[House Report 112-695]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
112th Congress } { Report
2d Session } HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES { 112-695
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FOR THE RELIEF OF SOPURUCHI CHUKWUEKE
_______
November 15, 2012.--Referred to the Private Calendar and ordered to be
printed
_______
Mr. Smith of Texas, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 285]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the
bill (S. 285) for the relief of Sopuruchi Chukwueke, having
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 1
Background and Need for the Legislation.......................... 1
Hearings......................................................... 3
Committee Consideration.......................................... 4
Committee Votes.................................................. 4
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 4
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................ 4
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................ 4
Performance Goals and Objectives................................. 5
Advisory on Earmarks............................................. 5
Section-by-Section Analysis...................................... 5
Purpose and Summary
The bill grants permanent resident status to Sopuruchi
Chukwueke.
Background and Need for the Legislation
Sopuruchi Victor Chukwueke was born in Nigeria in 1986. He
suffers from a medical condition called neurofibromatosis and
entered the U.S. on a tourist visa in 2001\1\ to receive
medical treatment. All medical fees were waived and the medical
treatments he now receives from the University of Michigan are
covered by the hospital's M-Support Program. The Daughters of
Mary Mother of Mercy, the Catholic religious order that brought
Mr. Chukwueke to the United States, states that:
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\1\Subsequent applications for extensions of stay were denied.
[Mr. Chukwueke] was ostracized and unable to receive
medical care for his rare, deformative genetic
disorder--neurofibromatosis--a condition similar to
``elephant man disease.'' He was entrusted to us as a
young child by his mother who could not care for him
due to the difficulties related to his rare medical
condition. . . . After all the efforts to seek medical
care for Victor in Nigeria failed due to inadequate
medical facilities and lack of skilled surgeons, we
decided to bring him to the United States. . . . He has
undergone a total of seven major surgeries to remove
the tumors that severely disfigured his face including
the loss of one eye and to reconstruct his face. He
still requires additional plastic surgeries to fully
restore his facial features from damage caused by tumor
growth.\2\
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\2\Letter from Rev. Sr. M. Beatrice Nkem Chukwumezie and Sister
Immaculata C. Osueke, Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy, at 1 (March
19, 2012).
Mr. Chukwueke graduated Wayne State University in 2011. He
has been accepted by the medical school at the University of
Toledo. Dr. Kenneth Honn of the Wayne State University School
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of Medicine writes that:
Victor embodies the ideals that we as educators ask our
students to aspire to. He has excelled in his class and
lab work and has maintained stellar grades, all the
while working selflessly in the community to improve
the lives of others. . . . [He] came to the United
States with missionary nuns from Nigeria to face
numerous corrective treatments for his life threatening
condition. . . . [I]n my laboratory . . . he was
assigned to a cancer progression project and faced
scientific challenges in much the same way he has faced
others, with determination and high standards of
performance. [He] has become a cherished member of the
lab for his scientific input in addition to his kind
nature.''\3\
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\3\Letter from Kenneth Honn, Wayne State University School of
Medicine, to Senator Patrick Leahy, at 1 (March 19, 2012).
The Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy write that ``[h]is
dream is to become a humanitarian doctor so that he can help
provide treatment to the less fortunate . . . who struggle
daily, like him, but cannot find treatment.''\4\
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\4\Letter from the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy at 1.
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On December 19, 2011, U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement provided a report on Mr. Chukwueke to the Senate
Judiciary Committee, that revealed no deleterious information.
There is precedent in the modern private bill era for this
private bill. Private bills have been enacted when aliens were
severely ill and could not receive proper treatment in their
home country. In the 106th Congress, a private bill was enacted
for Marina Khalina and her son Albert Mifakhov.\5\ Ms. Khalina
and her son were in the U.S. on visitor's visas that could no
longer be extended. The son was undergoing medical treatment
for cerebral palsy which was unobtainable in Russia and which
he would need until he became an adult. The private bill
granted them permanent residence. Also in the 106th Congress, a
private bill was enacted for Jacqueline Salinas and her three
children.\6\ One of the children had a rare bone cancer and
came to the U.S. with her father from Bolivia (where it could
not be treated). St. Jude's Children's Hospital offered
treatment at no cost to the family. The rest of the family
joined them in the U.S. A car accident resulted in the death of
the father, one child, and the permanent paralysis of Ms.
Salinas from the waist down. The mother, who was pregnant at
the time of the accident, gave birth to a U.S. citizen child.
