Immigration Bills

H.R. 5114, 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.

H.R. 15, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, was a massive immigration reform bill, introduced by Rep. Joe Garcia (D-Fla.) and was the House companion to the Gang of 8's S. 744. H.R. 15 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.

H.R. 463 would improve the U-Visa program through various adjustments to the existing system. First, the program is limited so that only spouses and children of U-Visa holders may accompany to join the recipient of the U-Visa. In order to prevent abuse of the system, the list of crimes that create U-Visa eligibility is limited to actual completed crimes. In other words, attempt, conspiracy, and solicitation to commit one of the crimes listed have been removed.

S. 1202, the Refugee Protection Act, would eliminate the 1-year application deadline for asylum, thus allowing more opportunities to enter in the United States. In addition, it would waive the inadmissibility ban for certain terrorist activities and would require new detention facilities to be located within 50 miles of a major city. Furthermore, it would expedite and make the overall process for asylum seekers more comfortable by providing them with full medical care, housing, legal representation, toiletries, medication, long distance phone calls, and translators.

The bill would require the President to submit plans to Congress to accelerate the processing of Iraqi nationals’ petitions for refugee status, as well as the operation of the special immigrant visa program for Iraqi and Afghan translators; would require the President to submit to Congress legislative proposals to facilitate greater “acceptance by,” “relocation,” or “absorption into” the United States of Iraqis seeking admission into, or resettlement in, the United States due to a well-founded fear of persecution on account of employment by, or assistance to, the United States or other coal