LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

This week it was announced that the House of Representatives would vote on Monday, May 21 on H.R. 1242, which would extend the section 245(i) deadline for six months.  The bill was introduced by Rep. Peter King (R-NY), and has bipartisan support.  Debate on the bill will be limited because it is on a fast track, so we should know by Monday afternoon whether the House is in favor of extending the deadline. 

The following immigration bills were recently introduced in Congress:

H.R. 1806, the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 2001, introduced by Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), would allow Liberian nationals in the US continuously since January 1, 2001 to apply for adjustment of status.  Applicants would not be subject to the public charge ground of inadmissibility or those relating to status violations while in the US.

H.R. 1807, the Immigrant Labor Policy Review Act, introduced by Rep. Jim Kolbe, (R-AZ), would establish a Commission on Immigrant Labor Policy.  The Commission would focus on studying the relationship between immigration policy and the labor market in the US.  It would be required to submit reports on the effectiveness of current law in protecting the US workforce and in preventing the abuse of undocumented workers.

H.R. 1840, introduced by Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), would extend the application period for refugee status for unmarried adult children of Vietnamese refugees until 2003.

S. 884, the Southwest Border Port-of-Entry Infrastructure Improvement Act, introduced by Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), calls for a study of the current infrastructure at ports-of-entry and would establish a fund for improvements and technological developments. 

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S. 799, the Reasonable Search Standards Act, introduced by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), would prohibit the use of racial and other discriminatory profiling by the US Customs Service.  The law would address the concern that non-whites are singled out for inspection upon entry to the US by requiring Customs officials to have specific information of suspected wrongdoing before conducting a search.

S. 862, the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program Reauthorization Act of 2001, introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), would provide 0 million a year from 2002 to 2006 to state and local governments to cover the costs associated with prosecuting and jailing undocumented immigrants.

S. 864, the Anti-Atrocity Alien Deportation Act of 2001, introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) would create a ground of inadmissibility based on commission of torture, extrajudicial killing and violations of religious freedom.  It would also create an office within the Justice Department dedicated to the removal of such people from the US. 

S. 887, the Torture Victims Relief Act of 2001, introduced by Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-MN), would provide million in funding for torture victims over the next three years.

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The US Senate last week approved an amendment to President Bush’s proposed education budget that provides substantial increases in bilingual education funding.  By a 62 to 34 vote, the Senate approved quadrupling funding from 0 million in 2002 to .8 billion in 2008.  The House must also approve the increase.  The amendment came on the heels of criticism of the Bush education budget for its treatment of bilingual and immigrant education programs and for freezing spending at 2001 levels.