Side by Side Comparison of Immigration Reform Proposals

Side by Side Comparison of Immigration Reform Proposals

as of April 1, 2010

The Obama Administration has said Immigration Reform will start in the Senate and the point person will be Senator Schumer (D-NY). Below is a comparison of the proposal by Schumer and several Democratic Senators (which has not yet been introduced in bill form), with the bill introduced by Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-Il) in December of 2009, and the bill Hispanic News proposes.

An invitation to all Hispanics and immigration attorneys to submit input for inclusion consideration in the Hispanic News Immigration Legislation Group proposal. Upon consensus of all Hispanics, Hispanic advocates and organizations, the proposal will be submitted to the White House, U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives as the ONLY proposal that will be accepted by USA Hispanics. If the Hispanic News Immigration Reform proposal is not accepted, Hispanic News will consider we sit out the 2010 and 2012 elections. Provide input: Jon@JonGarrido.com

Part of a series: "Only Way to Stop AZ SB 1070 and Spreading across USA: Immigration Reform."

Hispanic News Immigration Legislation Group

Gutierrez Bill – CIR ASAP

Democratic Senators “REPAIR” Proposal

Legalization

Legalize all people without status quickly, with low fees and no waiting periods

People who apply for legalization will receive a conditional nonimmigrant visa, valid for six years. They will be allowed to work and travel.

Benchmarks on securing the border must be met before implementing any legalization program.

Includes special legalization provisions for students who came to the U.S. before age 16 and farm workers

People will receive permanent residence status, and the right to cross the border and reside in either the U.S. or their countries of origin

People would have to:

·	have been in the U.S. before December 15, 2009.
·	perform community service .
·	pay an application fee and a $500 fine.

People who apply have to register with ICE, pay for security and background checks

Newly legalized people are entitled to public benefits

People convicted of a felony or three misdemeanors won’t qualify

· T Those who fail to register will be arrested and deported

Anyone in the country on the date legalization legislation is introduced is eligible for legal status

No no one will receive permanent resident status before six years unless all other visa backlogs are eliminated.

· P People convicted of a felony or three misdemeanors won’t qualify

DREAM Act: students would be able to apply for quick legalization in the process above.

DREAM Act: Undocumented students who were brought to the U.S. before the age of 16 won’t have to pay fines and will receive their status more quickly.

· P People who don’t pass the security check are deported.

Use fees paid by people applying for legal

status to set up job creation programs in

communities with high unemployment

Incorporates the AgJOBS Act setting up a special process and requirements for farmworkers while relaxing restrictions on the H2-A temporary agricultural guest worker program.

People who don’t pass the security check are deported.

Use fees and fines to fund worker training programs, E-Verify, the Commission on Immigration and Labor Markets, border security, detention and enforcement activities, and to reduce visa backlogs.

People have to apply for temporary status and biometric ID card, allowing them to work and travel

Adjust the age for English language requirements, require timely response on background checks, create a grant program for community based organizations, and ensure uniform administration of the naturalization exam

After eight years, people can apply for permanent resident status

People would have to

·	pay fines and back taxes
·	be proficient in English
·	live continuously in the U.S.
·	register for Selective Service

Includes special legalization provisions for students who came to the U.S. before age 16 and farm workers

Family Reunification

Raise the number of family visas to 480,000 per year, and issue all unused visas from past years

Issue unused employment-based visas and family-sponsored visas from 1992-2008 and allow future unused visa numbers to roll over from year to year.

Eliminate current backlogs over eight years.

Eliminate the visa backlogs, and process all applications for family preference visas that have been pending for one or more years

Exempt immediate relatives from the annual cap on the number of immigrant visas, and increase the number of visas.

After eight years, caps on visas would be reinstated

Repeal the 3 and 10 year bars preventing people from applying for legal status

Reclassify spouses and children of lawful permanent residents as immediate relatives.

Per country caps would increase from 7% to 10%

Give priority to people displaced by NAFTA, CAFTA or AFTA

Immediate relatives may continue to pursue their immigration petitions even if the person who petitioned for them dies.

