Ahmad Tyree Peterson-adeyanju

H.R. 161

Background Information

The House will consider H.R. 161, an amendment, on January 31, 2007, after the December recess, which would prohibit a foreign national from entering the United States for two years after a foreign national ceases to be present within the United States.

The legislation would implement the spirit of the first article of the Appropriations Act, 2009, which specifies that "no alien shall be admitted to the United States unless... the alien has the right to be admitted after the alien has established physical presence in the United States for an aggregate period of... two years...." H.R. 161 provides two exceptions, the first involving an alien who receives a waiver under United States law, and the second an alien who has been granted parole or parole for a period of time.

The bill's author is Rep. James Lankford, a R mine-district representative from Oklahoma and the House Minority Whip.

An earlier version of the amendment, introduced by Rep. James Moran (R-Va.), was included in H.R. 396; it was moved to the motion to proceed without a bill and was not specifically amended. The bill was examined by the Budget committees and sent to the full Congress.

Currently, prior to applying for a permanent-resident's visa, any immigrant who is admitted to the United States by virtue of having entered legally without being abroad must file the necessary paperwork when the immigrant lands in the U.S. (for example, a valid visa application, I-9) and be physically present in the U.S. for the waiting period, between 30 and 180 calendar days. The law does not actually prescribe how the periods are to be computed or how to enforce the conditions of arrival.

Many immigrant children from Asia are eligible for temporary or permanent resident visas issued by their respective countries of origin. Children who are eligible for permanent resident visas are often also eligible for non-immigrant visas which permit them to stay and work in the United States.

The debate in the U.S. about the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, or AUMF, led to U.S. involvement in the Iraq War against Iraq. A group of Republican senators were opposed to sending the AUMF to Congress, but support for the effort came from Democrats Sens.