Politiparty
Politiparty

118th Congress Immigration

H.R. 213: Break the Chain Act

Introduced

  1. Introduced (completed)Jan 9, 2023
  2. Passed House (not reached)
  3. Passed Senate (not reached)
  4. To the President (not reached)
  5. Became law (not reached)

Summary

Introduced in House, Jan 9, 2023

This bill makes various changes related to family-sponsored immigration, such as narrowing the definition of what constitutes an immediate relative and lowering the annual numerical cap on certain classes of family-sponsored visas.

A non-U.S. national (alien under federal law) who is a parent of a U.S. citizen shall not qualify for a visa for immediate relatives, which is not subject to any direct numerical limits. Currently, the spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents of citizens are considered immediate relatives.

The bill also reduces the baseline annual cap for family-sponsored visas from 480,000 to 87,934, and revises the methods for calculating the cap. Currently, the 480,000 cap may be adjusted depending on various factors but shall not be less than 226,000. A spouse or child of a sponsoring lawful permanent resident (also known as a green card holder) shall be subject to the family-sponsored visa cap.

Read the full summary

The bill revises the rules for determining whether a non-U.S. national is a child for the purposes of family-sponsored immigration, and establishes that an individual who is married or turns 25 years old prior to a visa becoming available for issuance shall not qualify as a child.

The bill creates a nonimmigrant classification for non-U.S. national parents of adult U.S. citizens, which authorizes such parents for admission into the United States for an initial five-year period. Such parents shall not be authorized for employment or to receive any public benefits.

Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.

Roll calls

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Amendments

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Other bills by W. Steube

History

  1. Jan 9, 2023Introduced in the House by W. Steube.
Show the full action history (2 actions)
  1. Jan 9, 2023Introduced in House
  2. Jan 9, 2023Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.