Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM)

S. 1291 To amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to permit States to determine State residency for higher education purposes and to authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain alien college-bound students who are long-term United States residents. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 1, 2001 Mr. HATCH (for himself and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary JUNE 20, 2002 Reported by Mr. LEAHY, with an amendment and an amendment to the title [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to permit States to determine State residency for higher education purposes and to authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain alien college-bound students who are long-term United States residents. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 S 1291 RS 1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Development, Relief, 3 and Education for Alien Minors Act’’ or ‘‘DREAM Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. RESTORATION OF STATE OPTION TO DETERMINE 5 RESIDENCY FOR PURPOSES OF HIGHER EDU6 CATION BENEFITS. 7 Section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 8 Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (division C of Pub9 lic Law 104–208; 110 Stat 3009–672; 8 U.S.C. 1623) is 10 repealed. 11 SEC. 3. CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL AND ADJUSTMENT OF 12 STATUS OF CERTAIN LONG-TERM RESIDENT 13 STUDENTS. 14 (a) SPECIAL RULE FOR CHILDREN IN QUALIFIED IN15 STITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 17 provision of law and subject to paragraph (2), the 18 Attorney General may cancel removal of, and adjust 19 to the status of an alien lawfully admitted for per20 manent residence, subject to the conditional basis 21 described in section 4, an alien who is inadmissible 22 or deportable from the United States, if the alien 23 demonstrates that— 24 (A) the alien has applied for relief under 25 this subsection not later than two years after 26 the date of enactment of this Act; 3 S 1291 RS 1 (B) the alien has not, at the time of appli2 cation, attained the age of 21; 3 (C) the alien, at the time of application, is 4 attending an institution of higher education in 5 the United States (as defined in section 101 of 6 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7 1001)); 8 (D) the alien was physically present in the 9 United States on the date of the enactment of 10 this Act and has been physically present in the 11 United States for a continuous period of not 12 less than five years immediately preceding the 13 date of enactment of this Act; 14 (E) the alien has been a person of good 15 moral character during such period; and 16 (F) the alien is not inadmissible under sec17 tion 212(a)(2) or 212(a)(3) or deportable under 18 section 237(a)(2) or 237(a)(4). 19 (2) PROCEDURES.—The Attorney General shall 20 provide a procedure by regulation allowing eligible 21 individuals to apply affirmatively for the relief avail22 able under this paragraph without being placed in 23 removal proceedings. 24 (b) TERMINATION OF CONTINUOUS PERIOD.—For 25 purposes of this section, any period of continuous resi- 4 S 1291 RS 1 dence or continuous physical presence in the United States 2 of an alien who applies for cancellation of removal under 3 this section shall not terminate when the alien is served 4 a notice to appear under section 239(a) of the Immigra5 tion and Nationality Act. 6 (c) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN BREAKS IN PRES7 ENCE.—An alien shall be considered to have failed to 8 maintain continuous physical presence in the United 9 States under subsection (a) if the alien has departed from 10 the United States for any period in excess of 90 days or 11 for any periods in the aggregate exceeding 180 days. 12 (d) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 13 section may be construed to apply a numerical limitation 14 on the number of aliens who may be eligible for cancella15 tion of removal or adjustment of status under this section. 16 (e) REGULATIONS.— 17 (1) PROPOSED REGULATIONS.—Not later than 18 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 19 the Attorney General shall publish proposed regula20 tions implementing this section. 21 (2) INTERIM, FINAL REGULATIONS.—Not later 22 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 23 this Act, the Attorney General shall publish final 24 regulations implementing this section. Such regula25 tions shall be effective immediately on an interim 5 S 1291 RS 1 basis, but are subject to change and revision after 2 public notice and opportunity for a period for public 3 comment. 4 SEC. 4. CONDITIONAL PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS FOR 5 CERTAIN LONG-TERM RESIDENT STUDENTS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.— 7 (1) CONDITIONAL BASIS FOR STATUS.—Not8 withstanding any other provision of this Act, an 9 alien whose status has been adjusted under section 10 3 to that of an alien lawfully admitted for perma11 nent residence shall be considered, at the time of ob12 taining the adjustment of status, to have obtained 13 such status on a conditional basis subject to the pro14 visions of this section. 15 (2) NOTICE OF REQUIREMENTS.— 16 (A) AT TIME OF OBTAINING PERMANENT 17 RESIDENCE.—At the time an alien obtains per18 manent resident status on a conditional basis 19 under paragraph (1), the Attorney General 20 shall provide for notice to such alien respecting 21 the provisions of this section and the require22 ments of subsection (c)(1) to have the condi23 tional basis of such status removed. 24 (B) AT TIME OF REQUIRED PETITION.—In 25 addition, the Attorney General shall attempt to 6 S 1291 RS 1 provide notice to such an alien, at or about the 2 date of the alien’s graduation from an institu3 tion of higher education of the requirements of 4 subsection (c)(1). 5 (C) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO PROVIDE NO6 TICE.—The failure of the Attorney General to 7 provide a notice under this paragraph shall not 8 affect the enforcement of the provisions of this 9 section with respect to such an alien. 10 (b) TERMINATION OF STATUS IF FINDING THAT 11 QUALIFYING EDUCATION IMPROPER.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an alien with 13 permanent resident status on a conditional basis 14 under subsection (a), if the Attorney General deter15 mines that the alien is no longer a student in good 16 standing at an accredited institution of higher edu17 cation, the Attorney General shall so notify the alien 18 and, subject to paragraph (2), shall terminate the 19 permanent resident status of the alien as of the date 20 of the determination. 21 (2) HEARING IN REMOVAL PROCEEDING.—Any 22 alien whose permanent resident status is terminated 23 under paragraph (1) may request a review of such 24 determination in a proceeding to remove the alien. 25 In such proceeding, the burden of proof shall be on 7 S 1291 RS 1 the alien to establish, by a preponderance of the evi2 dence, that the condition described in paragraph (1) 3 is not met. 4 (c) REQUIREMENTS OF TIMELY PETITION FOR RE5 MOVAL OF CONDITION.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order for the conditional 7 basis established under subsection (a) for an alien to 8 be removed the alien must submit to the Attorney 9 General, during the period described in subsection 10 (d)(2), a petition which requests the removal of such 11 conditional basis and which states, under penalty of 12 perjury, the facts and information described in sub13 section (d)(1). 14 (2) TERMINATION OF PERMANENT RESIDENT 15 STATUS FOR FAILURE TO FILE PETITION.— 16 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an alien 17 with permanent resident status on a conditional 18 basis under subsection (a), if no petition is filed 19 with respect to the alien in accordance with the 20 provisions of paragraph (1), the Attorney Gen21 eral shall terminate the permanent resident sta22 tus of the alien as of the 90th day after the 23 graduation of the alien from an institution of 24 higher education. 8 S 1291 RS 1 (B) HEARING IN REMOVAL PROCEEDING.— 2 In any removal proceeding with respect to an 3 alien whose permanent resident status is termi4 nated under subparagraph (A), the burden of 5 proof shall be on the alien to establish compli6 ance with the condition of paragraph (1). 7 (3) DETERMINATION AFTER PETITION AND 8 INTERVIEW.— 9 (A) IN GENERAL.—If a petition is filed in 10 accordance with the provisions of paragraph 11 (1), the Attorney General shall make a deter12 mination, within 90 days, as to whether the 13 facts and information described in subsection 14 (d)(1) and alleged in the petition are true with 15 respect to the alien’s education. 16 (B) REMOVAL OF CONDITIONAL BASIS IF 17 FAVORABLE DETERMINATION.—If the Attorney 18 General determines that such facts and infor19 mation are true, the Attorney General shall so 20 notify the alien and shall remove the conditional 21 basis of the status of the alien effective as of 22 the 90th day after the alien’s graduation from 23 an institution of higher education. 24 (C) TERMINATION IF ADVERSE DETER25 MINATION.—If the Attorney General determines 9 S 1291 RS 1 that such facts and information are not true, 2 the Attorney General shall so notify the alien 3 and, subject to subparagraph (D), shall termi4 nate the permanent resident status of an alien 5 as of the date of the determination. 6 (D) HEARING IN REMOVAL PRO7 CEEDING.—Any alien whose permanent resident 8 status is terminated under subparagraph (C) 9 may request a review of such determination in 10 a proceeding to remove the alien. In such pro11 ceeding, the burden of proof shall be on the At12 torney General to establish, by a preponderance 13 of the evidence, that the facts and information 14 described in subsection (d)(1) and alleged in the 15 petition are not true with respect to the alien’s 16 education. 17 (d) DETAILS OF PETITION.— 18 (1) CONTENTS OF PETITION.—Each petition 19 under subsection (c)(1)(A) shall contain the fol20 lowing facts and information: 21 (A) The alien graduated from an institu22 tion of higher education, as evidenced by an of23 ficial report from the registrar— 24 (i) within six years, in the case of a 25 four-year bachelor’s degree program; or 10 S 1291 RS 1 (ii) within four years, in the case of 2 the degree program of a two-year institu3 tion. 4 (B) The alien maintained good moral char5 acter. 6 (C) The alien has not been convicted of 7 any offense described in section 237(a)(2) or 8 237(a)(4). 9 (D) The alien has maintained continuous 10 physical residence in the United States. 11 (2) PERIOD FOR FILING PETITION.—The peti12 tion under subsection (c)(1)(A) must be filed during 13 the 90-day period after the alien’s graduation from 14 a institution of higher education. 15 (e) TREATMENT OF PERIOD FOR PURPOSES OF NAT16 URALIZATION.—For purposes of title III of the Immigra17 tion and Nationality Act, in the case of an alien who is 18 in the United States as a lawful permanent resident on 19 a conditional basis under this section, the alien shall be 20 considered to have been admitted as an alien lawfully ad21 mitted for permanent residence and to be in the United 22 States as an alien lawfully admitted to the United States 23 for permanent residence. 24 (f) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN WAIVERS.—In the case 25 of an alien who has permanent residence status on a con- 11 S 1291 RS 1 ditional basis under this section, if, in order to obtain such 2 status, the alien obtained a waiver under subsection (h) 3 or (i) of section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality 4 Act of certain grounds of inadmissibility, such waiver ter5 minates upon the termination of such permanent residence 6 status under this section. 7 (g) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION DE8 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘institution of higher 9 education’’ has the meaning given the term in section 101 10 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.1001). 11 SEC. 5. GAO REPORT. 12 Six years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 13 Comptroller General of the United States shall submit a 14 report to the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate 15 and the House of Representatives setting forth— 16 (1) the number of aliens who were eligible for 17 cancellation of removal and adjustment of status 18 during the application period described in section 19 3(a)(1)(A); 20 (2) the number of aliens who applied for adjust21 ment of status under section 3(a); 22 (3) the number of aliens who were granted ad23 justment of status under section 3(a); and 12 S 1291 RS 1 (4) the number of aliens with respect to whom 2 the conditional basis of their status was removed 3 under section 4. 4 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 5 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Development, Relief, and 6 Education for Alien Minors Act’’ or the ‘‘DREAM Act’’. 7 SEC. 2. RESTORATION OF STATE OPTION TO DETERMINE 8 RESIDENCY FOR PURPOSES OF HIGHER EDU9 CATION BENEFITS. 10 Section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 11 Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (Division C of Public 12 Law 104–208; 110 Stat. 3009–672; 8 U.S.C. 1623) is re13 pealed. 14 SEC. 3. CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL AND ADJUSTMENT OF 15 STATUS OF CERTAIN ALIEN HIGH SCHOOL 16 GRADUATES WHO ARE LONG-TERM RESI17 DENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 18 (a) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN ALIEN HIGH 19 SCHOOL GRADUATES.