Sponsors (51)
The bill widens eligibility for long‑resident noncitizens to regularize status and simplifies processing—potentially boosting economic integration—but it also creates legal uncertainty, possible short‑term costs for state and local services, and public‑safety perceptions that could spur litigation and political opposition.
Long-term noncitizen residents (entered ≥7 years ago): become eligible for registry without continuous-residence or good-moral-character tests, increasing their ability to regularize immigration status.
Immigrants, employers, and taxpayers: provides a faster path for some long‑resident noncitizens to regularize status, which can increase labor-market stability and taxable income.
USCIS/DHS and applicants: simplifies the registry application standard, reducing paperwork and processing complexity and potentially lowering administrative burden and delays.
DHS, DOJ, and immigrants: a narrower temporal-only eligibility standard may create legal uncertainty and prompt litigation over how the new rule interacts with other immigration bars, increasing administrative and legal costs.
Long-term immigrants: eligibility under the temporal rule does not eliminate other grounds for removal or inadmissibility (e.g., criminal bars), so some applicants may still face deportation or denial despite eligibility.
State and local governments and taxpayers: newly eligible individuals seeking benefits tied to legal status could increase short-term demand for public services, raising costs for states and localities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Replaces the registry eligibility test with a single requirement: the applicant entered the U.S. at least seven years before filing.
Introduced July 23, 2025 by Zoe Lofgren · Last progress July 23, 2025
Replaces the current registry eligibility rules in 8 U.S.C. §1259 with a single requirement: an applicant must have entered the United States at least seven years before the application date. The change removes the current subsection's listed conditions—such as a historical entry date, continuous residence, and an explicit good‑moral‑character/deportability/citizenship‑ineligibility clause—and takes effect 60 days after enactment.