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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
A rare alliance of labor union supporters and conservatives means good news for as many as a million illegal aliens around the US. Traditionally pro-immigration advocacy groups such as the National Immigration Forum and the National Council of La Raza have joined less traditional alliance partners like the AFL-CIO and the conservative group Americans for Tax Reform to back the Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act. The bill includes an amnesty for illegal immigrants in the US continuously since 1986. Two years later, the amnesty would extend to those here since 1991. Under current law, one has to be in the US since 1972 to receive such a benefit. 
The proposed law would also modify provisions in 1997’s Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act to make it easier for some Haitian, Guatemalan, Salvadoran and Hondurans to get permanent residency rights previously granted to Nicaraguans and Cubans. 
The bill is sponsored by Democrats Florida Senator Bob Graham, Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, Harry Reid of Nevada and Richard Durbin of Illinois. It has the support of Al Gore and President Clinton. Republican presidential candidate George Bush has not taken a position. His support for the measure is seen as crucial since Republican leaders in both Houses are blocking the measure from being voted on. 
Many agree that the bill’s true chances will be set by how high a priority the Clinton Administration places on its passage. If Republicans continue to block a vote, then the next best chance will be to place the bill’s provisions in a budget bill. This will no doubt require serious negotiating and is not likely to pass without the President’s strong backing. 
A number of groups lobbied extensively at the Democratic National Convention last week in Los Angeles to rally support for the Graham bill. Representatives from groups like the Service Employees International Union (which represents, among others, the nation’s janitors) and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Education Fund . 
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The American Immigration Lawyers Association is organizing a lobby day in Washington, DC for its 5,000 plus members on September 13th. The major issues to be addressed include H-1B visas, due process reform, restoration of Section 245(i), NACARA Parity, and updating the registry date. 
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The Senate has added a provision to the Commerce, State and Justice budget bill that would repeal CIPRIS, the controversial computerized F-1 student tracking program that was included in IIRAIRA, the 1996 Immigration Act. The bill has made it through committee in the Senate and is awaiting a floor vote. The House of Representatives does not have a similar provision in its version of the CSJ funding bill. The inclusion of the provision has taken many by surprise, including the NAFSA: The Association of International Educators. NAFSA members are many of the same people that will have to administer the program. The repeal of CIPRIS is not expected to survive through the final passage of the bill, though some observers believe that the issue will be much hotter next year. 
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Republican Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Miami, Florida has proposed legislation that would permit states to restore benefits such as Medicaid to children and pregnant women who entered the US after August 22, 1996. That is the date benefits were previously cutoff under 1996’s welfare reform legislation. After that date, permanent residents must be in the US for five years before being able to claim public benefits. 
Diaz-Balart’s Legal Immigrant Children’s Health Improvement Act of 2000 (H.R. 4707) is similar to a bill proposed last year by Florida Democratic Senator Bob Graham. That bill never found reciprocal support in the House. The Diaz-Balart bill this year has the support of members of both parties and stands a greater chance of success. The 1996 welfare cuts for immigrants have gradually been restored. In 1997 and 1998 separate measure passed that restored Food Stamps and SSI benefits for legal immigrants. 
The proposed changes will benefit pregnant women in need of prenatal medical care. Advocates favoring the legislation hope the changes would help communities facing huge medical bills that result when mothers receive inadequate health care prior to a child’s birth. 
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