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided 21 in paragraph (2), notwithstanding any other provi22 sion of law, the Attorney General may cancel the re23 moval of, and adjust to the status of an alien lawfully 24 admitted for permanent residence, an alien who is in25 admissible or deportable from the United States, if the 13 S 1291 RS 1 alien applies for such cancellation and adjustment of 2 status and demonstrates that— 3 (A) the alien has attained 12 years of age 4 prior to the date of enactment of this Act; 5 (B) the alien has not, prior to the date of 6 filing the application for cancellation of removal 7 and adjustment of status under this subsection, 8 attained the age of 21 years; 9 (C) the alien, prior to the date of filing an 10 application for cancellation of removal and ad11 justment of status under this subsection, has re12 ceived a certificate of graduation from a school 13 providing secondary education or the recognized 14 equivalent of such certificate; 15 (D) has maintained a continuous physical 16 presence in the United States for a period of not 17 less than 5 years immediately preceding the date 18 of enactment of this Act; 19 (E) the alien is a person of good moral 20 character; and 21 (F) is not inadmissible under section 22 212(a)(2) (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)) or 212(a)(3) (8 23 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)) or deportable under section 24 237(a)(2) (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)) or 237(a)(4) (8 14 S 1291 RS 1 U.S.C. 1227(a)(4)) of the Immigration and Na2 tionality Act. 3 (2) EXCEPTIONS.— 4 (A) REHABILITATION AND HARDSHIP TO 5 CERTAIN ALIENS.—Notwithstanding subpara6 graph (F) of paragraph (1), the Attorney Gen7 eral may cancel the removal of, and adjust to the 8 status of an alien lawfully admitted for perma9 nent residence, an alien (other than an alien 10 convicted of an aggravated felony, as defined in 11 section 101(a)(43) of the Immigration and Na12 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)) or an alien 13 who is inadmissible under section 212(a)(3) (8 14 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)) or deportable under section 15 237(a)(4) (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(4)) of such Act) who 16 but for that subparagraph would qualify for can17 cellation of removal and adjustment of status 18 under this section if the alien demonstrates reha19 bilitation and that the alien’s removal will result 20 in exceptional and extremely unusual hardship 21 to the alien or a United States citizen or lawful 22 permanent resident spouse, parent, or child. 23 (B) ALIENS QUALIFYING BEFORE THE DATE 24 OF ENACTMENT.—Notwithstanding paragraph 25 (1), the Attorney General may cancel the re- 15 S 1291 RS 1 moval of, and adjust to the status of an alien 2 lawfully admitted for permanent residence, an 3 alien if— 4 (i) the alien would have met the re5 quirements of paragraph (1) at any time 6 during the 4-year period immediately pre7 ceding the date of enactment of this Act; 8 and 9 (ii) the alien has graduated from, or 10 is, on the date of filing an application for 11 cancellation of removal under this sub12 section, enrolled in the United States in an 13 institution of higher education, as defined 14 by section 101 of the Higher Education Act 15 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 16 (3) PROCEDURES.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 18 shall by regulation establish a procedure that 19 permits aliens to apply for cancellation of re20 moval and adjustment of status available under 21 this subsection without being placed in removal 22 proceedings, except that, in addition, such can23 cellation of removal and adjustment of status 24 shall be available in removal proceedings. In the 25 case of an alien in an exclusion or deportation 16 S 1291 RS 1 hearing, suspension of deportation on the same 2 grounds as are provided under this subsection for 3 cancellation of removal, together with adjustment 4 of status, shall be available. 5 (B) TREATMENT PRIOR TO GRADUATION.— 6 (i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 7 any other provision of law, an alien de8 scribed in clause (ii) may not be removed so 9 long as the alien continues to meet the cri10 teria of that clause. 11 (ii) COVERED ALIENS.—An alien de12 scribed in this clause is an alien who does 13 not meet the requirements of paragraph 14 (1)(C) but is otherwise able to demonstrate 15 prima facie eligibility for cancellation of re16 moval and adjustment of status under this 17 section and has a reasonable opportunity of 18 meeting all the requirements of cancellation 19 of removal and adjustment of status under 20 this section in the future. 21 (iii) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—The At22 torney General shall grant an alien de23 scribed in clause (ii) authorization to en24 gage in employment in the United States. 17 S 1291 RS 1 (C) EXPEDITED PROCESSING OF APPLICA2 TIONS; PROHIBITION ON FEES.—Regulations pro3 mulgated under this paragraph shall provide 4 that applications for cancellation of removal and 5 adjustment of status under this subsection will be 6 considered on an expedited basis and without a 7 requirement for the payment by the applicant of 8 any additional fee for such expedited processing. 