Break the Chain Act
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Immigration and citizenshipFull membership in the national political community: the right to vote in federal elections, hold most federal offices, carry a U.S. passport, and never be deported.Read the full definition (opens a new tab).
Break the Chain Act
This bill makes various changes related to family-sponsored immigration, such as narrowing the definition of what constitutes an immediate relative and lowering the annual numerical cap on certain classes of family-sponsored visas.
The alien parents of U.S. citizens shall not qualify for visas for immediate relatives , which are not subject to any direct numerical limits. Currently, the spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents of citizens are considered immediate relatives.
The bill also reduces the baseline annual cap for family-sponsored visas from 480,000 to 87,934, and revises the methods for calculating the cap. Currently, the 480,000 cap may be adjusted depending on various factors but shall not be less than 226,000. A spouse or child of a sponsoring alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence shall be subject to the family-sponsored visa cap.
The bill revises the rules for determining whether an alien is a child for the purposes of family-sponsored immigration, and establishes that an alien who is married or turns 25 years old prior to a visa becoming available for issuance shall not qualify as a child.
The bill creates a nonimmigrant classification for alien parents of adult U.S. citizens, which authorizes such alien parents for admission into the United States for an initial five-year period. Such alien parents shall not be authorized for employment or to receive any public benefits.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on March 28, 2019. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on May 3, 2019: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
W. Steube (R-FL) introduced it on March 28, 2019, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 2 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 28, 2019, 2723 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2687 days ago, on May 3, 2019.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers