H.R. 4880, introduced by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), would amend current tax laws dealing with those who renounce US citizenship in an effort to avoid paying US taxes. It would do this by treating the person’s property as having been sold the day before the renunciation, therefore requiring them to pay taxes on it.
H.R. 4918, the Bracero Justice Act of 2002, introduced by Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), would waive the statute of limitations for claims brought by bracero workers seeking to recover money owed to them for their work. The bracero program was instituted in 1942 to provide labor during World War II and continued through the 1960s when it was terminated because of widespread abuses.
This week Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) introduced a bill that would allow part-time commuter students from Canada and Mexico to continue attending school in the US. Last month, the INS announced that it was ending the practice of allowing such students to attend class on B visas. The bill would create a new F-3 visa, which would, unlike F-1 visas, allow students to take less than a full course load. It would also create a new M-3 visa for vocational and trade students. The bill would also relax financial requirements for the visas.
The Senate has passed S. 672 and H.R. 1209, similar bills which would eliminate the “age-out” problem that faces children who turn 21 while their applications for permanent residency are still pending.
The House Judiciary Committee this week approved H.R. 4858, which would extend the deadline for the Conrad State 20 program for J-1 visa waivers. The program is set to expire at the end of this month. Under this bill, the program would be extended for another two years, and the number of waivers available would be increased from 20 to 30.
Following more than a month of sustained criticism, INS Commissioner James Ziglar this week said that the agency would take into account the economic impact of a proposed rule that would limit most US visitors to a 30-day stay. During a House Committee on Small Business meeting attended by both Ziglar and representatives of the travel industry, Ziglar agreed to meet with members of the industry to discuss their concerns. However, Ziglar indicated that support for the measure remains strong, saying that it would cut down on the number of people overstaying their visas as well as making it more difficult for people to remain in the US undetected. International visitors to the US spend about billion annually.
At a separate hearing, before the House Immigration Subcommittee, Ziglar was blasted by committee chair Rep. George Gekas (R-PA) for recent statements indicating that the INS was not planning on focusing efforts on the general undocumented population. An INS representative at the meeting defended the agency, noting that it has only 2,000 investigators for interior enforcement, and that the most effective use of resources is to target potential threats, not undocumented workers.
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