Military Families Act
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Military Families Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to adjust the status of an eligible alien to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence if the alien: (1) applies for adjustment (with a time limit for an alien applying as a family member of a deceased Armed Forces member), (2) is admissible to the United States as an immigrant, and (3) is physically present in the United States.
Applies such provision to an alien who is: (1) a parent, spouse, child, son, daughter, or the legal guardian of a child of a living Armed Forces member or of a deceased Armed Forces member who died as a result of service-incurred injury or disease; or (2) the spouse, child, son, or daughter of an alien described in clause (1).
Defines "Armed Forces member" as a person who: (1) is, or was at the time of the person's death, a U.S. national or lawfully admitted permanent resident; (2) served honorably on or after October 7, 2001, as a member of the National Guard or the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve, or in an active-duty status in the U.S. military; and (3) if separated from service was separated under honorable conditions.
Waives specified grounds of inadmissibility and authorizes the waiver of additional grounds of inadmissibility.
Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to exempt from worldwide or numerical limitations on immigrant visas the sons and daughters of Filipino World War II veterans who were naturalized under the Immigration Act of 1990 or other specified federal law.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on May 26, 2011. 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 26, 2011: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- 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 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 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?
Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced it on May 26, 2011, and 8 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 8 Democrats.
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 May 26, 2011, 5586 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5586 days ago, on May 26, 2011.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers