[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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