The sudden and extreme political earthquake that has surrounded the release of the Starr Report is affecting every aspect of lawmaking in Washington, including immigration legislation. We assume most of our readers, even those outside the US, are quite familiar with the accusations of crimes by the President in connection with his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

First, there is the shift in political dynamics. Suddenly, power has shifted to Congress and the President is forced to take positions that might be more extreme than he would like. The President cannot afford to alienate groups like labor unions or allies on the left wing of the Democratic Party. The President is now probably engaged in head counting on possible impeachment actions and any possible defections in his own party could prove fatal. On the H-1B debate, for example, some feel that the President will have no choice but to veto any bill lifting the cap unless extreme and onerous projectionist provisions that are favored by labor unions are included.

Many are already planning for the next session of Congress where the Republicans could have a much larger majority and could conceivably override a Presidential veto. This might be good news on business and employment immigration matters where Republicans of late have taken the lead in pushing for more liberal rules. On family, deportation and asylum matters, this could be bad news where Democrats have traditionally taken the side of immigrants. It could also mean bad news for the INS. There is no love lost between Republican leaders in Congress and the agency and this coming year may be the one that finally spells the end for the troubled agency.

The second immediate consequence of the Lewinsky Affair is that it is causing major disruptions in progress on a number of legislative matters. Aside from the not inconsiderable amount of time Congressmen are spending reviewing the voluminous materials presented by Judge Starr, Congress has to determine how to proceed on impeachment proceedings. Many in Congress are spending much of their time trying to gauge the opinions of their constituents. And Congressional offices are so inundated now with calls, faxes and e-mails from constituents, that many staffers have been diverted from their normal activities to handle the work. Unfortunately, there are only a few days left in the session. Whether this leads to bills actually not being voted has yet to be seen.

There have been no significant votes on immigration bills since Congress was out of session in August and the beginning of this month. The next several weeks will be critical, however. Votes are scheduled on bills that would revive INA Section 245i, the H-1B cap, a new agricultural guestworker bill and relief for Haitian illegals. By the time we release our October issue, we should have considerable news to report.

As a reminder, the following bills are the ones to watch in the final days of this session of Congress -

S. 2312 (includes H.R. 4104) - This is the Treasury Department Appropriations Bill, but it happens to include a provisions granting permanent residence status to an estimated 40,000 Haitians in the US prior to December 31, 1995. Passed the Senate.

S.2260 - The appropriations bills for the Departments of Commerce, Justice and State. It includes a permanent extension of Section 245(i), a repeal of the 1996 Immigration Act's entry/exit control system and a guest worker program. Passed the Senate. House bill is H.R. 4276 but does not contain these provisions.

S. 1723 - The H-1B bill. Passed the Senate. Awaiting House compromise bill. Bill is H.R. 3736 in the House. The House may also attach a provision introduced by Kentucky Republican Congressman Harold Rogers that would establish the Bureau of Enforcement and Border Affairs within the Department of Justice with reporting authority directly to the Attorney General. The new agency would take over INS responsibility for the Border Patrol, intelligence, detention and deportation, as well as investigations and inspections. The American Immigration Lawyers Association opposes this measure stating that it would "throw the INS into a state of chaos and, in its focus on enforcement, fail to address the service side of the immigration function (though one could reasonably argue that that is already the status quo).

H.R. 2920 - Would modify the proposed exit/control system by requiring a study before system implemented at land borders and seaports. Passed Senate. The new entry/exit control system is to go into effect on October 1st so action this session on this bill is critical. Please call your House Representatives and urge them to support this bill. The Congressional switchboard telephone number is 202-216-2403.

H.R. 2759 - The H-1C visa for nurses working in health professional shortage areas. Passed House.

H.R. 2183 - Would bar permanent residents from making campaign contribution. Passed House.

On September 16th, the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration held hearings on the possible reorganization of the INS. Subcommittee Chair Spencer Abraham (R-MI) laid out five key concerns with the current INS detention system:

1. the inability of the INS to take into custody deportable foreign nationals;

2. inconsistent asylum bond and release policies from INS district to INS district

3. people who have basically been lost in the INS detention system

4. the practice of mixing asylum applicants in local jails with a criminal population (see story earlier in this issue on the Human Rights Watch report criticizing this practice)

5. INS recalcitrance in considering alternatives to detention such as supervised release programs.

Finally, one bill that is long overdue was introduced by Congressman Barney Frank recently. H.R. 4539 would establish a Board of Visa Appeals within the Department of State to review decisions of consular officers concerning visa applications, revocations and cancellations. Amazingly, State Department consular officers have total discretion to deny visas and their denials cannot be reviewed no matter how unjust. There will probably not be enough time for this bill to pass this session, but it is refreshing to see the issue being raised in Congress. The full text of the bill is included on our web site Documents Collection at http://www.visalaw.com/docs/.