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119-hr-6118119th Congress

Support and Defend Our Military Personnel and Their Families Act

Sponsored By: Representative Thompson, Mike [D-CA-4]

Introduced

Summary

Easier routes to U.S. citizenship and permanent residence for military members and their immediate families. This bill would expand who can naturalize based on military service, change timing rules for a military naturalization pathway, create visa eligibility for nuclear family members, and allow certain relatives to adjust to lawful permanent resident status while in the United States.

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  • Service members who served honorably in support of a contingency operation and who were separated under honorable conditions would be treated as though they served during a President-designated period for naturalization under INA section 329.
  • The bill would change INA section 328 by replacing statutory six-month periods with one-year periods in subsections (a) and (d), altering the timeline used for that specific military naturalization pathway.
  • Parents, spouses, children, sons, daughters, and minor siblings of eligible service members would become eligible for immigrant visas under INA section 203(a)(2). Those relatives could also seek adjustment to permanent residence under a new INA section 245(o) if they are physically present when filing, are admissible with specified exceptions, have an immigrant visa immediately available at filing, and pay a processing fee set by the Secretary. The bill also provides a two-year posthumous eligibility window for relatives after a service-related death.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.

More green card paths for military families

If enacted, some immediate family members of eligible service members could apply for a green card from inside the U.S. You would need to be in the U.S. when you file, have a visa available, and be admissible; public charge, entry without inspection, lack of documents, and certain unlawful presence bars would not apply here. Eligible relatives include a parent, spouse, child, son or daughter, and minor sibling. If the service member died from a service injury or disease, family could apply within two years; if the death was before enactment, the window would be two years after enactment. The bill would also add a family-visa category so spouses and children who already meet family-visa rules could qualify under that category.

Stronger deportation safeguards for veterans

If enacted, DHS could not issue a deportation notice to a noncitizen who served honorably without the Secretary’s approval. Before acting, the Secretary would have to review citizenship eligibility, service record, grounds for removal, and hardship to the Armed Forces, you, and your family. Certain fast-track removal processes could not be used against you.

Mixed changes to citizenship for service members

If enacted, noncitizen troops who served honorably in a contingency operation could apply for citizenship under wartime rules. At the same time, the bill would raise the peacetime service time for naturalization from six months to one year. You would still need honorable service and, if separated, an honorable separation.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Thompson, Mike [D-CA-4]

CA • D

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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