Visa Lawyer Blog

So you thought the Bill was dead, not so fast. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is expected to file for cloture on a motion to proceed on the newly reintroduced Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Reform Act (S. 1639*) on Wednesday, a move that could pave the way for a final round of debate and votes on the Senate immigration reform proposal.

Faced with two major pieces of legislation to complete before the July Fourth recess – immigration and energy – Senator Reid has threatened to keep his colleagues at work on immigration reform through this weekend. The Senate could begin debate as early as Thursday and may vote Friday on cloture, a procedural motion that must pass with 60 votes before the Senate can move forward with the amendment process. If the motion passes, the Senate could then devote the weekend to votes on amendments, to be followed next week by a vote on final passage.

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As you may know, the Senate failed to invoke cloture last night. After two weeks of dedicated time for debate on the Senate floor (and many months of negotiations), the body could not reach agreement on the bill.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association have been reassured by leaders of both parties and the White House that the immigration bill is not dead. However, a timeline for action is unclear. We all must continue our efforts and urge Congress to do the right thing and to pass a workable and comprehensive bill before the end of the year.

Please, continue contacting your Senators and remind them that the status quo is completely untenable. If our immigration laws are not changed, people will continue to die in the desert in greater numbers, families will be torn asunder, workplace raids will continue, backlogs will grow, innovation will be stifled, the proliferation of piecemeal state and local ordinances will continue, and immigrant communities will be faced with a literal state of siege.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday sent the following letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urging them to carefully consider the critical issues that affect the bursting economy in California while developing comprehensive immigration reform that strengthens and improves our borders and develops a practical way to deal with the undocumented residents who are already here. The debate will be clearly heating up in the next few days.

You can read the letter below:

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Three Key Points On The Bipartisan Immigration Reform Bill’s Plan To End Chain Migration as we know it today. Family immigration as we know will end and new rules for sponsorship are being considered. The impact of this reform remains to be seen.

1. The Bipartisan Immigration Bill Reforms The Immigration System To Better Balance The Importance Of Family Connections With U.S. Economic Needs.

2. The Bill Will End Chain Migration, Which Allows Legal Immigrants To Bring Extended Family Members To The U.S., And Focus Future Family Immigration On The Nuclear Family And Parents. There will still be more family-based than merit-based visas, and the existing decades-long backlog of family-based applications will be eliminated within eight years.

3. Green Cards For Extended Family Will Be Rebalanced To The New Merit-Based System To Select Future Immigrants Based On The Skills And Attributes They Will Bring To The United States.

The Bipartisan Immigration Reform Bill Will Focus Future Family Migration On The Nuclear Family And Parents
In Place Of The Current System Where Nearly Two-Thirds Of Green Cards Are Awarded To Relatives Of U.S. Citizens, The Bill Reforms Our Immigration System To Better Balance The Importance Of Family Connections With The Economic Needs Of Our Country.

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As we have been updating our readers with the Immigration reform debate, negotiations between the White House and key senators in both parties will resume on June 4th, as the reformation of America’s immigration process looks evermore likely to shift to a point system similar to that of Canada, Australia, New Zeland and England.

Traditionally, a point system is geared to attracting people who have attributes valued by the receiving country, and that are judged to make the immigrants more likely to succeed economically as well as other factors. These include education, occupation, work experience, language proficiency and age.

In brief, a point system that awards visas on the basis of such factors could mark a radical change from the current system that awards the vast majority of the 1 million legal-permanent-residence visas (i.e. green cards) on the basis of the alien’s family ties to relatives already residing in the US or employment based preference system.

Last night, the Senate wrapped up its first week of debate on the Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Reform Act (S. 1348), the negotiated comprehensive immigration reform bill.

The debate, however, is far from over. Before the Senate resumes consideration of S. 1348, Congress will adjourn and many legislators will return to their home states and districts for the Memorial Day recess (May 26-June 3). This recess could have a critical impact on the outcome of CIR legislation.

The Senate will resume debate during the week of June 4, when we expect to see a number of extremely important amendments brought to the floor for consideration. These amendments could make or break the Senate bill. A vote on final passage is expected to occur sometime toward the end of the week, around June 7-8.

Our daily update continues, the following topics were discussed today at the Senate:
• A Coleman amendment to allow local government officials to inquire about immigration status was narrowly defeated, 48-49.

• A Dorgan amendment to sunset the new worker program also was defeated, 48-49.

• A Sanders amendment to dramatically increase H-1B fees was passed, 59-35.

• A Vitter amendment to prevent legalization for the undocumented was defeated, 29-66.

In general, this “bargain” bill is unacceptable and unworkable in its current form. However, while the process is still very much in flux, AILA are working closely with our allies to improve the bargain as much as possible during Senate floor debate over the next few weeks. We will keep you posted about amendment information as it becomes available.

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