Thread: Immigration Battle in the Senate - Thursday September 20

Immigration Battle in the Senate -
Thursday September 20
http://www.numbersusa.com/hottopic/sena ... n0507.html

(September 20) The Senate will resume consideration of H.R. 1585, the Defense Department authorization bill for fiscal year 2008, at 10:30 a.m. this morning. At some point during the debate, open-borders senators will attempt to attach three proposals that, when taken together, would grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens and dramatically increase the importation of foreign workers at a time 10 million Americans are looking for jobs and can't find employment.

The floor vote on the amendment containing the DREAM Act amnesty -- new number: SA 2919 -- may occur tomorrow. It will take 41 NO votes to kill this amnesty. Currently, only 20 Senators have committed to vote NO.


Background

The new DREAM Act amendment (SA 2919) sponsored by Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is similar to a stand-alone bill Durbin sponsored (S. 774). The measure authorizes DHS to cancel removal for, or adjust to lawful permanent resident status (in other words, grant amnesty to), an alien who is inadmissible or deportable in cases where the alien demonstrated that he/she:

has maintained continuous presence in the United States for five years and was not yet 16 years old upon initial entry, but is no older than 30 years of age;

is of "good moral character" and is not inadmissible or deportable on certain criminal grounds or on the basis of being a risk to national security; and

has been admitted to an institution of higher education, has attained a high school diploma, or has obtained a GED in the United States.

The DREAM Act also would grant amnesty to illegal aliens who satisfy these criteria as of enactment.

The newest iteration of the nightmarish DREAM Act makes two notable changes:

It removes a provision repealing existing statutory provisions barring illegal aliens from being eligible for in-state tuition unless a U.S. citizen or legal resident is eligible regardless of state residence.

It imposes an upper age limit of 30 years old on applicants for "conditional permanent resident status" (i.e., amnesty).

This latter revision narrows, but does not close, a gaping loophole because any illegal alien up to age 30 can still walk into any U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office, declare that he is eligible, and be granted amnesty with minimal documentation of eligibility. That 30-year-old could claim that he illegally entered the United States when he was 15, but there is no requirement that the alien prove that he entered the United States at the claimed time by providing particular documents. The proposal merely requires him to "demonstrate" that he is eligible-which in practice could mean simply making a sworn statement to that effect. Thus, it is an invitation for just about every illegal alien 30-and-under to fraudulently claim the amnesty.

In addition, the alien then has six years to adjust his status from a conditional green card holder to a non-conditional one. To do so, he need only complete two years of study at an institution of higher education, including any vocational school. If the alien has already completed two years of study, he can convert to non-conditional status immediately (and use his green card as a platform to sponsor parents and other family members). As an alternative to two years of study, he can enlist in the U.S. military (or any other of the "uniformed services," such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or Public Health Service) for two years. This provision allows Senator Durbin to claim that the DREAM Act is somehow germane to the DoD authorization bill.

An illegal alien who applies for this nightmare of an amnesty gets to count his years under "conditional" green card status toward the five years needed for citizenship. On top of that, the illegal alien could claim "retroactive benefits" and start the clock running the day that the DREAM Act is enacted. In combination, these two provisions put illegal aliens on a high-speed track to U.S. citizenship-moving from illegal alien to U.S. citizen in as little as five years. Lawfully present aliens, meanwhile, must follow a slower path to citizenship.

It would be absurdly easy for just about any illegal alien-even one who does not qualify for the amnesty-to evade the law. Once an alien files an application-any application, no matter how ridiculous-the federal government is prohibited from deporting him. Moreover, with few exceptions, Federal officers are prohibited from either using information from the application to deport the alien or sharing that information with another federal agency, under threat of up to $10,000 fine. Consequently, an alien's admission that he has violated Federal immigration law cannot be used against him-even if he never had any chance of qualifying for the DREAM Act amnesty in the first place.

The DREAM Act also makes illegal aliens eligible for Federal student loans and federal work-study programs – another benefit that law-abiding foreign students cannot receive – all at taxpayer expense.

