Thread: S.B. 4 on Senate Floor now. Activists Call Senators!

http://www.numbersusa.com/hottopic/senate911.html

Current Bill on the Senate Floor: S. 4


(March 6, 2007) The Senate is expected to resume debate today on S. 4, a bill that would implement unfulfilled security recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) has a very important pending amendment (SA 305) that would affirm the inherent authority of state and local governments to assist in the enforcement of Federal immigration laws. Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) also has an important pending amendment (SA 272) that would require the Social Security Administration to notify DHS when earnings tied to illegal aliens are reported on a Social Security number or multiple numbers. DHS would only be allowed to use this information for the purpose of enforcing immigration laws.
On Wednesday, February 28, the Senate adopted an amendment (see SA 271 below) sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), which tempers the bill’s provisions authorizing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to expand the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) somewhat. That program allows citizens of 27 countries to visit the United States without first securing a visa through a U.S. embassy in their country. As such, those visitors are allowed to visit without first being checked as to whether they are terrorists or criminals.

Unlike the underlying bill, SA 271 prohibits DHS from waiving the VWP’s “low nonimmigrant visa refusal rate” requirements with respect to a country’s participation in the VWP if DHS determines that the country’s refusal rate for nonimmigrant visitor visas during the previous full fiscal year was more than 10 percent or if the country’s visa overstay rate exceeds a DHS-defined maximum overstay rate.

On February 28, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced, and on March 1, subsequently withdrew, an amendment that would delay implementation of the REAL ID Act by two years. REAL ID sets Federal standards for the issuance of driver’s licenses and requires aliens to prove their "legal presence" in the United States. Under REAL ID, states are required to issue secure driver’s licenses by May 2008. (For more information on REAL ID,click here.) Sen. Collins withdrew this amendment after DHS announced that it had proposed regulations to implement REAL ID in a manner that allows states to request a waiver from the implementation deadline.


Votes/Action on S. 4 Amendments
Adopted by voice vote

SA 271 (Feinstein [no cosponsors]) to SA 275: would grant DHS the authority to waive the Visa Waiver Program’s (VWP) “low nonimmigrant visa refusal rate” requirements with respect to a country’s participation in the VWP (i.e., have a low nonimmigrant visa refusal rate for two years [averaging no more than two percent over both years, not exceeding 2.5 percent in any one year] or no more than a three percent refusal rate for the most recent fiscal year) if: (1) there has been a sustained reduction in visa refusal rates for nonimmigrant visitor visa for nationals of the country and reductions are likely to continue; (2) the country cooperated with the United States on security and counterterrorism matters before participation in the VWP; (3) the country meets all security requirements, including some new prerequisites (e.g., improved reporting of lost or stolen passports, information sharing regarding prospective visitors, prompt repatriation of aliens ordered removed from the United States, etc.), for participation in the VWP; and (4) either: (a) the refusal rate for nonimmigrant visitor visas during the previous full fiscal year was not more than 10 percent; or (b) if the visa overstay rate for the country for the previous fiscal year does not exceed the maximum visa overstay rate (as established by DHS pursuant to this bill following DHS’ certification that an air exit system is in place [as directed by this bill]).



Adopted by roll call votes

SA 285 (Inouye [Lieberman, Murray, Stevens]) to SA 275 (58-37-5): would disqualify an individual from being issued a biometric transportation security card if he/she: (1) has violated immigration law within seven years of applying for the card; or (2) was released from incarceration for an immigration violation within five years of applying for the card; and would grant DHS the authority to modify the list of disqualifying offenses (including those immigration violations/incarcerations as well as current provisions disqualifying inadmissible or deportable aliens from being issued a card).

SA 279 (DeMint) to SA 275 (92-2-4): would disqualify an individual from being issued a biometric transportation security card if he/she: (1) has violated immigration law within seven years of applying for the card; or (2) was released from incarceration for an immigration violation within five years of applying for the card; and would grant DHS the authority to add to the list of disqualifying offenses.



