President Bush’s announcement of a new immigration proposal has energized both immigration advocates and opponents.  Additionally, Senators Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Tom Daschle (D-SD) recently introduced their own immigration reform proposal.

The President’s immigration reform plan would at first allow for both undocumented people as well as foreign workers living abroad to remain in the US for three years, with their participation renewable.  The benefits to the temporary guest workers are that they would be allowed to travel back and forth between their countries or origin and the US, and that it includes incentives for people to return to their home countries.

It is unclear, however, if President Bush’s plan would handle immigration advocates’ concerns such as long backlogs in legal immigration.  The plan calls for participants of the program to be able to apply for permanent legal residency, but they would be placed in line behind those already in line.  Under current conditions, the process to obtain legal permanent status would take decades for these temporary workers.  In the existing immigration laws, bars and grounds of inadmissibility create obstacles for those trying to adjust.  It is also unclear as to whether the Bush administration’s plan would adequately deal with these roadblocks.  Additionally, the current immigration system is known for having long backlogs that keep close family members separated for as long as 20 years and this issue has yet to been addressed by the Bush administration.

The Immigration Reform Act is the only program introduced to date that includes the three components immigration advocates consider essential for total immigration reform.  They include family reunification through family backlog reduction, a new temporary worker program and access to an earned adjustment for eligible people already living and working in the US.

The Immigration Reform Act, sponsored by Senators Hagel and Daschle, caps the H-2B program at 100,000 for five years and reverts to 66,000 thereafter.  Admission of H-2B visa holders would be limited to nine months in any twelve-month period and is not portable.  The act also calls for the creation of a new H-2C program, which is a two-year program that is renewable for another two years and capped at 250,000 annually.  The H-2C visa would be portable after three months, with some exceptions.  The bill creates a commission to review the program and to provide a report on wage decisions.