Immigration Bills

The bill would prevent Community Oriented Policing Services Program (COPS) funding from being used to uphold “sanctuary policies,” which prevent law enforcement officials in local municipalities from investigating immigration status or reporting immigration violations to Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE). COPS is important to city, tribal, state, and other local law enforcement agencies because it awards grants used to update technology, hire and train police officers, and develop crime fighting strategies. Please see S.169 for the Senate Companion legislation.

To prohibit the implementation of certain policies regarding the exercise of prosecutorial discretion by the Secretary of Homeland Security.

The bill would prohibit federal funding from being used to challenge state laws that facilitate the enforcement of federal immigration laws including: the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007; Missouri House Bill 390; Arizona’s Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (SB 1070); Utah’s Illegal Immigration Enforcement Act; Indiana Senate Enrolled Act No. 590; the Beason-Hammon Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act; South Carolina Act No. 69; Georgia’s Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011; and Indiana’s HB 1402.

The bill would make wages and benefits paid to illegal aliens nondeductible for federal tax purposes. More specifically, it stipulates a retroactive six year limitation on assessment and collection, giving the IRS an incentive to collect due taxes. Furthermore, New IDEA makes E-Verify a permanent program, gives employers “safe harbor” when using E-Verify to confirm employment eligibility of their workers, and requires the IRS, Social Security Administration, and Department of Homeland Security to share information and work with each other on investigations.

H.R. 2885, the Legal Workforce Act, would replace the I-9 system by making E-Verify permanent and mandatory for all employees via a gradual phase-in process. Specifically, an employer with 10,000 or more employees has 6 months to become compliant after the bill's enactment, while employers with 500 to 10,000 employees have 12 months, employers with 20 to 500 employees have 18 months, employers with 1 to 20 employees have 24 months, and agriculture service employers have 36 months.