Toward the end of a session of Congress, it is not unusual to see a flurry of activity as final action on bills must either be taken or the bills die. This year is no different and a number of bills with immigration consequences are close to being passed. The H-1B bill is a piece of legislation about which our readers are likely to be very concerned and we have separated that subject out into a separate article later in the issue. The same is true for a new visa for nurses called the H-1C. Here's a roundup of other developments:

- Senate votes to kill border control law (for now)

Late last month, just hours before breaking for the month of August, the Senate voted to abandon a key section of 1996's Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act that mandates creation of a massive entry/exit control system at the nation's borders and entry points by the end of next month. Section 110 of IIRAIRA would have required the system be in place by this autumn. The House of Representatives voted last November to delay the requirement until October 1, 1999. Loud protests from Canadian government officials, northern state lawmakers and business interests concerned about massive traffic buildups at the border led Senators to pass "the Border Improvement and Immigration Act" (S. 1360 passed as HR 2920) delaying implementation of the new requirement until the results of a feasibility study are known. The bill also calls for additional funding, personnel and high tech equipment for the INS and the Customs Service to improve the stream of traffic at the borders. The Senate provision is not matched in the House version of the budget bill for the Commerce, State and Justice Departments and the two must now be reconciled in the Conference Committee. The bill's complete text is in our Documents Collection at http://www.visalaw.com/docs/.

The INS has also weighed in on Section 110 and has informed Congress that it cannot build the automated system by September 30th. The INS is openly supporting an extension of the deadline and the feasibility study noted above.

- Revival of 245i in the Hands of Conference Committee

As we noted last month, the Senate has passed a measure to bring back Section 245i of the Immigration and Nationality Act. 245i allows persons otherwise eligible to apply for permanent residency to pay a $1000 penalty fee in order to process their application in the United States. Otherwise, the person would have to process the application outside the US and potentially be subject to the new three and ten year reentry bars. Like the entry/exit control bill mentioned above, the 245i bill was included in the Senate's Commerce, State and Justice appropriations bill. Since our last issue, the House version of the CSJ spending bill has passed, but like the entry/exit bill, the House version is silent on 245i. That means that the Conference Committee working out the compromise bill will be making the decision on whether to include 245i. If 245i is included in the compromise bill, it is quite likely that it will pass since a failure to pass a CSJ bill would potentially have seriously negative consequences. However, many people closely following the legislation say the odds are that the measure will be stripped out of the compromise bill.

- Campaign Finance Reform Bill Draws Ire of Immigrant Rights Groups

A coalition of several dozen organizations representing the interests of immigrants - including groups as diverse as the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the American Civil Liberties Organizations and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund have signed a letter urging Congress to oppose the Shays-Meehan campaign finance reform bill and any other campaign finance legislation that bars lawful permanent residents from making campaign contributions and expenditures. The Shays-Meehan bill did not pass. Instead, HR 2183, an alternative campaign finance bill, passed the House on August 6th by a measure of 252-179. The Shays-Meehan bill would have barred legal immigrants from contributing money in federal, state and local elections and candidates would have been barred from soliciting or accepting their donations. The alternate campaign finance reform bill did not include this provision.

- Guestworker Bill

Another provision in the Senate's CSJ bill that is not matched in the House version is an agricultural guestworker bill. Titled the "Agricultural Job Opportunity Benefits and Security Act of 1998," the measure passed the Senate by a vote of 68 to 31. The bill would create a new H-2C visa and make it much easier for farm employers to bring in foreign workers. But it is also purported to make it easier for American workers to find available employment. The new program would be in addition to the current H-2A visa program. The bill's provisions include the following:

- creation of a national registry of domestic farm workers to help employers and job seekers find each other. Farmers who advertise in the registry and are not referred a sufficient number of US workers are eligible to apply for the new visa.

- farmers could provide housing vouchers instead of meeting the current requirement to provide housing to foreign laborers

- farmers would have to pay workers a prevailing wage

- the workers would apply for visas at US consulates and the consulates would be required to make a decision no later than five days after the application is submitted

- Farmers would pay a user fee of 8.3% of a worker's salary to fund the overall program and to provide housing or housing allowances.

- foreign workers would be eligible for permanent residency if they pick crops for at least six months a year in the US in four consecutive years; the new category would be part of the employment-based third preference category.

Senator Gordon Smith, an Oregon Republican, sponsored the bill. California Senators Feinstein and Boxer, both Democrats, criticized the bill complaining it will lead to tens of thousands of new immigrants moving to the state. Others criticized the bill saying it was an attempt to pander to agribusiness. But supporters of the bill say that farmers need these laborers badly and the current system is just too arcane and restrictive. They point to the fact that an estimated 600,000 of the 1.6 million farm workers in the country are illegal aliens and that the H-2A program is only used for 24,000 workers each year. The Clinton Administration is on record as opposing the bill, but it would likely not veto the bill if it were part of a major spending bill.

- Senate Votes to Delay New Border Crossing Cards

The Senate voted last month to delay for five years the implementation of the new high tech border crossing cards for Mexicans. One of the chief objections to the new cards was the price - $45 as opposed to the current cards which are free. The fee is considered by many to be too expensive for most Mexican families and would have the effect of curtailing shopping in the US. Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl sponsored the bill.

- Haitian Amnesty

An immigration measure added in to the Treasury and Postal spending bill is an amnesty provision for an estimated 40,000 Haitians residing in the US since December 31, 1995 and who claim a fear of persecution. The Senate will vote on the bill when it returns from the August recess. As is the case for the CSJ provisions mentioned above, this bill would need to be reconciled with the House version that does not contain the amnesty measure. While it may seem curious why a Haitian amnesty bill would be attached to a spending bill for the Postal Service, bill sponsors found it the most feasible way to bypass Lamar Smith, the anti-immigrant chairman of the House Immigration Subcommittee.