H.R. 6497 (111th): Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2010

Introduced:
Dec 07, 2010 (111th Congress, 2009–2010)
Sponsor:
Rep. Howard Berman [D-CA28]
Status:
Died (Referred to Committee)
See Instead:
This bill was re-introduced as H.R. 1842 (112th) on May 11, 2011.

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.

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Status

This bill was introduced on December 7, 2010, in a previous session of Congress, but was not enacted.

Progress
Introduced Dec 07, 2010
Cosponsors
1 cosponsors (1R) (show)
Committees

House Armed Services

House Education and the Workforce

House Homeland Security

House Judiciary

House Ways and Means

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

To authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain alien students who are long-term United States residents and who entered the United States as children, and for other purposes.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

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Last updated Dec 07, 2010.
29 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

12/7/2010--Introduced.
Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2010 or DREAM Act of 2010 - Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to cancel the removal of, and adjust to conditional nonimmigrant status, an alien who: (1) entered the United States before his or her 16th birthday and has been present in the United States for at least five years immediately preceding this Act's enactment; (2) is a person of good moral character; (3) is not inadmissible or deportable under specified grounds of the Immigration and Nationality Act; (4) has not participated in the persecution of any person on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion; (5) has not been convicted of certain offenses under federal or state law; (6) has been admitted to an institution of higher education (IHE) or has earned a high school diploma or general education development certificate in the United States; (7) has never been under a final order of exclusion, deportation, or removal unless the alien has remained in the United States under color of law after such order's issuance, or received the order before attaining the age of 16; and (8) was under age 30 on the date of this Act's enactment. Authorizes the Secretary to waive specified grounds of inadmissibility or deportability for humanitarian, family unity, or public interest purposes. Provides for a $525 application surcharge (in addition to other applicable application fees). Requires an alien to apply for cancellation of removal and conditional nonimmigrant status within one year after the later of: (1) earning a high school diploma or general education development certificate in the United States; or (2) the effective date of related interim regulations. Requires prior to cancellation of removal or granting of conditional nonimmigrant status: (1) an alien to submit biometric and biographic data; and (2) completion of security and law enforcement background checks. Requires an alien applying for relief to: (1) register under the Military Selective Service Act if so required; and (2) undergo a medical examination. Prohibits the Secretary from removing an alien with a pending application who establishes prima facie eligibility for cancellation of removal and conditional nonimmigrant status. Establishes an initial five-year period of conditional nonimmigrant status which shall include employment authorization. Terminates such status if the alien: (1) becomes a public charge; (2) receives a dishonorable or other than honorable military discharge; or (3) ceases to be a person of good moral character, becomes inadmissible or deportable under specified grounds, has participated in racial, religious, social, or political persecution, or has been convicted of certain federal or state offenses. Extends such conditional status for an additional five-year period if the alien: (1) has demonstrated good moral character; (2) is not inadmissible or deportable under specified grounds, has not participated in racial, religious, social, or political persecution, and has not been convicted of certain federal or state offenses; (3) has not abandoned U.S. residency; (4) has earned an IHE degree (or has completed at least two years in a bachelor's or higher degree program) in the United States, or has served in the Armed Forces for at least two years (or if discharged, was honorably discharged); and (5) has provided a list of each elementary school attended in the United States. Authorizes, and sets forth the criteria for, a hardship exception to such extension requirements. Provides for a $2,000 extension application surcharge (in addition to other applicable application fees). Authorizes a conditional nonimmigrant to file an application to adjust his or her status to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Requires such application to be filed during the period beginning 1 year before and ending on either the date that is 10 years after the date of the granting of initial conditional nonimmigrant status or any other expiration date as extended by the Secretary. Requires such application to show that the alien: (1) has demonstrated good moral character; (2) is not inadmissible or deportable under specified grounds, has not participated in racial, religious, social, or political persecution, and has not been convicted of certain federal or state offenses; (3) has not abandoned U.S. residency; and (4) if granted a hardship exception with respect to extension of conditional status, has subsequently complied with the appropriate requirements. Requires an alien, prior to adjusting from conditional to permanent resident status, to: (1) satisfy citizenship and federal tax requirements; (2) submit biometric and biographic data; and (3) have had security and law enforcement background checks completed. Authorizes an alien who adjusts to permanent resident status (and meets other specified requirements) to apply after three years in such status for naturalization. Authorizes: (1) the Secretary to cancel removal and grant conditional nonimmigrant status to an alien who has satisfied the conditional status requirements prior to enactment of this Act; and (2) an alien who has met the appropriate requirements during the entire period of conditional nonimmigrant status to apply for permanent resident status. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) jurisdiction of the Secretary and the Attorney General; (2) penalties for false application statements; (3) confidentiality of information; (4) higher education assistance; (5) military enlistment; and (6) a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report respecting the number of aliens adjusted under this Act.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/111/2/hr6497.

