Bill > HR4796

This bill: Provides conditional permanent resident status for certain individuals who entered the United States as children and meet specified requirements, including having been continuously physically present in the U.S. since December 31, 2013 and being under 18 years of age when they initially entered. The Secretary of Homeland Security must cancel the removal of and adjust the status of these individuals, unless they have engaged in disqualifying criminal conduct. The bill repeals a provision that denies certain undocumented immigrants eligibility for higher education benefits based on state residency. Requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deploy the most practical and effective border security technology to achieve situational awareness and operational control along the southern border, submit a comprehensive southern border security strategy, and begin eradicating certain invasive plants along the Rio Grande River. The bill establishes a new grant program called Operation Stonegarden to provide border security grants to law enforcement agencies in border states. It also establishes a grant program to improve emergency communications in the southern border region. Increases the number of immigration judges and Board of Immigration Appeals staff attorneys to reduce court backlogs, and requires improved training for immigration judges and Board members. Designates a senior U.S. government official to coordinate a strategy for strengthening security, the rule of law, and economic prosperity in Central America, and to protect vulnerable populations in the region. The bill also requires the Comptroller General to report on whether U.S. foreign assistance is effectively reaching the communities in the Northern Triangle region from which children are migrating, and whether programming is being adjusted as migration patterns shift. Additionally, the bill allows the Millennium Challenge Corporation to enter into concurrent regional compacts, and requires the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to secure international donor and partner support for implementation of the Plan of the Alliance for Prosperity in the Northern Triangle.

Justice, Military Affairs and Security

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/4796/all-info