9 (4) CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.— 10 (A) PROHIBITION.—Neither the Attorney 11 General nor any other official or employee of the 12 Department of Justice may— 13 (i) use the information furnished by 14 the applicant pursuant to an application 15 filed under this subsection for any purpose 16 other than to make a determination on the 17 application; 18 (ii) make any publication whereby the 19 information furnished by any particular in20 dividual can be identified; or 21 (iii) permit anyone other than a sworn 22 officer or employee of the Department of 23 Justice or, with respect to an application 24 filed under this subsection with a designated 18 S 1291 RS 1 entity, that designated entity, to examine 2 applications filed under this subsection. 3 (B) PENALTY.—Whosoever knowingly uses, 4 publishes, or permits information to be examined 5 in violation of this subsection shall be fined not 6 more than $10,000. 7 (b) TERMINATION OF PERIOD OF CONTINUOUS PE8 RIOD.—For purposes of this section, any period of contin9 uous physical presence in the United States of an alien who 10 applies for cancellation of removal and adjustment of status 11 under subsection (a) shall not terminate when the alien is 12 served a notice to appear under section 239(a) of the Immi13 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229) or any other 14 document notifying the alien of the initiation of immigra15 tion proceedings under that Act. 16 (c) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN BREAKS IN PRESENCE.— 17 An alien shall be considered to have failed to maintain con18 tinuous physical presence in the United States under sub19 section (a)(1)(D) if the alien has departed from the United 20 States for any period in excess of 90 days or for any periods 21 in the aggregate exceeding 180 days, except that an alien 22 may remain eligible for cancellation of removal and adjust23 ment of status under this section notwithstanding a failure 24 to maintain continuous physical presence in the United 25 States if the alien demonstrates that failure is due to excep- 19 S 1291 RS 1 tional circumstances, as defined by section 240(e)(1) of the 2 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a(e)(1)), 3 or circumstances described in subparagraphs (A), (B), or 4 (C) of section 244(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality 5 Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(b)(1)). 6 (d) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec7 tion may be construed to apply a numerical limitation on 8 the number of aliens who may be eligible for cancellation 9 of removal under section 240A of the Immigration and Na10 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229b). 11 (e) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after the 12 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 13 publish regulations implementing this section. Such regula14 tions shall be effective immediately on an interim, final 15 basis, but are subject to change and revision after public 16 notice and opportunity for a period for public comment. 17 SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT. 18 Not later than one year after the date of enactment 19 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General 20 shall submit a report to the Committees on the Judiciary 21 of the Senate and the House of Representatives and to the 22 Secretary of Education setting forth— 23 (1) the number of aliens who applied for can24 cellation of removal and adjustment of status under 25 section 3; 20 S 1291 RS 1 (2) the number of aliens who were granted can2 cellation of removal and adjustment of status under 3 section 3; 4 (3) the number of aliens who applied for can5 cellation of removal and adjustment of status under 6 section 3 but whose applications were denied and the 7 basis for the denial of each application; and 8 (4) the number of pending applications for can9 cellation of removal and adjustment of status under 10 section 3. Amend the title to read as follows: ‘‘A bill to amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to permit States to determine State residency for higher education purposes and to authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain alien high school graduates who are long-term United States residents.’’. Calendar No. 425 107TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 1291 A BILL To amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to permit States to determine State residency for higher education purposes and to authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain alien college-bound students who are longterm United States residents. JUNE 20, 2002 Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the title.