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Immigration is still at the forefront of legislative activity in Congress. This week, there were two key developments in the US Senate of note. First, legislation we have been covering in recent weeks that would increase the number of employment-based green cards and H-1B visas survived another challenge. Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) tried to strip the immigration provisions from the budget bill containing the visa increases. The proposed amendment was soundly rejected by a margin of 85 to 14. The key test will now be in the House of Representatives. The House’s counterpart to the budget bill does not contain the EB and H-1B language and key members of that body will need to be convinced to support the measure. The House is usually less sympathetic on employment-based immigration questions. However, the measure would raise more than $300 million in fees, and there is tremendous pressure on Congress right now to raise money to pay for disaster relief and the war.

The other news was the introduction of a compromise immigration reform bill by Senate centrist Republican Chuck Hegel or Nebraska.

The Hegel plan is comprised of four separate immigration bills offered as a package. The first bill focuses, like the other immigration reform bills, on border security. The plan calls for more Border Patrol officers, more spending on technology and more financial support for border states to reimburse for the costs of illegal immigration.

The package would expand the pilot electronic worker verification program to the rest of the nation and replace the current I-9 system within five years.

The package has a guest worker plan similar to the Bush proposal linking willing workers with willing employers. It creates a two year renewable work visa and would require employers to document efforts to recruit American workers at the prevailing wage. And, like the McCain Kennedy bill, it provides an opportunity for workers to adjust to immigrant visa status.

Unlike the other bills so far introduced, the Hegel bill creates an H-1B cap exemption for individuals who receive advanced degrees in science, technology, math and engineering. It would also allow such people who work in the US for three years to pursue permanent residency without regard to the 140,000 annual employment-based green card cap. Spouses and children would also be outside the cap.

Finally, foreign students would be permitted to work part time off campus as part of their student status.

The last of the four bills deals with those in the US in illegal immigration status. Undocumented immigrants in the US can pursue legal status if they meet the following conditions:

- Passed national security and criminal background checks; - Resided in the U.S. for at least 5 years preceding the date of introduction; - Worked a minimum of 3 years in the U.S. preceding the date of introduction, and 6 years after introduction; - Paid all federal and state taxes; - Registered for Military Selective Service; - Demonstrated knowledge of English language and American civics requirements; - Paid a $2,000 fine, in addition to required application fees. Fines assessed from this program could total as much as $12 billion, according to Hegel

Workers who cannot meet the second and third requirements above can apply for a visa but they would need to go home, get a visa and be readmitted within three years. . Finally, the Hegel package exempt certain family-based green card applicants from the existing caps on family-based immigration.

We will keep readers up to date on the movement of this bill as well as the other immigration reform bills already introduced.



****

I watched an intriguing televised discussion of immigration this evening in, of all places, an episode of the West Wing. Those who watch the show regularly know that this season has largely focused on a fictional presidential campaign between Texas Democratic Matt Santos (played by Jimmy Smits) and California Republican Senator Arnold Vinick (played by Alan Alda). The fact that it has covered the campaign story for nearly a year plus the casting of two of America’s top actors to play the candidates has allowed the show to really take a realistic look at a campaign while commenting on many of the issues facing the country.

The episode this week was a very realistic presidential debate that was actually broadcast live. It was produced by veteran NBC journalist Laurence O’Donnell and the moderator of the debate was Forrest Sawyer, the veteran broadcast journalist. The first question out of the gate came right from the headlines when Sawyer asked the candidates about the recently declared states of emergency issued by the governors of Arizona and New Mexico. Vinick gave a response that sounded a lot like President Bush’s plan – enforcement combined with a guest worker program. He also spoke about how developing the economies of Latin American countries through the CAFTA agreement and similar measures would reduce the pressure for people to immigrate.

Santos talked about the fact that he introduced similar guest worker legislation six years ago but the legislation was not supported by the Republicans. Santos insinuated that the support for the program came because Santos is Hispanic and Vinick was targeting Hispanic voters. Santos noted that some members of his family came to the US illegally and that he lives with the immigration debate on a personal level.

The show was, of course, simply theater, albeit riveting live theater. But it gave an interesting preview of the debate we’re going to see in Congress in the next few months over immigration reform.

*****

In firm news, I’m off to London this week to speak at the Global Immigration Summit being co-sponsored by the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the International Bar Association.

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