Monday, October 26, 2009

[IWS] CRS: IMMIGRATION LEGISLATION & ISSUES in 111th CONGRESS [2 October 2009]

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations
-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor
---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016
-------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

Congressional Research Service (CRS)

Immigration Legislation and Issues in the 111th Congress
Andorra Bruno, Coordinator, Specialist in Immigration Policy
Karma Ester, Information Research Specialist
Chad C. Haddal, Analyst in Immigration Policy
Yule Kim, Legislative Attorney
Margaret Mikyung Lee, Legislative Attorney
Alison Siskin, Specialist in Immigration Policy
Ruth Ellen Wasem, Specialist in Immigration Policy
October 2, 2009
http://opencrs.com/document/R40848/2009-10-02/download/1013/
[full-text, 18 pages]

Summary
The Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader have pledged to take up
comprehensive immigration reform legislation at some point in the 111th Congress. Efforts to
enact broad immigration reform in the 109th and 110th Congresses were unsuccessful. It is unclear
what the components of any immigration reform proposals that the 111th Congress may consider
will be. In the past, comprehensive bills have addressed border security, enforcement of
immigration laws within the United States (interior enforcement), employment eligibility
verification, temporary worker programs, permanent admissions and, most controversially,
unauthorized aliens in the United States.

The 111th Congress has considered various immigration issues and has enacted a number of
targeted immigration provisions. It has passed legislation (P.L. 111-8, P.L. 111-9, P.L. 111-68) to
extend the life of several immigration programs—the E-Verify electronic employment eligibility
verification system, the Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program, the Conrad State J-1
Waiver Program, and the special immigrant visa for religious workers—all of which are currently
authorized until October 31, 2009. With respect to these programs, the House-passed and Senatepassed
versions of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2010 (H.R. 2892),
include different provisions to further extend E-Verify. The Senate-passed bill also would extend
the other three programs. Among the other subjects of legislation enacted by this Congress are
refugees (P.L. 111-8) and border security (P.L. 111-5, P.L. 111-32).

This report discusses these and other immigration-related issues that have seen legislative action
or are of significant congressional interest. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
appropriations are addressed in CRS Report R40642, Homeland Security Department: FY2010
Appropriations, and, for the most part, are not covered here. This report will be updated as
legislative developments occur.

Contents
Introduction ...............................................................................................................................1
Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification ...........................................................................1
Border Security..........................................................................................................................2
Resources at Ports of Entry ...................................................................................................3
Resources Between Ports of Entry.........................................................................................3
Barriers at the Border ............................................................................................................4
Unauthorized Immigration ..........................................................................................................4
Unauthorized Students ..........................................................................................................5
U.S. Refugee Program.................................................................................................................5
Refugee Resettlement Funding..............................................................................................6
Special Immigrants .....................................................................................................................7
Religious workers .................................................................................................................7
Afghan Allies........................................................................................................................7
Other Issues and Legislation........................................................................................................8
Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program........................................................................8
Widow Penalty in Permanent Admissions..............................................................................8
Waivers for Foreign Medical Graduates.................................................................................9
Alien Smuggling.................................................................................................................10
Other Legislation Receiving Action.....................................................................................10
Immigration Relief for Immediate Family of Victims of September 11, 2001.................10
Victims of Violence and Trafficking ..............................................................................10
Temporary Professional Specialty (H-1B) Workers........................................................ 11

Contacts
Author Contact Information ...................................................................................................... 11


______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   
Director, IWS News Bureau                
Institute for Workplace Studies 
Cornell/ILR School                        
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             
New York, NY 10016                        
                                   
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  
****************************************






<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?