PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · May 13, 2021
Fairness for Immigrant Families Act
This bill modifies provisions barring certain aliens from admission and addresses other immigration-related issues.
The bill repeals various admissions bars against aliens who were unlawfully present in the United States for certain amounts of time.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
The bill also modifies a provision that generally makes inadmissible aliens who had been ordered removed and who attempt to reenter the United States without being admitted. Specifically, the bill exempts from that provision minors, asylum seekers, aliens who received a stay of removal under a family unity program, victims of severe trafficking, and certain aliens who entered the United States as children.
An alien who entered the United States without inspection may apply for lawful permanent residence during the five-year period starting from this bill's enactment if the alien is the beneficiary of a family-based petition or labor certification.
The bill also prohibits removing an alien with certain pending immigration-related applications, such as an application for a family-based immigrant visa, if the application is not obviously deficient.
Before removing a parent or legal guardian of an individual who is less than 21 years old and a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement must review and approve the removal.
Furthermore, the bill makes it a crime to fraudulently provide immigration services. The Department of Justice must make grants to support enforcement of such laws and to assist victims.
The bill establishes the National Office of New Americans to support the integration of immigrants and refugees.
People & committees
Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV] · D–NV
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Aug 10, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.1638 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.1638 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.1638 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.1638 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.