Emerald Isle Immigration Center - Legislation and Advocacy Update June 2004

Legislation Update

Legislative Developments

Immigration reform stalled and moribund until after 2008 Presidential election

WHY? It is unfortunate and devastating to many in the Irish- American community and many others that a path to legalized citizenship was not passed by this country's lawmakers to
LEGALIZE THE IRISH.

We need to stay optimistic and keep reminding the presidential candiates to hear the call to legalize the Irish...

more ...>

CIIC - Update on Immigration Reform legislation 6/6/06

The Senate voted 62 to 36 to approve compromise immigration reform legislation (S. 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006), thereby setting the stage for what will likely be a contentious House/Senate conference, in which the Senate-passed bill will now have to be harmonized with the harsh, enforcement-only bill (H.R. 4437) passed by the House in December.

Despite attempts by a handful of Senators to fundamentally alter the bill that was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in March, the basic architecture of comprehensive immigration reform survived intact after nearly four weeks of Senate Floor debate on the measure and votes on more than 40 amendments.
The Senate bill includes a path to permanent legal status for many of the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the country, a new temporary worker program, significant increases in family- and employment-based permanent visas, important reforms to the agricultural worker program, significant reforms to the high-skilled immigration programs, and relief for undocumented high school graduates (DREAM Act). The bill also includes some very harsh enforcement provisions and erosion of due process protections that will need to be addressed and corrected as negotiations move forward.

Highlights

· Legalization program: An estimated 8 to 8.5 million undocumented immigrants will be able to come out of the shadows and be put on a path to permanent residence.
· AgJOBS included: A million undocumented agricultural workers would be put on a path to permanent residence through provisions targeted to these workers.
· DREAM included: Undocumented immigrant students will be put on a path to citizenship and so will be able to continue on to college along with their classmates.
· Significant increase in family visas: The family-based immigration system will be updated to speed family unification. It is expected to clear the backlog for family unification in approximately six years.
· Significant increase in employment visas: Employment-based visas are more than doubled to more realistically allow immigrants to come legally in the future to work.
· A new temporary worker program: The bill provides temporary visas to allow 200,000 persons to come legally each year and take jobs that are not being filled by American workers. This program includes worker protections, gives workers the ability to change employers, and provides a path to permanent residence for those who want to stay.

Lowlights

The bill contains many enforcement provisions that are symbolic, and unworkable.

· Some undocumented ineligible for legalization or unlikely to come forward: An estimated 2.5 million to 3 million undocumented immigrants will not be eligible to legalize or may be afraid to come forward because they arrived after the bill's cutoff date, or because certain provision in the law will make it risky for some undocumented immigrants to reveal themselves.
· Language hurdle to legalization: Undocumented immigrants who are legalizing will have to meet the same requirements for English and Civics knowledge as someone who is applying for citizenship.
· Flooding of FBI lookout list with non-criminal immigrant names: The bill would require that information on immigrants who are confirmed to be out of status be put in the National Crime Information Center database. This database is used by local police to find wanted criminals and the bill will flood the database with hundreds of thousands of names of immigrants who have not committed a criminal act.
· Punishment out of proportion to crime: the bill contains a number of provisions that will trip up immigrants even if they commit only minor offenses and expose them to indefinite detention or permanent exile from their families and adopted country.
· Wall on the border: The bill calls for at least 370 miles of fence on the U.S.-Mexico border.
· Reduced access to justice: A number of provisions in the bill will reduce the ability of immigrants to have their day in court when subject to a bad government decision including arbitrary or indefinite detention.
· Undermine the ability of government agencies to communicate with immigrants: A provision added to the bill making English the national language will make it more difficult for the federal government to effectively communicate critical information ; and
· Undermine Public Safety: Having state and local police enforce complicated immigration laws would discourage immigrants from coming forward to report crimes whether they are the victim or a witness.
· Penalize legalizing immigrants paying back taxes: A last-minute amendment to the bill creates significant hardship for many legalizing immigrants by denying them access to a number of tax credits -- including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) -- for the years prior to 2006. Immigrants who have to pay past tax obligations as part of the legalization process could face prohibitively high tax payments, potentially putting legalization out of their reach. (Updated June 2006 )

· Earned Adjustment

· Temporary Workers

· H2 B Visa Cap

Irish Peace and Reconciliation Visas

Irish Immigration Reform Movement response to the passage of the legislation.

