LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Congress will not meet again until December 5.  They will be returning for a lame duck session in which five budget bills must be passed.  Many will remember that before the adjournment at the end of October, one of the main points of contention was the inclusion of immigration provisions in the budget.  Jake Siewert, the White House spokesperson has said that the Clinton Administration will continue to push the immigration issues. 

Advocates will also be urging the Senate to approve H.R. 5062, which passed the House unanimously two months ago.  This bill would eliminate the retroactive application of the expanded definition of aggravated felonies, meaning that many people who committed minor crimes in the past will no longer face deportation.

Although Congress is not officially in session, some business, including the introduction of bills, has continued.  The following immigration related bill was recently introduced:

H.R. 5625, introduced by Rep. Christopher Cox (R-CA), would create a pilot program within the H-1B visa program.  Employers who are willing to make annual scholarship contributions to institutions of higher education would have the visa holder exempted from the annual cap.  The scholarship amount would be equal to a Pell Grant, which last year was $3,000.  Employers would also benefit from a provision requiring the INS to adjudicate petitions within 30 days.  The pilot program would run from 2001 through 2003.  At this point, the odds are very much against the bill passing, but its introduction may signal Congress’s willingness to address the possibility of such a program in the future.

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