Public Law

96 STAT.1716

PUBLIC LAW 97-359-OCT.

22, 1982

Public Law 97-359
97th Congress
An Act
Oct. 22, 1982
[S. 16981

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide preferential treatment in
the admission of certain children of United States citizens.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the

Immigration and United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 204 of
Nationality Act, the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1154) is amended by
amendment;
certain children inserting at the end thereof the following new subsection:
of U.S. citizens,
"(g)(l)Any alien claiming to be an alien described in paragraph
admission.
(2)(A) of this subsection (or any person on behalf of such an alien)
8 USC 1151,
1153.

may file a petition with the Attorney General for classification
under section 201@), 203(a)(l), or 203(a)(4), as appropriate. After an
investigation of the facts of each case the Attorney General shall, if
the conditions described in paragraph (2) are met, approve the
petition and forward one copy to the Secretary of State.
"(2) The Attorney General may approve a petition for an alien
under paragraph (1)if"(A) he has reason to believe that the alien (i) was born in
Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea, or Thailand after 1950 and
before the date of the enactment of this subsection, and (ii)was
fathered by a United States citizen;
"(B) he has received an acceptable guarantee of legal custody
and financial responsibility described in paragraph (4); and
"(C) in the case of an alien under eighteen years of age, (i) the
alien's placement with a sponsor in the United States has been
arranged by an appropriate public, private, or State child welfare agency licensed in the United States and actively involved
in the intercountry placement of children and (ii) the alien's
mother or guardian has in writing irrevocably released the
alien for emigration.
"(3) In considering petitions filed under paragraph (11, the Attorney General shall"(A) consult with appropriate governmental officials and officials of private voluntary organizations in the country of the
alien's birth in order to make the determinations described in
subparagraphs (A) and (C)(i)of paragraph 2; and
"(B) consider the physical appearance of the alien and any
evidence provided by the petitioner, including birth and baptismal certificates, local civil records, photographs of, and letters
or proof of financial support from, a putative father who is a
citizen of the United States, and the testimony of witnesses, to
the extent it is relevant or probative.
"(4)(A) A guarantee of legal custody and financial responsibility
for an alien described in paragraph (2) must'Ti) be signed in the presence of an immigration officer or
consular officer by an individual (hereinafter in this paragraph
referred to as the 'sponsor') who is twenty-one years of age or
older, is of good moral character, and is a citizen of the United
States or alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, and

PUBLIC LAW 97-359-OCT.

22, 1982

96 STAT. 1717

'(i) provide that the sponsor agrees O in the case of a n alien
under eighteen years of age, to assume legal custody for the
alien after the alien's departure to the United States and until
the alien becomes eighteen years of age, in accordance with the
laws of the State where the alien and the sponsor will reside,
and UI) to furnish, during the five-year period beginning on the
date of the alien's acquiring the status of an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence, or during the period beginning on the date of the alien's acquiring the status of an alien
lawfully admitted for permanent residence and ending on the
date on which the alien becomes twenty-one years of age,
whichever period is longer, such financial support as is necessary to maintain the family in the United States of which the
alien is a member a t a level equal to at least 125 per centum of
the current official poverty line (as established by the Director of
the
of Management and Budget, under section 673(2)of
the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 and as revised
b the Secretary of Health and Human Services under section
65; of such Act) for a family of the same size as the size of the
alien's family.
"(B) A guarantee of legal custody and financial responsibility
described in subparagraph (A) may be enforced with respect to an
alien against his sponsor in a civil suit brought by the Attorney
General in the United States district court for the district in which
the sponsor resides, except that a sponsor or his estate shall not be
liable under such a guarantee if the sponsor dies or is adjudicated a
bankrupt under title 11, United States Code.".
Approved October 22, 1982.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY-S

1698:

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 128 (1982).
Sept. 28, considered and passed Senate.
Oct. 1, considered and passed House, amended; Senate concurred in House
amendments.
WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 18, No. 42 (1982):
Oct. 22, Presidential statement.

95 Stat. 511.
42 USC 9902.
95 stat. 506
42 USC 9847.