Beyond the DREAM Act, the Senate is expected to take up measures vastly increasing foreign worker importation in both the high- and low-skill categories. An attempt will likely be made to increase the number of seasonal nonagricultural workers through exemptions to existing limitations on H-2B visa issuance.

Also, components of the SKIL Act, for which the main sponsor is Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), are likely to arise. To that end, Sen. Cornyn has amendments pending which, if adopted and enacted into law, would undermine U.S. workers and feed Big Business' insatiable hunger for cheap, foreign labor. SA 2143 would allow the "recapturing" of "unused" employment-based (EB) visas from fiscal years 1996 and 1997 (even though visas not allocated in a certain category in any given year are made available for other categories, so there really is no such thing as an "unused" visa). In addition, the amendment would raise the H-1B visa cap from 65,000 per year to 115,000 per year, more than double the number of EB immigrants admissible per year (from 140,000 to 290,000), and create exemptions from the EB visa cap for: (1) U.S.-educated scientists and engineers; (2) H-1Bs who have been working in science, technology, engineering, or math in the United States for three years preceding their application for an EB immigrant visa; (3) aliens with "extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics"; (4) "outstanding professors and researchers"; and (5) aliens granted "national interest waivers."

Another Cornyn amendment (SA 2141) would establish a new nonimmigrant worker, or "guestworker," program – the H-1A – for "international commuters" (i.e., aliens who live outside the United States, but who commute to and from work in the United States for up to 10 months in any calendar year). Up to 90,000 H-1A visas could have been issued each year, with those visas being valid for three years.

An additional Cornyn amendment, SA 2140, would establish parity between Mexican nationals who possess a valid biometric Border Crossing Card (BCC [also known as a "laser visa"]) who have completed the necessary security checks (a rarity in today's lax enforcement environment) who visit the United States and Canadian "visitors" by allowing BCC bearers to remain in the United States for up to six months. Currently, Mexican nationals with BCCs may only stay in the United States for up to 30 days, while Canadians possessing "tourist" visas may stay up to one year. In addition, SA 2140 would retain DHS' authority to set the length of time those with BCCs may remain in the United States and, also, would have authorized that agency to modify the length of admission on a case-by-case basis if good cause exists. Finally, the amendment would make a Mexican national inadmissible for the BCC admission period if: (1) he is inadmissible as a nonimmigrant; (2) he has previously violated his nonimmigrant status; or (3) the BCC was not processed through a machine reader at the U.S. port of entry.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has two pending immigration-related amendments. SA 2253 would require all executive departments and agencies – as well as all DoD contractors and subcontractors – to participate in, and comply with the terms of, the E-Verify program, beginning 90 days following enactment. Grassley also is cosponsoring a Durbin amendment (SA 223 designed to address the problems of fraud and abuse in the H-1B "high-skill" and L-1 "intracompany transferee/specialized knowledge" nonimmigrant worker programs, as well as protect opportunities for U.S. workers. (This proposal mirrors the Durbin- and Grassley-backed "H-1B and L-1 Visa Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act of 2007" [S. 1035 {CLICK HERE for a full summary of this bill}].)

I'm so sick of the continual resurrection of this Damn Bill! Illegals will take the seat of America's Children at the expense of taxpayers. To attach a bill, having to do with illegal immigration to a defense bill designed to protect and make life easier for our Brave Soldier's, is ludicrous.

We have a Dear young friend in Iraq and it does not make me feel easy knowing Govt. officials are designing against him and see it fit to promote invaders who could be potential terrorist in in a Bill having to do with defense!

Re:

Another Cornyn amendment (SA 2141) would establish a new nonimmigrant worker, or "guestworker," program – the H-1A – for "international commuters" (i.e., aliens who live outside the United States, but who commute to and from work in the United States for up to 10 months in any calendar year). Up to 90,000 H-1A visas could have been issued each year, with those visas being valid for three years.

Sen Cornyn, I thought you were smarter than that. Do you really believe that those people are going to travel all the way here to work for 10 months and go home for 2 months... every year? Talk about an open invitation for more illegal overstays.... sheesh.