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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE – ADVOCACY UPDATE CENTER
HOUSE BILLS 
H.R. 3272, the Keeping Families Together Act of 1999, introduced by Representative Bob Filner (D-CA), would restore the definition of aggravated felony to what it was before 1996, as well as return some other immigration provisions to their pre 1996 state.  The bill would allow people who have been negatively impacted by the 1996 change in the definition of aggravated felony to apply for adjustment of status or cancellation of removal.  It would return detention policy to what it was before 1996 and would restore section 212(c) discretionary relief for permanent residents.   
H.R. 3273, the Military Families Unification Act of 1999, introduced by Representative Bob Filner (D-CA), would exempt spouses and children of Philippine men serving in the US Navy from some bars to admission and relief. 
H.R. 3508, introduced by Representatives David Wu (D-OR), Thomas Davis (R-VA) and Fortney Pete Stark (D-CA) would amend the H-1B visa program.  Under this bill, 65,000 additional H-1B visas would be available annually between 2000 and 2002.  To obtain this visa, the potential employee must hold a master’s or Ph.D. degree from a US institution, or the equivalent from a foreign school.  Also, the employer must make a contribution to the scholarship fund of a US institution of higher learning that is at least equal to the maximum Pell Grant award.  For 1998-1999, this amount was 00. 
  
SENATE BILLS 
S. 1940, the Refugee Protection Act of 1999, introduced by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Russell Feingold (D-WI), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), John Kerry (D-MA), James Jeffords (R-VT), and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) is designed to reduce the chances that a bona fide refugee will be returned to the country of persecution.  The bill provides for increased review of asylum decisions and more discretion on whether to detain asylum seekers. 
S. 1953, the Legal Employment Authentication Program (LEAP) Act of 1999, introduced by Senator Robert Kerrey (D-NE), would redesign current employment eligibility confirmation programs.  The existing I-9 employment verification program has become very controversial in Kerry’s home state of Nebraska as the INS has been cracking down on the employment of illegal workers in the state’s large meatpacking industry. Participation in the new program will be largely voluntary, and receiving confirmation of a person’s eligibility to work in the US through the program established will create a presumption that the employer has not violated the prohibition against employing people without proper authorization.  Participation in the program would be mandatory for the federal government and for certain employers found to have employed unauthorized workers.  Failure to comply with the program by employers who are required to participate would result in a presumption that the employer did hire an unauthorized worker.  Inquiries into a person’s employment authorization must be made within three days of hiring.  The confirmation system would be designed to disclose only whether a person is authorized to work and would not be allowed to disclose any information relating to a person’s Social Security account.  A companion bill has been introduced in the House. 
Nebraska’s other Senator, Republican Charles Hagel, has introduced a bill that would establish a new pilot program for confirming employment eligibility for employees hired by businesses subject to Operation Vanguard, primarily the Midwestern meatpacking industry.  The most important provision in the proposed law would allow INS agents to use Social Security records to both confirm eligibility and determine whether someone is claiming another person’s identity.