Visas will be given to people who buy property in the U.S.

Greater authority to stop deportation of parents if there are U.S. citizen children involved.

Create a special visa for immigrants from Ireland

Prohibit the deportation of refugees who fled their homeland before the age of twelve

Reduce the level of required support from 125% to 100% of poverty level.

Repeal Employer Sanctions and Enforce Labor Rights

Immediately repeal employer sanctions and dismantle the E-Verify database

Create an employment verification system to verify the work authorization of new hires, applying to all employers and all new hires.

All workers, including citizens and legal residents, would have to have a high-tech, fraud-proof Social Security card with biometric ID information.

Increase enforcement of minimum wage, overtime, health and safety and of other laws protecting workers

Punish employers for hiring undocumented workers.

SSA and DHS will set up a national registry of births and deaths.

Make employer threats, based on immigration status, a crime

Prohibit the creation of a national ID card.

Employers would have to use the card to confirm any new worker’s identity and immigration status.

Make it illegal to violate the organizing and union rights of any worker

Forbid employers from discriminating against applicants on the basis of nationality.

Non-citizens and employers will be charged a fee when employers check their work authorization

Use legalization fees to set up job creation and job training programs for all workers who need them

Workers are allowed to see their Social Security files.

The government can subcontract employment verification to private contractors

Everyone is entitled to Social Security numbers regardless of immigration status

Punish employers for hiring undocumented workers, and increase fines for it.

Employers are not responsible for subcontractors who hire undocumented workers.

Undocumented workers are ineligible for back pay, reinstatement or other remedies for employer violations of labor rights or health and safety laws

Guest Workers and Future Flows

All existing guest worker programs (H1-B, H2 A, H2-B) will end after five years.

Allow employers to recruit workers who can get work authorization while waiting for a visa.

Award green cards to immigrants who receive a PhD or master's degree in science, technology, engineering or math from a U.S. university, who are offered a job by an employer

During those five years, employers must hire domestic workers first, respect the rights of guest workers and provide adequate housing, transportation and treatment, and blacklists are illegal

No limits on guest workers with science, technology, engineering and math degrees.

Impose some limits on H1-B visas, and require web posting of job openings before hiring them

After five years, no employer may recruit immigrants for work in the U.S., and no visas will require a person to be employed in order to stay in the U.S.

Exempt foreign nurses from numerical limits, with new programs train U.S. nurses.

More H1-B visas for doctors

All guest workers can organize and join unions, and can sue over violations of their rights

Create a federal commission to develop employment-based immigration policies, decide when there are labor shortages, and recommend issuing employment-based visas (that require workers to remain employed to stay in U.S.)

Employers must advertise jobs locally before hiring H2-B visa holders, and pay wages higher than minimum wage

400,000 future flow visas will be available each year for migrants who don’t qualify for family preference visas, and those visa holders are authorized to work and can cross the border and live either in the U.S. or their countries of origin

Existing guest worker programs would require written notice of terms of employment, identifying recruiters with labor violations, recruiting U.S. workers before hiring guest workers, and disqualifying employers who have conducted a mass lay-off

Raise caps on the number of H2-B visas

Future flow and permanent residence visa holders may apply for citizenship after one year

Increase the number of visas for investors to 10,000 and create a new venture capitalist visa.

Create a new H2-C guest worker category with visas for three years, renewable once. The number of visas will be adjusted each year.

If the unemployment rate in the U.S. goes up, the number of future flow visas will be reduced.

Create 100,000 Prevent Unauthorized Migration (PUM) visas during each of the three years before recommendations made by the new Labor Commission.

H2-C workers can apply for permanent resident status after six years.

PUM visas for people from countries sending large numbers of undocumented workers to the U.S., distributed through a lottery.

A new Commission on Employment-Based Immigration can declare an emergency and recommend issuing more employment-based visas, and Congress must vote on the recommendation

Applicants must pass background checks, have less than 4 years of college, and be unable to qualify for family-based or guest worker visas. After 3 years they can apply for legal permanent residence.

