
bachelor's degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College and a 
master's degree from the University of Hartford. In 1998, Ms. 
Iizuka began working for Elcom, Inc., pursuant to an H-1B 
specialty worker visa.
    While in the United States on the H-1B visa, Ms. Iizuka met 
and fell in love with Andrew Barcena, a U.S. citizen. She 
married Mr. Barcena on July 29, 2004, while he was training to 
be a police officer for the El Paso Police Department. A few 
weeks later, on August 16, 2004, Mr. Barcena filed immigration 
petitions for his wife (now Kumi Iizuka-Barcena) based on their 
marriage (Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, and Form I-
485, Application for Permanent Residence).
    Mr. Barcena graduated from the police academy on August 26, 
2004. Just 1 month later, in the early morning hours of 
September 25, he was shot and killed while attempting to subdue 
an aggressive spouse during a domestic disturbance call.
    Mr. Barcena died before the Department of Homeland Security 
(DHS) could process and approve the immigration petitions that 
he had filed on his wife's behalf. Due to the circumstances, 
however, DHS granted Ms. Iizuka-Barcena deferred action status 
along with employment authorization. She was thus able to stay 
in the U.S., where she continued to care for Andrew's father, 
who was a diabetic and suffered partial paralysis due to a 
stroke.
    In June 2006, less than 2 years after her husband's death, 
Ms. Iizuka-Barcena was diagnosed with breast cancer. She 
immediately had surgery to remove cancerous tissue from her 
breasts, and she required a second procedure when doctors 
discovered another lump in her breasts. She also engaged in 
months of chemo and radiation therapy, and she is now on a 
hormone medication regimen.
    Due to the circumstances in Ms. Iizuka-Barcena's case, DHS 
has granted her deferred action status on an annual basis. As 
with a stay of removal, grants of deferred action status are 
temporary and discretionary. Ms. Iizuka-Barcena has no basis to 
immigrate to the United States other than a private bill.
    On February 26, 2008, the Subcommittee on Immigration, 
Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law 
requested, in accordance with its customary practice for 
private immigration bills, that DHS' Office of Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement (ICE) provide the Subcommittee with 
information regarding Ms. Iizuka-Barcena relevant to the bill. 
ICE's report, submitted to the Subcommittee on June 13, 2008, 
contained no derogatory information about Ms. Iizuka-Barcena. 
The ICE report is reprinted in full in the ``Agency Views'' 
section below.

                                Hearings

    The Committee on the Judiciary held no hearings on H.R. 
5243.

                        Committee Consideration

    On July 10, 2008, the Subcommittee on Immigration, 
Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law 
met in open session and ordered the bill, H.R. 5243, favorably 
reported, without amendment, by voice vote, a quorum being 
present. On July 30, 2008, the Committee met in open session 
and ordered the bill, H.R. 5243, favorably reported without 
amendment, by voice vote, a quorum being present.

                            Committee Votes

    In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that there 
were no recorded votes during the Committee's consideration of 
H.R. 5243.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises 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.

               New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures

    Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is inapplicable because this legislation does 
not provide new budgetary authority or increased tax 
expenditures.

               Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee sets forth, with 
respect to the bill, H.R. 5243, the following estimate and 
comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974:(r)MDNM/

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                    Washington, DC, August 1, 2008.
Hon. John Conyers, Jr., Chairman,
Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 5243, a bill for 
the relief of Kumi Iizuka-Barcena.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark 
Grabowicz, who can be reached at 226-2860.
            Sincerely,
                                           Peter R. Orszag,
                                                  Director.

Enclosure

cc:
        Honorable Lamar S. Smith.
        Ranking Member
H.R. 5243--A bill for the relief of Kumi Iizuka-Barcena.
    H.R. 5243 would make Kumi Iizuka-Barcena eligible for 
permanent residence in the United States. CBO estimates that 
enacting this legislation would have no significant impact on 
the Federal budget.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz, 
who can be reached at 226-2860. This estimate was approved by 
Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget 
Analysis.(r)MD23/

                    Performance Goals and Objectives

    The Committee states that pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, H.R. 
5243 would make Kumi Iizuka-Barcena eligible for adjustment of 
her status to that of a lawful permanent resident.

                   Constitutional Authority Statement

    Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee finds the authority for 
this legislation in article 1, section 8, clause 4 of the 
Constitution.

                          Advisory on Earmarks

    In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, H.R. 5243 does not contain any 
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff 
benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of Rule XXI.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

    The following discussion describes the bill as reported by 
the Committee.
    Sec. 1. Permanent Resident Status for Kumi Iizuka-Barcena. 
Subsection (a) provides that, notwithstanding subsections (a) 
and (b) of section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 
Kumi Iizuka-Barcena is eligible for issuance of an immigrant 
visa or for adjustment of status to that of an alien lawfully 
admitted for permanent residence upon filing an application for 
issuance of an immigrant visa under section 204 of such Act or 
for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident.
    Subsection (b) provides that if Kumi Iizuka-Barcena enters 
the United States before the filing deadline specified in 
subsection (c), she must be considered to have entered and 
remained lawfully and, if otherwise eligible, be eligible for 
adjustment of status under section 245 of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act as of the date of the enactment of this Act.
    Subsection (c) provides that subsections (a) and (b) apply 
only if the application for issuance of an immigrant visa or 
the application for adjustment of status is filed with 
appropriate fees within 2 years after the date of the enactment 
of this Act.
    Subsection (d) provides that, upon the granting of an 
immigrant visa or permanent residence to Kumi Iizuka-Barcena, 
the Secretary of State must instruct the proper officer to 
reduce by one, during the current or next following fiscal 
year, the total number of immigrant visas that are made 
available to natives of the country of the alien's birth under 
section 203(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act or, if 
applicable, the total number of immigrant visas that are made 
available to natives of the country of the alien's birth under 
section 202(e) of such Act.

                              Agency Views

    The report from the Department of Homeland Security's 
Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on H.R. 5243 is 
set forth below:


                            Additional Views

    Meritorious private bills should either represent unique 
and compelling circumstances or fit within private bill 
precedent of the modern era (from the 97th Congress onward, 
following the ABSCAM private bill scandal).
    There is precedent in the modern era for the enactment of 
private bills where the alien spouse of an American citizen 
lost the right to immigrate because of the death of the 
American citizen before the approval of the petition for 
conditional permanent residence for the alien (usually, but not 
always, there was also a U.S. citizen child involved). Congress 
has also passed private bills where the beneficiary was the 
spouse of a U.S. citizen or legal alien who died while in 
service to the United States (such as in the military or the 
State Department).
    A DHS report on Ms. Iizuka-Barcena was received on June 13, 
2008, and contained no derogatory information. Because H.R. 
5243 fits within private bill precedent and the DHS report 
contained no derogatory information, this is a meritorious 
private bill.

                                   Lamar Smith.

                                 
