Asylum Accountability Act
The Asylum Accountability Act would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to permanently bar certain individuals from adjusting to permanent resident status (i.e., obtaining a green card) if they were ordered removed after failing to appear at a removal proceeding. The current law imposes a 10-year ineligibility period for adjustment of status in such cases; this bill would remove that time limit and make the bar permanent, with an exception for “exceptional circumstances” that would allow for relief. In short, missing a removal hearing could more definitively prevent a path to lawful permanent residency, subject to any future definition of exceptional circumstances. This is a introduced bill and, if enacted, would alter the consequences of failing to appear for removal proceedings by eliminating the existing decade-long window for adjustment and replacing it with a permanent prohibition (again, with potential exceptions not defined in the text provided).
Key Points
- 1Permanent ineligibility for adjustment of status: Aliens ordered removed after failing to appear at a removal proceeding would be permanently barred from becoming permanent residents, subject to exceptional circumstances.
- 2Change to the statute: The bill would amend Section 240(b)(7) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, removing the existing 10-year period after the final removal order.
- 3Scope: Applies specifically to those who are ordered removed after a failure to appear (FTA) at a removal proceeding.
- 4Exceptional circumstances: The bill references “exceptional circumstances” as a possible carve-out, but the text provided does not define what counts as exceptional circumstances.
- 5Focused change: The bill targets adjustment of status (Section 245 pathway) and does not specify other avenues or relief beyond the adjustment-of-status prohibition.