Immigration

Immigration reform is once again becoming a priority issue in Washington, DC. This week, a Senate committee will be considering a comprehensive immigration reform bill:

• S 744 The Border Security, Economic Opportunity & Immigration Modernization Act This is the bipartisan bill proposed by the “Gang of Eight.”

This isn’t the first time that lawmakers have considered sweeping immigration reform. Here’s a look at the history of immigration reform in the recent decades.

Issue Spotlight: Immigration

Updated 5/6: Here are some specific bills introduced in Congress related to immigration reform. Weigh in and POPVOX will deliver your message to your Members of Congress. (Bills listed in order of popularity among POPVOX users. In other words, the more people have weighed in, the higher it is on the list.)

• HR 140The Birthright Citizenship Act: to clarify those classes of individuals born in the United States who are nationals and citizens of the United States at birth.
• HR 633The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act: to eliminate the per-country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, to increase the per-country numerical limitation for family-sponsored immigrants.
• HR 519 The Uniting American Families Act: would allow gay and lesbian Americans to sponsor their permanent partners for legal residency in the US. (According to the bill’s sponsor.)
• S 169 The I-Squared Act: To authorize additional visas for well-educated aliens to live and work in the US.
• SJRes 4 A joint resolution proposing a Constitutional amendment relating to US citizenship stating that a person born in the US shall not be a US citizen unless: (1) at the time of the person’s birth, one parent of the person is a US citizen, an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the US who resides in the US, or an alien performing active service in the US Armed Forces; or (2) the person is naturalized in accordance with the laws of the US.
• S 293 The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act: to eliminate the per-country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, to increase the per-country numerical limitation for family-sponsored immigrants.
• S 600 The H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act: to reform and reduce fraud and abuse in certain visa programs for aliens working temporarily in the US.
• S 189 The StartUp Visa Act : to establish an employment-based immigrant visa for alien entrepreneurs who have received significant capital from investors to establish a business in the US.
• HR 457 The Criminal Alien Accountability Act: To impose mandatory sentencing ranges with respect to aliens who reenter the US after having been removed.
• HR 459 The STEM Visa Act: To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to promote innovation, investment, and research in the US and to eliminate the diversity immigrant program.
• HR 1227 The Stopping Trained in America Ph.D.s From Leaving the Economy Act: to authorize certain aliens who have earned a Ph.D. degree from a United States institution of higher education in a field of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics to be admitted for permanent residence and to be exempted from the numerical limitations on H-1B nonimmigrants.
• HR 932 The Support and Defend Our Military Personnel and Their Families Act: to protect the well-being of soldiers and their families.
• S 1 The Immigration Reform that Works for America’s Future Act: to reform America’s broken immigration system.
• S 296 The Uniting American Families Act: to eliminate discrimination in the immigration laws by permitting permanent partners of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents to obtain lawful permanent resident status in the same manner as spouses of citizens and lawful permanent residents and to penalize immigration fraud in connection with permanent partnerships.
• HR 242 The Legal Agricultural Workforce Act: To provide for a temporary agricultural worker program.
• S 303 The STEM Jobs Act: to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to promote innovation, investment, and research in the United States, to eliminate the diversity immigrant program.
• S 202 The Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act: To expand the use of E-Verify and hold employers accountable.
• HR 477 The Nuclear Family Priority Act: To make changes related to family-sponsored immigrants and to reduce the number of such immigrants.
• HR 478 The E-Verify Modernization Act: To make the E-Verify Program permanent and mandatory, and to provide for certain changes to procedures for participants in the Program.
• HR 406 A bill to provide discretionary authority to an immigration judge to determine that an alien parent of a United States citizen child should not be ordered removed, deported, or excluded from the United States.