119-s2923

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2923 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 2923

 To provide for the automatic acquisition of United States citizenship 
 for certain internationally adopted individuals, and for other 
 purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 September 19 (legislative day, September 16), 2025

Ms. Hirono (for herself and Ms. Collins) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To provide for the automatic acquisition of United States citizenship 
 for certain internationally adopted individuals, and for other 
 purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Protect Adoptees and American 
Families Act'' or the ``PAAF Act''.

SEC. 2. UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP FOR CERTAIN INTERNATIONALLY ADOPTED 
 INDIVIDUALS.

 

Section 320

    (b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1431

    (b) ) is amended to read as follows:
 ``

    (b) Adopted Children of Citizen Parent.--
 ``

    (1) In general.--Subsection

    (a) shall apply to a child 
 adopted by a United States citizen parent if the child 
 satisfies the requirements applicable to adopted children under 
 subparagraph
        (E) ,
        (F) , or
        (G) of 

section 101

    (b)

    (1) , regardless 
 of the date on which the adoption was finalized.
 ``

    (2) Limited application to certain adopted individuals 
 residing in the united states.--Notwithstanding 

section 318, an 
 individual born outside of the United States who was adopted by 
 a United States citizen parent shall automatically become a 
 citizen of the United States when all of the following 
 conditions have been fulfilled:
 ``
        (A) The individual was adopted by a United States 
 citizen before the individual reached 18 years of age.
 ``
        (B) The individual was physically present in the 
 United States in the legal custody of the citizen 
 parent pursuant to a lawful admission before the 
 individual reached 18 years of age.
 ``
            (C) The individual never acquired United States 
 citizenship before the date of the enactment of the 
 Protect Adoptees and American Families Act.
 ``
            (D) The individual was residing in the United 
 States on the date of the enactment of the Protect 
 Adoptees and American Families Act pursuant to a lawful 
 admission.
 ``

    (3) Limited application to certain adopted individuals 
 residing outside of the united states.--
 ``
        (A) In general.--Any individual who meets all of 
 the criteria described in subparagraphs
        (A) through
            (C) of paragraph

    (2) , but does not meet the requirement 
 described in subparagraph
            (D) of such paragraph, shall 
 automatically become a citizen of the United States on 
 the date on which the individual is physically present 
 in the United States pursuant to a lawful admission.
 ``
        (B) Inapplicability of grounds of 
 inadmissibility.--The grounds of inadmissibility set 
 forth in 

section 212

    (a) shall not apply to any 
 individual described in subparagraph
        (A) who is seeking 
 admission to the United States.
 ``
            (C) Criminal background check.--Notwithstanding 
 subparagraphs
        (A) and
        (B) , an individual described in 
 subparagraph
        (A) may not be issued a visa unless--
 ``
            (i) the individual was subjected to a 
 criminal background check; and
 ``
            (ii) if the background check conducted 
 pursuant to clause
            (i) reveals that the 
 individual has committed a crime that was not 
 properly resolved, the Secretary of Homeland 
 Security and the Secretary of State coordinated 
 with relevant law enforcement agencies to 
 ensure that appropriate action is taken to 
 resolve such criminal activity.''.
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