PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Feb 8, 2021
Safe Environment from Countries Under Repression and Emergency Act or the SECURE Act
This bill allows qualified nationals of a country that has or had a temporary protected status designation to obtain permanent resident status.
Such an alien qualifies for permanent residence if the alien
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had temporary protected status, qualified for such status on certain dates, or was present in the United States due to having been granted deferred enforced departure status that extended past a certain date;
has been continuously present in the United States for three years before applying for adjustment or before being removed after a certain date;
is not inadmissible or deportable for certain reasons; and
passes applicable background checks.
The continuous presence requirement may be waived in certain instances.
A spouse, domestic partner, child, or unmarried child of a qualifying alien may also obtain permanent resident status under the bill upon meeting certain requirements.
An alien with a pending application shall receive work authorization and be eligible for travel authorization.
An alien may not be removed if the alien (1) has a pending application, or (2) is prima facie eligible for permanent resident status under this bill and intends to apply.
Information from applications may not be used or shared for immigration enforcement, with limited exceptions such as for identifying fraudulent claims.
The Department of Homeland Security must report to Congress when terminating a country's temporary protected status designation with an explanation justifying the termination.
People & committees
Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] · D–MD
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.
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