Immigration Bills

H.R. 5163 would focus on addressing the increased influx of unaccompanied alien children (UACs) on the Southwest border. First and foremost, it removes the distinction between UACs from contiguous and noncontiguous countries, then requires those who are screened and do not qualify are returned within 72 hours. Various improvements are made to the system for processing UACs, including a new requirement that they are to remain in Border Patrol custody until voluntary departure, removal, or granting of legal status.

H.R. 5137, the Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act of 2014, represents one of the most thorough responses to the surge of unaccompanied alien children (UACs) at the Southwest border. Aside from repealing the requirements that resulted in UACs from contiguous countries receiving differing treatment than those from noncontiguous countries, this bill requires immigration officers to order all illegal entrants removed upon screening, absent an asylum claim. In order to encourage cooperation with return, foreign countries who resist repatriation will face cuts to foreign assistance.

S. 2619, the Children Returning on an Expedited and Safe Timeline Act, would attempt to address the surge at the Southwest border by redefining undocumented alien children (UAC). Unfortunately, in doing so, it actually expands the definition to include all children who cross the border without a parent or legal guardian. Under current law, a UAC must not have a parent or legal guardian inside the U.S. Therefore, such an expansion would place an enormous number of children who were otherwise ineligible through the UAC process.

S. 2611, the Helping Unaccompanied Minors and Alleviating National Emergency (HUMANE) Act, would address the surge of unaccompanied alien children (UACs) on the Southwest border, but would actually make the situation much worse. Though the distinction between UACs from Mexico and other countries is removed, it exposes all of them to a complicated process which would further delay returning the children to their countries of origin.

S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, was a massive immigration reform bill, introduced by the 'Gang of 8' that would result in approximately 30 million new permanent work permits issued in the first 10 years if passed. The bill would grant legal status and worker permits to an estimated 11 million illegal aliens with an opportunity for green cards after 10 years and replace some family-based immigration categories with a merit-based points system.