Due Process and Detention

Repeal federal laws barring drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants

Require humane treatment of detainees, ensure adequate medical treatment, require access to telephones, and increase protections from sexual abuse.

Identify and deport people who overstay their visas, and strengthen the system to find them

Repeal 287g; prohibit local law enforcement agencies from enforcing immigration law

Establish a commission to investigate compliance.

Increase screening of people in prisons and jails

End roadblocks, immigration raids and sweeps

Repeal 287g; prohibit local law enforcement agencies from enforcing immigration law

Increase criminal penalties and prison for crossing the border without a visa

Eliminate detention and incarceration of immigrants by allowing people to be released on bail or on their own recognizance while awaiting hearings

Require DHS to report any detainee death within 48 hours

DHS can seize property used in “trafficking”

Prohibit privately-run detention centers, and tear down existing detention centers

Secure alternative to detention programs.

Establish new crimes for document fraud and “misrepresentation”

Allow refugees to apply for immediate asylum without detention

Prohibit unnecessary detention of refugees.

Criminal penalties and prison for people who don’t leave after receiving an order of deportation

Families with children will not be separated by detention or deportation. Minors will not be detained.

Prohibit the separation of families with children and increased protection for detained parents and caregivers.

DHS will detain “dangerous criminals” pending deportation

Screen for U.S. citizens and permanent residents during raids and enforcement

Everyone has to provide biometric information at the border

Make social service agencies, translators, and legal services available during raids and enforcement

Uniform standards for detention prior to deportation

Require reports from DHS on the impact of enforcement

“Minimum detention facility standards”

Criminal penalties on employers who “exploit unauthorized labor”

Strengthen the 287g program for cooperation between immigration and law enforcement authorities

Repeal Border Militarization and Enforce Human Rights

Dismantle the wall and the “virtual wall” along the border

“A national strategy for border security consistent with ... effective and accountable enforcement.”

Increase the number of Border Patrol and ICE agents

Remove National Guard troops from the border and prohibit their use in immigration enforcement

Create a Southern Border Security Task Force composed of federal, state, and local law enforcement

Increase worksite enforcement inspectors

End the privatization of border control and security operations on the border

An inventory of personnel and assets prior to increasing it

Increase funds for courts to deport people

Unrestricted freedom of movement for indigenous communities on the border

Additional training and oversight for border agents, giving them more equipment and technology.

Create a “Border Patrol Auxiliary Unit” to assist the Border Patrol

Reaffirm that the U.S. Constitution applies to all people inside the U.S., and along the border

More effective screening of commercial goods and individuals

DHS can deploy the National Guard at the border

End the use of Federal, state and local laws and courts to prosecute immigrants based on their immigration status, especially the Operation Streamline court

Increase the numbers of full-time port of entry inspectors

Increased resources for prosecuting border crossers and for new immigration courts

Prosecute private vigilante groups for violating the rights of migrants

Improve collaboration with state law enforcement at the border

More vehicles, weapons, surveillance equipment and helicopters for the Border Patrol

Eliminate border enforcement and detention funding, and redirect the funds to social services, healthcare, education, and family reunification, processing visa backlogs and enforcing civil rights.

Suspend the Operation Streamline courts pending review

Put high tech ground sensors along the border

Recognize the importance of border communities in effective enforcement and establish a U.S.-Mexico Border Enforcement Commission

Set up a commission to investigate the “state of security” on the border, and Congress must vote on its recommendations

Combat human smuggling and migrant deaths

State and local governments can’t pass their own immigration laws, but only “once complete border control is established”

Trade Policy and Displacement

Hold hearings about the effects of trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA, in the U.S. and in the affected countries, and collect evidence about the way those agreements displace people.

Nothing addressed.

Renegotiate existing agreements to eliminate causes of displacement.

No new trade agreements or structural adjustment programs will be negotiated that displace people or cause a reduction in living standards.

Ratify the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families

Provide economic compensation to communities hurt by trade agreements

Prohibit U.S. military intervention or aid to enforce trade agreements, structural adjustment policies or market economic reforms