A bill making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2014, and for other purposes. The bill would give Pres. Obama more than $2 billion to address the border surge crisis.
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. 1943, the IN-STATE for Dreamers Act, would provide $750 million in grants over a 10-year period for States that provide in-State tuition and financial assistance to “Dreamer students.” Though the fundamental requirements are that the alien student initially entered prior to age 16 and can provide a list of secondary schools attended in the U.S., those two requirements shall be waived for those who demonstrate compelling circumstances for an inability to comply.
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.