The disability of the surviving parent and the need for ongoing
cancer treatment for the sick child would have caused the
family extreme hardship if they had to return to Bolivia. The
private bill granted them permanent residence.
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\5\See Priv. L. No. 106-15.
\6\See Priv. L. No. 106-20.
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Private immigration bills have also been enacted when the
aliens (usually illegally present) had been abandoned by their
parents. In the 108th Congress, a private bill was enacted for
Richi Lesley.\7\ Mr. Lesley was born in Korea to an unknown
U.S. serviceman and a Korean woman. She put him up for adoption
and he was adopted by another American serviceman and his wife.
The husband was killed in a fishing accident while living in
Japan and his wife became unable to care for the two young
children. However, the serviceman's mother in the U.S. agreed
to take the children in and they were granted visitor's visas
to come to the U.S. (while Mr. Lesley was still 1 year old).
Following the death of the adoptive grandmother, the children
lived with other family and friends. Mr. Lesley did not know he
was not a U.S. citizen until the INS began deportation
proceedings. The private bill granted him permanent residence.
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\7\See Priv. L. No. 108-3.
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In addition, in the 106th Congress a private bill was
enacted for Tony Lara.\8\ Mr. Lara entered the U.S. illegally
with his sister from El Salvador when he was 10 years old to
join his parents, who were living in Los Angeles. After his
mother returned to El Salvador, she died. His father abandoned
Mr. Lara and his sister and was later deported. After they
lived in neglect with an uncle, neighbors adopted his sister
but could not afford to also adopt him. At age 16, Mr. Lara
started living with his high school wrestling coach. The
Judiciary Committee report indicated that if he ``had become a
ward of the court before age 16, he could have filed a special
immigrant visa petition and obtained legal status.''\9\ The
private bill granted Mr. Lara permanent residence.
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\8\See Priv. L. No. 106-22.
\9\H.R. Rept. No. 106-964 at 2 (2000).
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Hearings
The Committee on the Judiciary held no hearings on S. 285.
Committee Consideration
On August 1, 2012, the Committee met in open session and
ordered the bill S. 285 favorably reported without amendment,
by voice vote, a quorum being present.
Committee Votes
In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that there
were no recorded votes during the Committee's consideration of
S. 285.
Committee Oversight Findings
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the
descriptive portions of this report.
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures
Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives is inapplicable because this legislation does
not provide new budgetary authority or increased tax
expenditures.
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee sets forth, with
respect to the bill, S. 285, the following estimate and
comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, August 2, 2012.
Hon. Lamar Smith, Chairman,
Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 285, an act for the
relief of Sopuruchi Chukwueke.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark
Grabowicz, who can be reached at 226-2860.
Sincerely,
Douglas W. Elmendorf,
Director.
Enclosure
cc:
Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
Ranking Member
S. 285--An act for the relief of Sopuruchi Chukwueke.
As ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary
on August 1, 2012.
S. 285 would make Sopuruchi Chukwueke eligible for
permanent U.S. residence. The Act would affect only one person
and could have a very small effect on fees collected by the
Department of Homeland Security and thus would affect direct
spending. Therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. CBO
estimates, however, that enacting S. 285 would have no
significant impact on the Federal budget.
On July 25, 2012, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S.
285 as reported by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on
July 19, 2012. The two versions of the legislation are the
same, as are the CBO cost estimates.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz.
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
Performance Goals and Objectives
The Committee states that pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, S. 285
grants permanent resident status to Sopuruchi Chukwueke.
Advisory on Earmarks
In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, S. 285 does not contain any
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff
benefits as defined in clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of Rule XXI.
Section-by-Section Analysis
The following discussion describes the bill as reported by
the Committee.
Sec. 1. Adjustment of Status.
Subsection (a) provides that Sopuruchi Chukwueke shall be
eligible for adjustment of status to that of an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence upon filing an application for
adjustment of status.
Subsection (b) provides that subsection (a) shall apply
only if the application for adjustment of status is filed with
appropriate fees within 2 years after the date of the enactment
of this Act.
Subsection (c) provides that upon the granting of permanent
residence to Sopuruchi Chukwueke, the Secretary of State shall
instruct the proper officer to reduce by one, during the
current or next following fiscal year, the total number of
immigrant visas that are made available to natives of the
country of his birth under section 202(a)(2) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (``INA'').
Subsection (d) provides that the natural parents, brothers,
and sisters of Sopuruchi Chukwueke shall not, by virtue of such
relationship, be accorded any right, privilege, or status under
the INA.