House bills

H.R. 1573 – Rep. Gene Green (D-TX) has introduced a bill that would make elementary and secondary schools exempt from the fee requirements that ordinarily accompany the filing of an H-1B petition. The provision would be effective from its enactment date until October 1, 2001.

H.R. 441 - the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999 has been voted out of the House of Representatives and is now pending before the Senate. The program would create 500 jobs for qualified foreign nurses working in shortage areas, with an authorized period of employment of up to five years. The new visa would be known as the H-1C visa and 500 visas would be available each year. States with populations under 9,000,000 will be eligible for 25 visas per year and states with more than 9,000,000 residents will be eligible for 50 visas per year. Eligible nurses will be entitled to admission for three years.

H.R. 1841 – Introduced by Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), this bill would revive Section 245i of the Immigration and Nationality Act. That section of the law expired in 1998 ending the practice of allowing people otherwise eligible to immigrate to the US but who had status violations to process their green card applications in the US in exchange for a $1000 penalty fee. Applicants now have to process applications at US consulates. However, because of the new reentry bars, many are ineligible consular process for up to ten years after leaving. A similar bill nearly passed last session and this is a piece of legislation we expect to be one of the more seriously debated pieces of legislation this session.

H.R. 1485 – Democratic Representative Barney Frank has introduced legislation to ameliorate some of the harsh results of the 1996 Immigration Act. This bill would allow people in the US for a long period of time to seek relief from deportation.

H.R. 1399 – Democratic Congressman Levin of Michigan has introduced another bill to roll back provisions in the 1996 Act. This bill would allow states to have the option of providing various forms of need-based assistance to immigrants that the 1996 Immigration Act bars.

H.R. 1156 – Congressman Frank has introduced legislation long supported by the American Immigration Lawyers Association and other immigration advocacy groups. This bill would create a Board of Visa Appeals within the Department of State to review decisions of consular officers concerning visa applications, revocations and cancellations. Consular officers currently have virtually unfettered discretion in issuing such decisions.

H.R. 840 – This bill, introduced by Congressman Pallone (D-NJ), would allow spouses and children of US permanent residents to enter the US as students and visitors while they await their priority dates becoming current. Such spouses and children are currently subject to separation for five years or even longer in some cases.

H.R. 1520 – In a surprise and welcome move, Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Smith (normally not one to introduce legislation making life better for immigrants), has introduced a bill that would give priority in immigrant visa processing to unmarried children of citizens who turn 21 after the date the original petition is filed.

Senate bills

S. 912 – The Border Patrol Recruitment and Retention Act of 1999, introduced by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and sponsored by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX), Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Phil Gramm (R-TX), Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC), Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-MI), and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), would increase the basic pay scale for employees of the U.S. Border Patrol. The new provision would also create an Office of Border Patrol Recruitment and Retention. The purposes of this new office would be to develop outreach programs designed to increase recruitment for the Border Patrol, as well as programs designed to keep the agents from leaving the service. $50,000,000 would be appropriated to fulfill the requirements of the provision.

S. 890 – Minnesota Democrat Paull Wellstone has introduced this bill which would ease naturalization requirements for immigrants who served with special guerilla units or irregular forces in Laos during the US-Vietnam conflict.

S. 871 – Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy has introduced legislation that would make it easier for veterans of the US armed forces to seek discretionary relief in deportation proceedings. The bill was recently publicized after the media reported the story of a 52 year old Vietnam veteran green card holder who was deported after the INS discovered a decade old minor burglary conviction in his background.

S. 792 – This is the Senate counterpart to H.R. 1399 described above.

State bills

The Colorado state house has approved a bill outlawing the practice of female genital mutilation. The bill has already passed the state senate, but it must be returned to that chamber for a final vote