This afternoon, the US House of Representatives unanimously approved S. 2302, a bill which extends the Conrad 30 J-1 physician waiver program. The Senate has already passed the bill and the legislation now goes to President Bush for an expected signature. The program allows each state in the US to sponsor up to 30 foreign physicians per year who train in the US to remain in this country. J-1 physicians are normally required to return to their home countries for two years following their training. Under the Conrad program, states can sponsor physicians for a waiver of this requirement in exchange for the physician agreeing to work three years in a medically underserved area. The program began its sunset on June 1, 2004. S.2302 will extend this date by two more years.

The bill also makes several significant changes to other aspects of the state and federal J-1 waiver programs:

- State and Federal agency waiver applicants will be exempt from the H-1B numerical cap.

- Each state will be able to have the flexibility to use five waivers per year for applicants taking jobs outside of federally designated medical shortage areas IF they can demonstrate that they will actually be serving people who live in shortage areas.

- Both State and Federal agencies can sponsor specialists (only state agencies and the Veterans Administration can do so now).

The bill will pave the way for many more specialists to work around the country. The Delta Regional Authority is expected to be the first Federal agency to take advantage of the new law and the agency intends to begin sponsoring specialist cases as soon as President Bush signs the legislation. The expansion of the H-1B cap exemption to federal waivers is also important since the H-1B cap has been reached and Federal waiver programs have been hampered by not being able to offer physicians the ability to actually work in their sponsoring communities.

Last week we reported on the effects of the election on the immigration debate. One of the developments we reported was the resignation of Attorney General John Ashcroft. We now know that Ashcroft will be replaced by Alberto Gonzalez. Gonzalez is not an immigrant, nor the child of immigrants. His grandparents were from Mexico. But his parents were migrant workers in Texas and certainly Gonzalez’s heritage is likely to give him more perspective on the Latino immigrant experience in America. On the other hand, Gonzalez is already being criticized by many for his role in the treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. Gonzalez signed off on a memo that indicated that the Geneva Convention was inapplicable. Gonzalez really has not been in a position to develop a record on immigration issues so we’ll likely need to hear more about his opinions during confirmation hearings to be able to form a meaningful opinion.

*****

Last week we also discussed the prospects for Bush’s immigration plan which was briefly mentioned by the President earlier this year then promptly dropped when it became clear it would not help him politically. The plan looks like it may have some life, however. Last week we reported that officials in the Mexican government as well as Senator Kay Hutchinson, a close Bush ally, were discussing getting the plan moving. This week, Secretary of State Colin Powell again indicated that the President would like to get the plan moving again.

We still don’t know what the plan will specifically include and what the President’s strategy is for getting it through Congress. But the fact that Administration officials are talking about it again is good news.

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