{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-gardner-announce-bipartisan-bill-to-address-immigration-status-in-the-state-legal-cannabis-industry", "Warren, Gardner Announce Bipartisan Bill to Address Immigration Status in the State-Legal Cannabis Industry", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "MA", "Elizabeth Warren", "W000817", "www.warren.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "December 19, 2019\n\t\t\t Warren, Gardner Announce Bipartisan Bill to Address Immigration Status in the State-Legal Cannabis Industry \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t Legislation would prohibit the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services from considering cannabis employment in applications for naturalization\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t Text of Bill (PDF)\r\n\r\nWashington, D.C. United\r\nStates Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) today\r\nannounced the introduction of bipartisan legislation that would remove\r\nparticipation in the state-legal cannabis industry from the list of activities\r\nthat automatically bar naturalization.\r\n\r\nIn April, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued guidance in\r\nits policy manual stating that, because cannabis is a Schedule 1 substance\r\nunder the Controlled Substances Act, an applicant that is employed in the\r\nstate-legal cannabis industry cannot establish good moral character  even if\r\nthe applicant has not been convicted of an offense and has always acted in\r\ncompliance with state law.This legislation would amend immigration law to\r\nremove this barrier by allowing applicants who comply with state cannabis laws\r\nto demonstrate good moral character and become U.S. citizens.\r\n\r\nNo one should have to worry about being denied naturalization for\r\nworking in their state's legal cannabis industry, said Senator Warren. Our bipartisan bill would ensure that\r\noutdated federal cannabis laws don't block the pathway to citizenship for those\r\nseeking it through naturalization.\r\n\r\nUnder current law, individuals are deemed to lack good moral\r\ncharacter' and denied American citizenship due to their work in the legal\r\ncannabis industry in states like Colorado and Massachusetts. This has to stop.said Senator Gardner.Currently 95 percent of Americans are living in states with laws allowing some\r\nform of cannabis. The dramatically expanded cannabis industry presents real\r\nchallenges for our nation, andI'm proud to be working with Senator Warren\r\ntoaddress these\r\nissues.\r\n\r\nIn addition to today's announcement, Senators Warren and Gardner\r\nannounced another bipartisanbillthat would prohibit the U.S. Department of\r\nVeterans Affairs (VA) from denying veterans VA-backed home loans based on their\r\nemployment in their state's legal cannabis industry. Currently, cannabis is\r\nconsidered illegal under federal law, and as a result, the VA can deny home\r\nloans to veterans whose verified income is earned from working in their state's\r\nlegal cannabis industry.\r\n\r\nSenator Warren alsoreintroducedthe\r\nStrengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States Act (STATES Act)\r\nwith Senator Gardner in April 2019. Both senators originallyintroducedthe\r\nSTATES Act in 2018. Senator Warren, a proponent of federal legalization of\r\nmarijuana, is a cosponsor of theMarijuana Justice\r\nAct,theMarijuana Freedom\r\nand Opportunity Act, and theMarijuana\r\nOpportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act. She also led a series\r\nof letters inJuly 2015,December 2015,\r\nandJune 2016to\r\nfederal agencies requesting they reduce barriers to marijuana research,\r\nincluding byreschedulingmarijuana.\r\n\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-gardner-announce-bipartisan-bill-to-address-immigration-status-in-the-state-legal-cannabis-industry"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4384370297193527, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}