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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE 
Now that the impeachment trial has ended, Congress is starting to focus more on the legislative process. And the tone of this year's immigration debate in Congress has begun to become clearer as leaders of the House and Senate Immigration Subcommittees have announced their legislative priorities. 
House Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Smith has already set an agenda that includes coverage of the following:
* INS detention policies (see the article later in this issue about a storm of controversy surrounding the INS' scrapped proposal to release INS detainees),
* the effects of Hurricane Mitch on US immigration, 
* INS enforcement on the Mexico-US border,
* proposals to reorganize or disband the INS and establishment of a high school education requirement in family immigration cases, 
* NACARA implementation (this is the Central American/Eastern European relief bill),
* alien smuggling,
* deportation and enforcement in the country's interiors,
* implementation of a proposed border entry/exit control system,
* alien terrorism,
* affirmative action,
* dual citizenship,
* the EB-5 Immigrant Investor program
 
Spencer Abraham, the Republican Chairman of the Senate's Immigration Subcommittee, plans to place reorganization of the INS at the top of his agenda. Other items on Abraham's agenda include
* INS detention rules for criminals and asylum applicants,
* extending the Refugee Act,
* the enactment of the 1998 H-1B legislation,
* immigration issues for battered spouses and children
Other legislative leaders are also pressing immigration agendas. House minority whip David Bonior (D-MI) has joined a small but growing contingent of lawmakers protesting the INS's detention of immigrants based on undisclosed evidence of terrorist connections. Almost every one of the nearly two dozen immigrants thus detained are Arab and Muslim. Bonior plans to co-sponsor legislation, with Rep. Tom Campbell (R-CA), later this spring that would bar the use of such secret evidence. Most of the people detained as suspected terrorists have been in custody for over one year.
 
A number of key bills have been introduced in Congress since our last issue and below you will find summaries of the legislative proposals. 
 
H.R. 334, a bill introduced by Rep. Robert Andrews, Democrat of New Jersey, would amend the Immigration and Naturalization Act to clarify deportation provisions relating to terrorist activities. The bill would add a new subsection to INA section 237(a)(4)(B), calling for the deportation of any alien who associates with any person the alien knows or has reason to believe is designated as a terrorist in "Patterns of Global Terrorism,' a yearly publication of the State Department. The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
H.R. 371, introduced by Bruce F. Vento, Democrat of Minnesota, would expedite naturalization of Laotians who fought with the United States in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. Those Laotians who entered the U.S. as refugees under section 207 of the INA and who participated in guerilla activities with the support of the U.S. military would be exempted from the English language requirement. Spouses of these people would also be eligible for waiver of the language requirement. 
H.R. 441, the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999, introduced by Bobby L. Rush and Henry Hyde, both Republican of Illinois, would introduce a new category of nonimmigrant nurses that would go be called the H-1C visa. There would be a limit of 500 visas for each fiscal year of the program, which is to last for four years. Employers would be required to made additional attestations, including that they have taken and will continue to take steps to recruit for U.S. citizen and immigrant nurses, that nonimmigrant workers of this category will not equal more that 33% of the total number of registered nurses at the facility, and that the nurse thus employed will not be transferred from the worksite. The filing fee for the attestation would be a maximum of 0. The placement of the nurses would be strictly controlled, with states with a population of less than 9 million limited to 25 visas and states of over 9 million people, 50 visas in each fiscal year. In order to qualify for a nurse under this law, the facility must be located in a healthcare professional shortage area, and must have at least 190 acute care beds, and must render about 30% of its inpatient days to patients eligible for benefits under Part A of Title 18 of the Social Security Act. The bill, introduced last year as well, has been criticized as being carefully crafted to benefit an extremely small special interest since the 190 acute care beds requirement would only be met by a tiny group of facilities.
H.R. 428, introduced by Nick J. Rahall, Democrat of West Virginia, would ease the requirements for adjustment of status for certain named people who have fled from the Persian Gulf region. The 62 affected families would be granted immediate permanent resident status and given work authorization upon application for adjustment.
H.R. 628, introduced by James A. Trafficant, Democrat of Ohio, John P. Murtha, Democrat of Pennsylvania, Brian Bilbray, Republican of California and Dana Rohrabacher, Republican of California would authorize the Secretary of Defense to, under certain circumstances, assign members of the Armed Forces to assist the INS and the U.S. Customs Service in border protection. Such assistance would be given only upon request of the Attorney General or the Secretary of the Treasury. Whenever such assistance is rendered the Attorney General or the Secretary must, with the Secretary of Defense, develop a training program to ensure that the military personnel understand law enforcement issues relating to the border. Also, military personnel would be required to always be accompanied by civilian personnel from the interested agency, the INS or the Customs Service.
S. 173, a bill introduced by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Democrat of New York, would make significant revisions to the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. This will be one of the most closely watched bills this year. First, there would be changes relating to the cancellation of removal. Under the current INA section 240A(a)(3), an alien is not eligible for cancellation of removal if convicted of any aggravated felony; the new version would allow aliens convicted of aggravated felonies, but whose sentences were less than five years, to be considered for cancellation of removal. Also, INA section 240A(d)(1) currently provides that a continuous residence period ends when the alien is served with notice of removal proceedings, or when the alien is convicted of certain criminal offenses that, under INA section 212(a)(2) would render the alien inadmissible or deportable. The new amendments would terminate the continuous residence period only upon notice from the INS. Second, under INA section 236(c)(2) as currently written, the Attorney General has discretion to release an alien from custody only if the release is necessary to protect witnesses or participants in a court proceeding or investigation, and the alien is not a danger to the community and will appear for all future hearings. The new version would require only that the alien not be a danger to the community, and that he will appear for future hearings. The bill would also repeal section 303(b) of IIRAIRA, which authorized the Attorney General to revoke an alien's bond or parole and keep the alien in detention. Another key provision would greatly extend the availability of judicial review by amending INA section 242(a)(2)(C) to give courts of appeals review of final orders of deportation. As currently written there is no judicial review. The proposed amendments would provide for court-appointed counsel at the government's expense in removal proceedings, and would also remove the numerical limitations on the diversity visa (DV) program. 
S. 245, introduced by Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah, would reauthorize federal programs and funding designed to protect battered women. The bill includes provisions designed to help immigrants who are victims of domestic violence. The law would amend section 245 of the INA to allow for easier adjustment of status to permanent residency for spouses and children of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. The law would also remove some barriers to cancellation of removal. First, the period of continuous physical presence required for eligibility for cancellation would not end when the INS issues an Order to Show Cause. Second, the annual limit on cancellations of removal and adjustment to permanent residency would not apply. The law would remove the time limit on motions to reopen for application for adjustment of status, and would also remove the time limits to reopen deportation proceedings for covered immigrants.
S. 318, introduced by Daniel Inouye, Democrat of Hawaii, would ease immigration requirements for Philippine and Japanese aliens who were fathered by U.S. citizens by including them in INA section 204(f)(2)(A), thus allowing them to be classified as immigrants under INA sections 201(b), 203(a)(1), or 203(a)(3).