Protect Patriot Parents Act
The Protect Patriot Parents Act would create a new pathway for certain immigrant parents of U.S. citizen service members to obtain lawful permanent resident status (a green card). Specifically, it targets parents of U.S. citizens who are or were on active duty or in a reserve component and who were discharged honorably, and who are the beneficiaries of a U.S. citizen petition for classification as an immediate relative (the parent category under section 204(a)(1)(A)). For these individuals, the bill would treat them as having been inspected and admitted for purposes of adjustment of status, and would allow waivers of some common inadmissibility bars if they meet conditions (no public threat and no qualifying criminal offenses). The law would also extend similar treatment to sections handling certain grounds of inadmissibility, and it would provide a process for people who were previously removed or who left voluntarily before enactment to apply from abroad and potentially enter temporarily as nonimmigrants to reunite with their U.S. citizen child during pendency of the application. In short, the bill aims to reduce barriers to citizenship for a narrow class of military families (parents of service-member citizens) by broadening eligibility for adjustment of status and allowing discretionary waivers, while also addressing those who were removed or departed in the past.
Key Points
- 1Creates a distinct eligibility pathway (adjustment of status) for certain military parents:
- 2- The parent must be a parent of a U.S. citizen who is or was serving in the U.S. Armed Forces or a reserve component and discharged honorably.
- 3- The U.S. citizen child must have filed a petition for classification under section 204(a)(1)(A) as an immediate relative.
- 4- If eligible, the parent is treated as having been inspected and admitted for purposes of adjustment, and certain inadmissibility bars can be waived at DHS’s discretion if the parent is not a public threat and has no disqualifying criminal offenses unrelated to status.
- 5Waiver of specific inadmissibility grounds:
- 6- In both the adjustment of status process (section 245 amendments) and the new inadmissibility provisions (section 212 amendments), certain grounds can be waived (notably those identified as 6(C), 9(A), and 9(C) in 212(a)) when the applicant has no public safety threats or unrelated criminal history.
- 7- DHS discretion is required for these waivers.
- 8Additional provisions for certain grounds:
- 9- The act also adds a provision in 212(a) (c) to similarly treat eligible military parents and allow waivers of additional grounds, reinforcing the focus on this specific family category.
- 10Provisions for removed or departed aliens:
- 11- For aliens who were removed or who departed voluntarily before enactment, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State must take steps to allow them to apply from abroad for an immigrant visa under the amendment.
- 12- A separate program could allow a pending applicant to enter the U.S. on a nonimmigrant visa to reunite with a U.S. citizen child while their immigrant petition and adjustment application are pending. Eligibility for this nonimmigrant admission would require showing no public threat or national security risk, and DHS may waive certain inadmissibility provisions.