Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Strengthening Our Workforce Act of 2023”.
Strengthening Our Workforce Act of 2023
A BILL
To provide for conditional lawful permanent residency for certain aliens.
Sec. 2 Conditional lawful permanent residency
In general— The Secretary may adjust the status of an alien to that of a conditional lawful permanent resident in accordance with this section.
Status defined— For purposes of this section, the term conditional lawful permanent resident means a status as a nonimmigrant with a period of stay of 2 years, with employment authorization to be provided concurrently.
Eligibility— An alien is eligible for adjustment of status if that alien—
submits an application, at such time, in such form, and containing such information as the Secretary may require;
pays such fee as the Secretary may establish;
is present in the United States as of January 1, 2023—
without lawful status under the immigration laws;
with deferred action granted to the alien pursuant to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program announced by President Obama on June 15, 2012; or
with status as a nonimmigrant that has employment authorization;
has been continuously present in the United States during the period beginning on January 1, 2023, through the date of the application for status;
has been employed for a cumulative period of one hundred days (consecutive or not) at any time, in a covered profession; and
is not inadmissible under paragraph (1), (6)(E), (6)(G), (8), or (10) of section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)), except that with respect to any benefit under this Act, and in addition to the waivers under subsection (g), the Secretary may waive the grounds of inadmissibility under paragraph (1), (6)(E), (6)(G), or (10)(D) of section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)) for humanitarian purposes, for family unity, or because the waiver is otherwise in the public interest;
Conditions of status— An alien granted conditional lawful permanent resident status under this section shall conform to the following requirements:
The alien shall remain continuously physically present in the United States.
The alien shall maintain not less than one hundred cumulative days of annual employment for two consecutive years in a covered profession.
The alien shall be subject to all grounds of deportability under section 237.
Adjustment of status— At the time that the conditional lawful permanent resident status of an alien terminates, the Secretary shall immediately adjust the status of that alien to that of a lawful permanent resident—
unless the alien makes a timely objection in writing; and
if the alien pays such fee as the Secretary may establish and passes an additional background investigation.
Not subject to numerical limitations— An alien whose status is adjusted to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residency under this section is not subject to the worldwide levels or numerical limitations of section 201(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Criminal and national security bars—
Grounds of ineligibility— Except as provided in paragraph (2), an alien is ineligible for adjustment of status under this title if any of the following apply:
The alien is inadmissible under paragraph (2) or (3) of section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)).
Excluding any offense under State law for which an essential element is the alien’s immigration status, and any minor traffic offense, the alien has been convicted of—
any felony offense;
three or more misdemeanor offenses (excluding simple possession of cannabis or cannabis-related paraphernalia, any offense involving cannabis or cannabis-related paraphernalia which is no longer prosecutable in the State in which the conviction was entered, and any offense involving civil disobedience without violence) not occurring on the same date, and not arising out of the same act, omission, or scheme of misconduct; or
a misdemeanor offense of domestic violence, unless the alien demonstrates that such crime is related to the alien having been—
a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, child abuse or neglect, abuse or neglect in later life, or human trafficking;
battered or subjected to extreme cruelty; or
a victim of criminal activity described in section 101(a)(15)(U)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(U)(iii)).
Waivers for certain misdemeanors— For humanitarian purposes, family unity, or if otherwise in the public interest, the Secretary may—
waive the grounds of inadmissibility under subparagraphs (A), (C), and (D) of section 212(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)), unless the conviction forming the basis for inadmissibility would otherwise render the alien ineligible under paragraph (1)(B) (subject to subparagraph (B)); and
for purposes of clauses (ii) and (iii) of paragraph (1)(B), waive consideration of—
one misdemeanor offense if the alien has not been convicted of any offense in the 5-year period preceding the date on which the alien applies for adjustment of status under this title; or
up to two misdemeanor offenses if the alien has not been convicted of any offense in the 10-year period preceding the date on which the alien applies for adjustment of status under this title.
Definitions— For purposes of this subsection—
the term felony offense means an offense under Federal or State law that is punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of more than 1 year;
the term misdemeanor offense means an offense under Federal or State law that is punishable by a term of imprisonment of more than 5 days but not more than 1 year; and
the term crime of domestic violence means any offense that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against a person committed by a current or former spouse of the person, by an individual with whom the person shares a child in common, by an individual who is cohabiting with or has cohabited with the person as a spouse, by an individual similarly situated to a spouse of the person under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction where the offense occurs, or by any other individual against a person who is protected from that individual’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the United States or any State, Indian Tribal government, or unit of local government.
Definitions— For purposes of this section:
In general— Terms used have the meanings given such terms in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Secretary— The term Secretary means the Secretary of Homeland Security.
Covered profession defined— For purposes of this section, the term covered profession means the following:
Health care.
Emergency response.
Energy.
Education, including early education.
Sanitation.
Restaurant ownership, food preparation, vending, catering, food packaging, food services, or delivery.
Hotel or retail.
Fish, poultry, and meat processing work.
Agricultural work, including labor that is seasonal in nature.
Commercial or residential landscaping.
Commercial or residential construction or renovation.
Housing, residential, and commercial construction related activities or public works construction.
Domestic work in private households, including child care, home care, or house cleaning.
Natural disaster recovery, disaster reconstruction, and related construction.
Home and community-based work, including—
home health care;
residential care;
assistance with activities of daily living;
any service provided by direct care workers (as defined in section 799B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p)), personal care aides, job coaches, or supported employment providers; and
any other provision of care to individuals in their homes by direct service providers, personal care attendants, and home health aides.
Family care, including child care services, in-home child care services such as nanny services, and care services provided by family members to other family members.
Manufacturing.
Warehousing.
Transportation or logistics.
Janitorial.
Laundromat and dry-cleaning operators.
Any other work performed by “essential critical infrastructure workers”, as described in the memorandum of the Department of Homeland Security entitled “Advisory Memorandum on Ensuring Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers Ability to Work During the COVID–19 Response”, which was originally issued by the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on March 19, 2020, and last updated on August 10, 2021.
Any other work, industry, or profession that a State or local government deemed essential during the COVID–19 Public Health Emergency.
Workers who are employed in any of the listed professions who do so remotely or hybrid.