Latest Immigration updates :

Latest news May 2005 Real ID/McCain/Machine Passports

The following were updated before June 4, 2004

Democrats Introduce Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act

On May 4, Senator Kennedy (D-MA) and Representatives Menendez (D-NJ) and Gutierrez (D-IL) introduced a comprehensive immigration reform plan, the Safe, Orderly Legal Visas and Enforcement (SOLVE) Act of 2004. The SOLVE Act features an "earned adjustment" program offering permanent residence to undocumented workers, a temporary worker program and some welcome changes to existing immigration laws. The Senate bill number is S.2381 and the House bill number is H.R.4262.
Top
Earned Adjustment
The proposal would grant permanent residence to millions of undocumented workers who have resided in the U.S. for a minimum of five years and who have worked in the U.S. for two years. Spouses and minor children of the principal applicant would be allowed to adjust status as well. Other undocumented workers who do not meet the five and two-year requirements would be permitted to obtain temporary status initially, and then permanent residence when these requirements are met. All applicants would be required to meet background and medical checks. Persons in removal proceedings and those under deportation, exclusion or removal orders would be eligible for earned adjustment.
Top
Temporary Workers
Like President Bush's plan, the Democrats would allow U.S. employers to import foreign-born guest workers into the country if they demonstrate that no U.S. workers were available. However, the Democrat's plan differs from the President's plan in a number of significant respects: (1) U.S. employers would be required to pay the guest workers at the "prevailing wage"; (2) The number of guest workers would be capped at 350,000 annually; (3) Guest workers would be permitted to change employers after three months, obtain travel permits and become permanent residents. Family Reunification and Backlog Reduction Unlike other legalization bills, the SOLVE Act would offer assistance to persons who are in legal status as well. Substantial changes would be made to assist more than three million persons who are beneficiaries of family-based visa petitions. Spouses and minor children of permanent residents would be placed within the "immediate relative" category, and would be exempt from numerical quotas The bars (three-year, ten-year and permanent) on the re-entry of persons with unlawful presence in the U.S. would be repealed retroactively. In a significant departure from both the President's plan and the 1986 amnesty law, the plan would allow persons with approved family-based visa petitions who have been waiting in line for five years to immediately apply for permanent residence. Such persons would be exempted from per-country and worldwide limits on immigrant visas. The numerical limitations on each of the family-based preference categories would be raised substantially. Unused immigrant visa numbers would be available for "recapture" after the end of the fiscal year. This would apply to the family-based, employment-based and DV-based categories. Spouses and children of immediate relatives would be considered derivative beneficiaries of the visa petition. Affidavit of support requirements would be lowered for 125% to 100% of poverty income level. The age of eligibility for derivative citizens would be raised from 18 to 21 years of age. Note: The Democrat's plan would benefit far more persons than would the President's proposal. However, since the Democrats are in the minority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, the SOLVE Act stands virtually no chance of being enacted this year.

Top

H-2B Visa Cap Reached
On March 9, 2004, the numerical cap (66,000) on H-2B temporary nonprofessional working visas was reached for the first time in history. For more information see
http://uscis.gov/graphics/publicaffairs/newsrels/H2BPressRelease3-10-04.pdf
H-1B Professional Work Visas Cap of 65,000 Reached On February 17, 2004, the USCIS announced that the agency had accepted enough H-1B petitions to fill the fiscal year 2004 numerical limit of 65,000. The USCIS has stopped accepting new H-1B petitions, and has stated that it would begin accepting petitions for work to start on October 1, 2004 on April 1, 2004.