On September 27th, the new three year reentry bar contained in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 took effect. Those "unlawfully present" for more than 180 days are now barred for three years from reentering the US after leaving. The problem is that if one has been out status, they must leave the country to process a green card. And if they leave, then they will be barred from reentering for three years. For those in the US who find a way to become an avenue for immigrating, there are just a few ways to get around the new bars:

1. Pay a $1000 penalty fee and process under Section 245i of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The problem here is that Section 245i is set to expire soon. Originally scheduled to expire on September 30th, Congress extended the expiration date until October 23rd. A longer extension was initially considered, but it was shortened after Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) threatened to delay passage. Rohrabacher gave in after getting a commitment that Congress would schedule a vote on 245i later this year. This may be a major victory for anti-immigration advocates if it means that Section 245i's permanent extension will be voted on separately by the House rather than tied into a budget bill which would pass with little opposition. After that date, the fate of this provision is not known. This means that those who are not eligible to apply to adjust status within the next few weeks do not know whether they will be able to stay and process. This uncertainty caused a great deal of heartbreak over the last several days since many people had to leave the country and their families, friends, and jobs in order to ensure that they would one day be able return.

2. Process an adjustment of status application under Section 245(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This is the main provision that allows people to adjust status. Though the section prohibits adjustment of status for people who are or have been out of status, the section does let immediate relatives of US citizens adjust status. That means that spouses, minor children and parents of US citizens can still apply for adjustment of status even if Section 245i is not extended.

3. There is a waiver to the bar for persons who have citizen or permanent resident spouses or parents. But an extreme hardship to the citizen or permanent resident must be shown and the INS is expected to take a hard line on these waiver applications.

4. Certain persons may be eligible for a remedy called "cancellation of removal." This allows a person in deportation proceedings to be granted permanent residency if they have been in the US ten years, have no criminal history or "immoral" conduct in their record, and their deportation would cause an extreme hardship to a US citizen or permanent resident relative. Only 4,000 people may be awarded cancellation of removal each year.

The INS has also backed off an earlier interpretation of "unlawful presence" that would have held any violation of non-immigrant status as starting the 180 day clock. Now they will only look at whether one has overstayed their I-94 in determining unlawful presence.

And the INS has also delivered the welcome news that it plans no mass deportation if Section 245i expires.

For the latest on the new immigration law and the extension of Section 245i, visit our Emergency Update page at http://www.visalaw.com/newlaw.html.

Congress has also been busy considering other immigration matters. Several immigration provisions other than extending Section 245i have been added into the budget legislation noted above. For example, Congress has provided an additional $300,000 for deportation efforts against known Nazi war criminals living in the US. The INS has also been authorized to implement a fingerprint program for citizenship applications that must be in place by June 1998.

House Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Smith has introduced a compromise bill relating to the 200,000+ Central American facing deportation. Smith's bill would raise the annual cap on deportation waivers from 4,000 to 14,000 per year. In exchange, the EB-3 Unskilled Worker category would be eliminated thus reducing the number of employment immigration visas by 10,000 and, consequently, offsetting the increase in deportation waivers. A Clinton Administration-supported bill introduced by Florida Republican Lincoln Diaz-Balart would help close to 200,000 people. The bill would allow the immigration cases to be heard under the more liberal rules in place when the Central Americans applied for a deportation waiver including the fact that there was no cap on waivers before April 1997.

Finally, the new amnesty bill being proposed by Florida Senator Connie Mack may be attached to an appropriations bill funding the District of Columbia. That vote is scheduled for the second week in October and we will let readers know in our next issue how Senator Mack's bill is progressing.