Pending

SA 272 (Allard): would authorize DHS, the Labor Department, and the Attorney General to require individuals to provide their Social Security numbers (SSNs) for inclusion in records or on forms required by immigration laws; would require the Social Security Administration (SSA) to notify DHS if earnings are reported on a SSN issued to an illegal alien; would require SSA to report information to DHS concerning the names, address, etc., of the alien (or aliens if the SSN was used in relation to multiple names); and would prohibit DHS from using this information for purposes other than enforcement of immigration laws.

SA 281 (Bingman [Domenici]) to SA 275: would authorize DHS to award grants to a state, local, or tribal law enforcement agency located in a county within 100 miles of a U.S. border with Canada or Mexico, or in a county beyond 100 miles that has been certified by DHS as a “high impact area,” to provide assistance in addressing: (1) criminal activity that occurs by virtue of proximity to the border; and (2) the Federal government’s failure to adequately secure its borders; and would prohibit these provisions from being construed to authorize state or local law enforcement agencies or their officers to exercise Federal immigration law enforcement authority.

SA 288 (Bill Nelson [Martinez]) to SA 275: would allow interviews of visa applicants to be done via videoconferencing and would establish a pilot program to allow interviews to be conducted by mobile teams of consular officials.

SA 300 (Grassley [no cosponsors]) to SA 275: would prohibit judicial review of visa or immigration document revocation in all cases (currently, if revocation provides the sole ground for removal, it may be reviewed).

SA 305 (Sessions [Craig, Coburn, Inhofe, Isakson]) to SA 275: would affirm states’ and municipalities’ authority to investigate, apprehend, arrest, or detain an illegal alien in order to assist in the enforcement of Federal immigration laws, but would clarify that there is no requirement that those entities assist in enforcement of Federal immigration laws; and would require that immigration law violators be listed in the National Crime Information Center Database.

SA 310 (Cornyn): would revise guidelines as to the beginning, suspension, and continuation of an alien’s removal period (i.e., the 90-day period following a removal order within which DHS must remove an alien from the United States); would authorize DHS detention of an alien while a stay of removal is pending, and detention without limitation in cases of aliens ordered removed for terrorist activity; would allow DHS to place aliens under supervision in order to prevent the alien from absconding, or for the protection of the community, or for other purposes related to the enforcement of immigration laws; would authorize the paroling of an alien applicant for admission who is detained under suspicion of terrorist involvement and a continuation of that parole unless the alien violates the conditions of parole or removal becomes reasonably foreseeable, provided that the alien is never admitted; would require DHS to establish an administrative review process to determine whether aliens to which these provisions apply should be detained or released on conditions for aliens who have made all reasonable efforts to comply with their removal orders, complied with DHS’s efforts to carry out the removal orders, and have not conspired or acted to prevent removal; would authorize continued detention of an alien for up to 90 days beyond the removal period: (1) until the alien is removed, provided the alien is likely to be removed in the foreseeable future, has a highly contagious disease, or is (or may be) a threat to national, community, or any one person’s security; or (2) pending a determination of one of those criteria; would allow DHS to impose conditions on an alien’s release and to re-detain any alien subject to a final removal order who is released from custody if the alien fails to comply with the conditions of release or to cooperate in the alien’s removal from the United States or, following reconsideration, the alien can be detained; would apply these guidelines for detention, release, and removal of aliens ordered removed to any alien returned to custody, as if the removal period terminated on the day of the re-detention, and only with respect to lawfully admitted aliens who have not been paroled pursuant to DHS’s discretion, but would give DHS the authority to decide not to apply these procedures and detain an alien without any limitations in cases where an alien has effected an entry into the United States, but has neither been lawfully admitted nor physically present in the United States continuously for the two-year period immediately prior to the commencement of removal or deportation proceedings; would require judicial review of any action or decision pursuant to these new procedures to be available exclusively in habeas corpus proceedings instituted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and only if the alien has exhausted all administrative remedies available to the alien; and would allow detention of an alien if it is determined that the person is not lawfully present in the United States, is subject to a final removal order, or has committed any of several specified offenses.

