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US IMMIGRATION UPDATES
IMMIGRATION LAW / JUN 2006 |
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Senate Passes Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill |
By Bruce A. Coane and James P. McCollom
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On May 25, 2006, 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.
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| Bruce A. Coane |
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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 most
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.
Senators tackled several controversial issues today before voting
for the bill's passage. The first of these was an amendment (No.
4097) offered by Senator Cornyn (R-TX) that would strike provisions
in the bill that would preserve the confidentiality of information
furnished by applicants for legalization and allow government
agencies to share an undocumented immigrant's personal information
if his or her application and all appeals for legal status have been
denied.
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Opponents of the amendment argued that striking these important
safeguards would serve as a major disincentive for undocumented
immigrants to come out of the shadows and participate in the
program.
The Senate rejected the Cornyn amendment on a tie vote of 49-49.
Senator Bingaman (D-NM) offered an amendment (No. 4131) that would
cap the number of employment-based immigrant visas available to
workers and their immediate relatives at 650,000 visas. This is a
net reduction of several hundred thousand permanent visas compared
to the number that would be available under the current bill.
Thirty percent of the worldwide visas would be available annually to
workers in the new H-2C category. Under the Bingaman amendment that
number would be approximately 200,000 (30% of 650,000). At a rate of
200,000 H-2C temporary worker entrants per year plus another 200,000
derivative spouses and children, there could be 400,000 entrants
vying for 200,000 slots in a given year. The result would be a
backlog in immigrant visas growing by 200,000 per year.
Senator Bingaman argued that his amendment was designed to establish
certainty about how many individuals would be eligible for permanent
status under this bill.
However, opponents responded that the amendment would create
significant uncertainty as to how many workers could pursue
permanent residence in any given year. Indeed, they added, the
spouses and children of principals from one preference category
could end up taking slots that would otherwise be allocated to
employment based principals in another high demand preference
category.
The Bingaman amendment was nonetheless approved by a vote of 51 to
47.
Next up was Senator Feingold (D-WI), with an amendment (No. 4083)
that would strike an obscure provision in the bill-section
227(c)-that was added during Committee markup without any
discussion, and with little awareness by most Members or staff that
it had been included.
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Section 227(c) would bar federal courts from staying the deportation
of any immigrant with a final removal order unless he or she shows
by "clear and convincing evidence" that deportation is prohibited as
a matter of law. This heightened standard would make it virtually
impossible for most asylum seekers, domestic abuse victims, and
human trafficking victims to obtain stays of deportation while their
cases are on appeal to the federal courts, resulting in grave,
potentially life-threatening consequences for legitimate asylum
seekers.
Section 227(c) also would cause the United States to violate the
United Nations Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of
Refugees, which prohibits the return of individuals to countries
where they will face persecution. This same provision was stricken
by the Senate during the conference negotiations over the REAL ID
Act.
Senators approved the Feingold amendment on a vote of 52 to 45.
Senator Sessions (R-AL) was next on deck, with an amendment (No.
4108) that would deny eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit
to aliens adjusting their status under either the newH-2C
guest worker program, the earned adjustment program for undocumented
immigrants currently present in the country, or the AgJobs program.
The Sessions amendment was rejected by a vote of 37 to 60.
Senator Ensign (R-NV) offered the final amendment to the bill, which
was similar to the Sessions amendment above. The Ensign amendment
(No. 4136) would preclude an alien who legalizes under the bill's
earned adjustment program from collecting any tax refund for tax
years prior to 2006, even if he or she paid all of taxes on time and
is owed the refund because of an inadvertent overpayment or an IRS
error.
In addition, the amendment would preclude such individuals from
filing a claim for the Earned Income Tax Credit or any other tax
credits for tax years prior to 2006, potentially requiring legalized
immigrants to pay more taxes than other people.
Senators approved the Ensign amendment on a vote of 50 to 47.
The Senate approved S. 2611 by a vote of 62 to 36.
BRUCE A. COANE is Board Certified in Immigration and Nationality
Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. The law firm of
Coane & Associates has offices at 407 Lincoln Road, Suite 306, Miami
Beach, Florida 33139, Tel. (786) 457-VISA (8472). The law firm
website is www.coane.com. The law firm email is
immigrantlaw@aol.com. JAMES P. McCOLLOM, JR. is an associate
attorney at the firm
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