Xavier Becerra: “Mr. Chairman, let me make sure I make this as clear as I can: Section 245(i) within the Immigration and Naturalization…”

“Mr. Chairman, let me make sure I make this as clear as I can: Section 245(i) within the Immigration and Naturalization Act, which this amendment by the gentleman from California would repeal, does not permit anyone to gain lawful permanent residence who would otherwise be disqualified. So if you are someone who crossed over our border without documents, you cannot qualify for adjustment to status to be a permanent resident. This only applies in the cases where people would otherwise qualify. You cannot be eligible for this program unless you meet the criteria. What this particular provision in the code currently does is it just takes away the fiction of having someone fly back home just to submit an application to the U.S. consulate office in that country of origin and then come back here, because the person will be entitled to come back. These are people who will be entitled to gain lawful permanent resident status. Let me give you a quick example. If an engineer is working on a project that terminates prematurely, and this person cannot line up new employment immediately and fill out all the immigration paperwork quickly enough, the engineer would need to make a planned trip back home to the country of origin to get the green card that he or she is entitled to get. That would disrupt work, school, other things in lining up the new employment, but the person would ultimately qualify.”