SA 311 (Cornyn): would require the court, if it determines that prospective relief should be ordered against the government in any civil immigration action, the to: (1) limit the relief to the minimum necessary to correct the violation; (2) adopt the least intrusive means to correct the violation; (3) minimize, to the greatest extent practicable, the adverse impact on national security, border security, immigration administration and enforcement, and public safety; and (4) provide for relief expiration on a specific date which is not later than the earliest date necessary for the government to remedy the violation; would require preliminary injunctive relief to expire 90 days after entry unless otherwise determined by the court; would require a court to promptly rule on any government motion to vacate, modify, or otherwise terminate a prospective relief order in a civil immigration action; would provide for an automatic 15-day stay of the prospective relief order and would authorize the court to enter an order to postpone an automatic stay's effective date for up to 15 days; would require any order staying, suspending, delaying, or otherwise barring an automatic stay's effective date, other than an order to postpone the effective date for up to 15 days, to be treated as an order refusing to vacate, modify, or otherwise terminate an injunction and would make that order appealable; would prohibit a court in a civil immigration action from entering, approving, or continuing a consent decree that does not comply with this amendment’s prospective relief requirements; and would clarify that this amendment does not preclude parties from entering into a private settlement agreement that does not comply with these requirements if the terms of the agreement are not subject to court enforcement other than reinstatement of the civil proceedings that the agreement settled.

SA 319 (Kyl [no cosponsors]): would make admissible aliens belonging to terrorist groups that are not determined to be threats to the United States and that do not attack civilians, but would authorize DHS to revoke those determinations at any time; would grant automatic immigration relief to various organizations by not considering them terrorist organizations on the basis of acts committed before enactment; and would designate the Taliban as a terrorist organization for purposes of admissibility.

SA 329 (Domenici [Bingaman]): would allow a Mexican national to travel up to 100 miles from the border between Mexico and New Mexico if he/she: (1) posseses a valid biometric Border Crossing Card, or BCC (also known as a “laser visa”); (2) enters New Mexico through a port of entry at which the BCC is processed using a machine reader; (3) has completed any necessary security checks (a rarity in today’s lax enforcement environment); and (4) is admitted into the United States on a tourist visa; and would authorize DHS, on a case-by-case basis, to limit the travel of such an individual to a distance of than than 100 miles from the border if DHS determines that, during a previous admittance into the United States as a nonimmigrant, he/she violated the terms of his/her nonimmigrant status.



Withdrawn

SA 277 (Collins [Alexander, Carper, Chambliss, Mikulski, Murkowski, Snowe]) to SA 275: would delay implementation of the REAL ID Act’s secure driver’s license/personal identification card standards by two years; would stipulate that if DHS determines that Federal or state electronic systems required to verify the validity and completeness of REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses or identification cards are not available to any state upon the implementation date, minimum standards for driver’s license and/or identification card issuance would not apply to any state until adequate electronic validation systems are available to all states; and would reinstate a disbanded negotiated rulemaking process to develop Federal driver's license and ID standards.

On Wednesday, February 28, the Senate adopted an amendment (see SA 271 below) sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), which tempers the bill’s provisions authorizing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to expand the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) somewhat. That program allows citizens of 27 countries to visit the United States without first securing a visa through a U.S. embassy in their country. As such, those visitors are allowed to visit without first being checked as to whether they are terrorists or criminals.

This is crazy. 27 countries allowed to visit in the US without first getting a visa? What is up with THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY?
Isn't this the most OUTRAGEOUS form of stupidity you have ever heard? DOES ANYONE FEEL SAFE KNOWING THAT THE HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICE PROMOTES WELCOMING ISLAMISTS, TERRORISTS, AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, WITH OPEN ARMS?

They are buckling under to the tourist markets....more big business.

We are now, The United States of Commerce.