Dear Readers: 

There are a couple of key immigration issues to watch this week in Washington. The first will have happened by the time you likely will see this email. President Bush is expected to bring up his immigration proposal in the State of the Union address to the nation tonight. Many pundits believe the plan has little chance of passing since it is controversial in Bush’s own party. But the President insists he is willing to use political capital to make it happen and several key allies in the Congress have given him vocal support. So look for particular language in the speech to signal whether the President truly intends to push on this issue. 

The other very controversial immigration proposal in the news is the introduction of the REAL ID Act, the driver’s license bill, which would make it very difficult for both undocumented as well as non-immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. The bill will also tighten rules in asylum cases, expand terrorism-related deportation grounds and provide for expanding the fence along the US-Mexico borders. Congressman James Sensenbrenner, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee is pushing very hard for his bill and is threatening to hold up all other immigration-related bills if he does not get what he wants. A competing bill has been introduced in the House by Virginia Republican Tom Davis which only covers the driver’s license issue and this may stop the momentum toward a quick vote on the Sensenbrenner bill that seemed to be building. Davis is chair of the powerful Government Reform Committee.

We have learned from Capitol Hill sources that the bill could come up for a vote as early as next week. The bill voted on is likely to be a combination of the Davis and Sensenbrenner measures. 

The Sensenbrenner bill is a classic example of legislative overkill. The recently enacted Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act requires the Secretaries of the Transportation and the Homeland Security departments to promulgate regulations that will establish minimum security measures for drivers' licenses and identification cards. The REAL ID Act, goes further and will cause substantial headaches for the millions of people in the US on temporary visas who are in complete compliance with our laws. And the bill does not address how states will deal with the inevitable safety issues that will result when undocumented drivers simply choose to drive without licenses rather than proving they know the rules of the road.  

Some political observers believe the Davis bill will move because it will make it tougher for Democrats to explain a “no” vote when the asylum provisions are not included in the bill. The driver’s license provisions are seen as being more popular with the public.  

Finally, as always, we remind readers that we're lawyers who make our living representing immigration clients and employers seeking to comply with immigration laws. We would love to discuss becoming your law firm. Just go to http://www.visalaw.com/intake.html to request an appointment or call us at 800-748-3819 or 901-682-6455. 

Regards,