Private Bill Grants Permanent Residency to Juana Maria Flores, Waiving Standard Immigration Rules

This piece of legislation, known as a private relief bill, is laser-focused on one thing: securing permanent resident status for a single individual, Juana Maria Flores. Essentially, it creates a special, fast-track lane for her application. The bill states clearly that she can apply for an immigrant visa or adjust her status to permanent resident, even if the usual annual quotas for immigrant visas (found in section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act) would normally block her path. This is a complete bypass of the standard numerical limits.

The Clean Slate Provision

For anyone dealing with immigration bureaucracy, the biggest hurdle is often past issues. This bill wipes the slate clean for Ms. Flores. It mandates that any existing grounds for her removal, deportation, or inadmissibility that were on the record as of the law’s enactment date cannot be used against her. Even more powerfully, the Secretary of Homeland Security is required to cancel any existing removal or deportation orders. Think of it like hitting the reset button on her entire immigration history. If she enters the U.S. before applying, that entry is retroactively considered lawful, and she is eligible for permanent residency as of the date the law is enacted—provided she meets all other requirements.

The Two-Year Clock and Administrative Cost

This special treatment isn't a blank check; it comes with a strict deadline. Ms. Flores must file her application and pay all necessary fees within two years of the law being enacted. If she misses that window, the special provisions expire. Once her status is granted, there's a minor administrative consequence that impacts others: the Secretary of State must reduce the total number of immigrant visas available to people born in her home country by one. While this is a tiny number, it means one less visa is available to someone else from that country in the coming year or so, demonstrating the cost of granting specific relief outside the standard process.

No Family Benefits Included

It’s important to note what this bill does not do. The legislation explicitly states that Ms. Flores’s natural parents, brothers, and sisters do not gain any special rights, privileges, or status under immigration law just because she is now a permanent resident. This is a benefit solely for the named individual, Juana Maria Flores, and does not create a chain migration pathway for her immediate family members based on this specific act of Congress.