Restoring Authority to Review Family Separation Cases

The Problem

For too long, too many U.S. citizens and their husbands, wives or children have faced family separation because immigration law denies judges the authority to review their cases. Lifetime sentences are applied without due process mechanisms that balance the facts of inadmissibility cases against the harm done to U.S. citizens.

How Many Constituents Are Impacted

Over a million US citizen's spouses are inadmissible.

The Solution

In previous congresses, bipartisan bills in both the Senate (S 744, 113th) and House (American Families United Act, 113th - 115th) included language to grant discretionary authority to review specific cases of Americans who face separation from their families. Such review was permissible until 1996.

That being said, both S 744, 113th and the American Families United Act prohibited this review for individuals without a legal basis to live in the U.S., or for those with a serious criminal record.

On October 30, 2020 the American Families United Act (HR 8708) was introduced in the House of Representatives. 

Legislative Summary

Legislative staff may be interested in reviewing a legislative summary of HR 8708.

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