LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

As of the writing of this Bulletin, the House and Senate immigration bills (which have each been passed by by bodies of Congress) remain in a Conference committee comprised of members of each House. The members of the Conference Committee will negotiate a compromise bill. The Senators who will sit on the committee are the following: Senators Hatch, Thurmond, Simpson, Grassley, Specter and Kyl are the committee Republicans and Senators Kennedy, Simon, Feinstein, Leahy and Kohl are the Democrats. The House members are expected to be Republicans Hyde, Smith, Gallegly, McCollum, Goodlatte, Canady and Bono and Demoncrats Conyers, Bryant, Frank, Berman and Becerra. The Committee is expected to complete its work in late June or early July.

There are still a number of major issues that need to be dealt with by the Conference. First, there is considerable controversy surrounding provisions which would bar persons who have overstayed their visas from immigrating. One such provision would bar entry for three years for any person who overstay their visas by a mere 60 days.

The anti-terrorism bill recently signed by the President contains provisions drastically limiting certain forms of relief from deportation. The President and a number of Conference members have expressed the hope that the final immigration bill would reverse some of the damage.

Another area of controversy involves the requirement in the House bill that sponsors of family immigrants earn 200% of the poverty income line. The Senate bill sets the requirement at 125%. Family immigration advocates are deeply concerned about the impact on the reunification of distant families.

A number of Republicans have expressed a desire to do away with the program that allows permanent resident applicants to adjust status in the US instead of processing at a consulate as long as a penalty fee is paid. The primary argument against such a move is the substantial revenue gained from the penalty fees.

Providing public education to illegal alien children should generate heated discussion in the Conference. The House bill lets states bar such benefits. President Clinton has threatened to veto a bill with such provisions. Senator Bob Dole has said he supports this proposal. Look for this issue to be an issue in the presidential campaign.

Finally, there is a move among many conferees to strike provisions relating to the H-1B program from the bill.

As we have many times in the past, we urge you to contact your Congressman to voice your support for a liberal immigration policy. E-mail addresses and phone numbers are available at our web site on the Links page (http://www.visalaw.com/~gsiskind).

On a related front, the House held hearings last month regarding the recent INS report that legal immigration has dropped by more than 20% in the last two fiscal years. Representative Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Immigration Subcommittee, repeatedly claimed during the hearing that the INS was deliberately misleading the public since an increase in immigration is expected in the near future. Various witnessed testified that the anticipated increase will be a temporary "spike" due to the legalization program of the Immigration and Reform Act of 1986. The committee heard testimony from a number of immigration experts including Jeanne Butterfield of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and Susan Martin, Executive Director of the Commission on Immigration Reform. The witnesses generally testified on whether or not immigration numbers are too high. As of the writing of this Bulletin, the House and Senate immigration bills (which have each been passed by by bodies of Congress) remain in a Conference committee comprised of members of each House. The members of the Conference Committee will negotiate a compromise bill. The Senators who will sit on the committee are the following: Senators Hatch, Thurmond, Simpson, Grassley, Specter and Kyl are the committee Republicans and Senators Kennedy, Simon, Feinstein, Leahy and Kohl are the Democrats. The House members are expected to be Republicans Hyde, Smith, Gallegly, McCollum, Goodlatte, Canady and Bono and Demoncrats Conyers, Bryant, Frank, Berman and Becerra. The Committee is expected to complete its work in late June or early July.

There are still a number of major issues that need to be dealt with by the Conference. First, there is considerable controversy surrounding provisions which would bar persons who have overstayed their visas from immigrating. One such provision would bar entry for three years for any person who overstay their visas by a mere 60 days.

The anti-terrorism bill recently signed by the President contains provisions drastically limiting certain forms of relief from deportation. The President and a number of Conference members have expressed the hope that the final immigration bill would reverse some of the damage.

Another area of controversy involves the requirement in the House bill that sponsors of family immigrants earn 200% of the poverty income line. The Senate bill sets the requirement at 125%. Family immigration advocates are deeply concerned about the impact on the reunification of distant families.

A number of Republicans have expressed a desire to do away with the program that allows permanent resident applicants to adjust status in the US instead of processing at a consulate as long as a penalty fee is paid. The primary argument against such a move is the substantial revenue gained from the penalty fees.

Providing public education to illegal alien children should generate heated discussion in the Conference. The House bill lets states bar such benefits. President Clinton has threatened to veto a bill with such provisions. Senator Bob Dole has said he supports this proposal. Look for this issue to be an issue in the presidential campaign.

Finally, there is a move among many conferees to strike provisions relating to the H-1B program from the bill.

As we have many times in the past, we urge you to contact your Congressman to voice your support for a liberal immigration policy. E-mail addresses and phone numbers are available at our web site on the Links page (http://www.visalaw.com/~gsiskind).

On a related front, the House held hearings last month regarding the recent INS report that legal immigration has dropped by more than 20% in the last two fiscal years. Representative Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Immigration Subcommittee, repeatedly claimed during the hearing that the INS was deliberately misleading the public since an increase in immigration is expected in the near future. Various witnessed testified that the anticipated increase will be a temporary "spike" due to the legalization program of the Immigration and Reform Act of 1986. The committee heard testimony from a number of immigration experts including Jeanne Butterfield of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and Susan Martin, Executive Director of the Commission on Immigration Reform. The witnesses generally testified on whether or not immigration numbers are too high.