US Representative Sheila Lee (D-TX) recently co-sponsored H.R. 2092, The Save America Comprehensive Immigration Act. According to the Congresswoman, the bill has many facets, all supporting the idea that the current immigration system does not work and that certain changes are necessary to bring about reform in the way immigration is dealt with in the country.

The Save America Comprehensive Immigration Act is an extremely comprehensive bill that covers numerous aspects of the current immigration system. Regarding family immigration, the bill would double the number of visas available for family-based immigration, raising the annual limit from 480,000 to 960,000. The bill will introduce three legalization programs: a legalization program for long term residents who can demonstrate that they have earned access to legalization, a second program for children who have been students in American schools for 5 years, and a third one for people who have been in the United States since 1986.

The legislation would provide undocumented Haitians in the United States with access to lawful permanent resident status. Additionally, it would establish access to permanent resident status for Liberians who have lived in the United States for more than a decade under periodically renewed grants of Temporary Protected Status after being brought to the United States.

Regarding border security, the Save America Comprehensive Immigration Act would create informant visas and cash rewards for aliens who are willing to assist in the investigation or prosecution of commercial alien smuggling operations or commercial fraudulent document operations. A task force would be established to collect and distribute information about fraudulent documents that are used to enter the United States unlawfully. The number of immigration inspectors would ports of entry.

The legislation in its entirety can be read at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.2092.IH:.