Summary

The DREAM Act would offer amnesty to undocumented immigrants who entered the country before the age of 15.  The bill would grant permanent residency (and then citizenship) to an undocumented immigrant if the person completes two years of college or service in the military.  More specifically, the eligible individual would be required to be in “good standing” and in pursuit of a bachelor degree or serve in the military and must be discharged honorably.  Either requirement would need to be completed within five years of the enactment of the proposed legislation, at which time, there is an additional five year waiting period before attaining a green card. 

 

The bill would require that eligible individuals show they have paid all of their taxes and have met certain English and civics citizenship requirements before receiving a green card.  After receiving a green card, they would be able to apply for U.S. citizenship after three additional years as permanent residents. 

 

The bill would require the following eligibility standards to be met before enrollment in the program:

 

  • In the U.S. for at least 5 years prior to the bill’s enactment;
  • Entered the U.S. at the age of 15 or younger;
  • Must not be older than the age of 29; and
  • Must be a U.S. high school graduate (or obtained a GED) and admitted to an institution of higher education.

 

The bill would require the potential enrollee to submit biometric information to the Secretary of Homeland Security and undergo background checks; be found to have “good moral character” by the Secretary of Homeland Security; not be deportable under certain grounds in immigration laws; undergo a medical examination and not pose a health risk to the community; and register for the Selective Service.

 

The bill would prohibit persons enrolled in the program from petitioning for U.S. citizenship for family members who are not residents of the U.S. until ten years after enrolling in the program.   

 

While the bill would prohibit the program’s enrollees from receiving federal benefits, the bill would make enrollees eligible for federal student loans.  Participants would also be eligible for social insurance programs after paying into them (E.g. Social Security Disability Insurance Program). 

 

The bill would allow students enrolled in the program to be eligible for federal student loans, federal work-study programs, and services made to college students under 20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq. (including supplemental educational opportunity grants to students with financial needs, special programs designed to identify individuals with financial or “cultural needs,” programs designed to prepare students from low-income families for postsecondary education, and programs to provide remedial—including remedial language study—services to students).  The bill would prohibit public universities from granting in-state tuition to illegal immigrants.

Cost

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill would affect federal revenues in a number of ways.  The increase in authorized workers would affect individual and corporate income taxes, as well as social insurance taxes.  On balance, those changes would increase revenues by $1.7 billion over 10 years, according to estimates provided by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT).  Newly authorized workers also would be eligible for some refundable tax credits.

 

Although the legislation would reduce the unified budget deficit over the 2011-2020 period, the eventual conversion of some of the conditional nonimmigrants to legal permanent resident (LPR) status after 2020 would lead to significant increases in spending for the federal health insurance exchanges, Medicaid, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

House Democratic Caucus Summary

The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.

So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.

We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.

The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

Slip Laws

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United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)

Statutes at Large

The United States Statutes at Large is the compilation of all laws enacted by Congress.

  • 107 Stat. 1536