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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2886 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2886
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize lawful
permanent resident status for certain college graduates who entered the
United States as children, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 18 (legislative day, September 16), 2025
Mr. Padilla (for himself, Mr. Paul, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Collins, Ms.
Klobuchar, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Coons, Mr. Cramer, Mr. King, and Mr.
Curtis) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize lawful
permanent resident status for certain college graduates who entered the
United States as children, 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 ``America's CHILDREN Act of 2025'' or
the ``Protecting Children of Long-Term Visa Holders Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS FOR CERTAIN COLLEGE GRADUATES WHO
ENTERED THE UNITED STATES AS CHILDREN.
(a) Requirements.--Section 201(b)(1) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(1)) is amended by adding at the end
the following:
``(F) Any alien who--
``(i) is not inadmissible under section 212(a) or
deportable under section 237(a);
``(ii) was lawfully present in the United States as
a dependent child of a nonimmigrant admitted to engage
in employment in the United States (other than a
nonimmigrant described in subparagraph (A), (G), (N),
or (S) of section 101(a)(15)) for an aggregate period
of not less than 8 years;
``(iii) on the date on which an application under
section 204(a)(1)(M) is submitted, has been lawfully
present in the United States for an aggregate period of
not less than 10 years; and
``(iv) has graduated from an institution of higher
education (as defined in section 102(a) of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(a))) in the
United States.''.
(b) Petition.--Section 204(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(M) Any alien entitled to classification under section
201(b)(1)(F) may file a petition with the Secretary of Homeland
Security for such classification.''.
SEC. 3. AGE-OUT PROTECTIONS AND PRIORITY DATE RETENTION.
(a) Age-Out Protections.--
(1) In general.--The Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) is amended--
(A) in section 101(b) (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)), by adding
at the end the following:
``(6) Determination of Child Status.--A determination as to whether
an alien is a child shall be made as follows:
``(A) In general.--For purposes of a petition under section
204 and any subsequent application for an immigrant visa or
adjustment of status, such determination shall be made using
the age of the alien on the earlier of--
``(i) the date on which the petition is filed with
the Secretary of Homeland Security; or
``(ii) the date on which an application for a labor
certification under section 212(a)(5)(A)(i) is filed
with the Secretary of Labor.
``(B) Certain dependents of nonimmigrants.--With respect to
an alien who, for an aggregate period of 8 years before
attaining the age of 21, was in the status of a dependent child
of a nonimmigrant pursuant to a lawful admission as an alien
eligible to be employed in the United States (other than a
nonimmigrant described in subparagraph (A), (G), (N), or (S) of
section 101(a)(15)), notwithstanding clause (i), the
determination of the alien's age shall be based on the date on
which such initial nonimmigrant employment-based petition or
application was filed by the alien's nonimmigrant parent.
``(C) Failure to acquire status as alien lawfully admitted
for permanent residence.--With respect to an alien who has not
sought to acquire status as an alien lawfully admitted for
permanent residence during the 2 years beginning on the date on
which an immigrant visa becomes available to such alien, the
alien's age shall be determined based on the alien's biological
age, unless the failure to seek to acquire such status was due
to extraordinary circumstances.''; and
(B) in section 201(f) (8 U.S.C. 1151)--
(i) by striking the subsection heading and
all that follows through ``Termination date.--
'' in paragraph (3) and inserting ``Rule for
Determining Whether Certain Aliens Are
Immediate Relatives.--''; and
(ii) by striking paragraph (4).
(2) Effective date.--
(A) In general.--The amendments made by this
subsection shall be effective as if included in the
Child Status Protection Act (Public Law 107-208; 116
Stat. 927).
(B) Motion to reopen or reconsider.--
(i) In general.--A motion to reopen or
reconsider the denial of a petition or
application described in the amendment made by
paragraph (1)(A) may be granted if--
(I) such petition or application
would have been approved if the
amendment described in such paragraph
had been in effect at the time of
adjudication of the petition or
application;
(II) the individual seeking relief
pursuant to such motion was in the
United States at the time the
underlying petition or application was
filed; and
(III) such motion is filed with the
Secretary of Homeland Security or the
Attorney General not later than the
date that is 2 years after the date of
the enactment of this Act.
(ii) Exemption from numerical
limitations.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, an individual granted relief
pursuant to a motion to reopen or reconsider
under clause (i) shall be exempt from the
numerical limitations in sections 201, 202, and
203 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1151, 1152, and 1153).
(b) Nonimmigrant Dependent Children.--Section 214 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
``(s) Derivative Beneficiaries.--
``(1) In general.--Except as described in paragraph (2),
the determination as to whether an alien who is the derivative
beneficiary of a properly filed pending or approved immigrant
petition under section 204 is eligible to be a dependent child
shall be based on whether the alien is determined to be a child
under section 101(b)(6).
``(2) Long-term dependents.--If otherwise eligible, an
alien who is determined to be a child pursuant to section
101(b)(6)(B) may change status to, or extend status as, a
dependent child of a nonimmigrant with an approved employment-
based petition under this section or an approved application
under section 101(a)(15)(E), notwithstanding such alien's
marital status.
``(3) Employment authorization.--An alien admitted to the
United States as a dependent child of a nonimmigrant who is
described in this section is authorized to engage in employment
in the United States incident to status.''.
(c) Priority Date Retention.--Section 203(h) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(h)) is amended--
(1) by striking the subsection heading and inserting
``Retention of Priority Dates'';
(2) by striking paragraphs (1) through (4);
(3) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (3); and
(4) by inserting before paragraph (3) the following:
``(1) In general.--The priority date for an individual
shall be the date on which a petition under section 204 is
filed with the Secretary of Homeland Security or the Secretary
of State, as applicable, unless such petition was preceded by
the filing of a labor certification with the Secretary of
Labor, in which case the date on which the labor certification
is files shall be the priority date.
``(2) Applicability.--The principal beneficiary and all
derivative beneficiaries shall retain the priority date
associated with the earliest of any approved petition or labor
certification, and such priority date shall be applicable to
any subsequently approved petition.''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
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