Immigration Bills

S. 653, Secure Travel and Counterterrorism Partnership Act, 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) if the country has acceptable travel security measures and assists the U.S. in the War on Terror. It would require DHS to develop a system that collects basic biographical information and flight information of aliens traveling to the U.S.

The bill 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

S.Con.Res. 11 would have required free trade agreements (FTA) to meet certain minimum standards, including that an FTA may not make any commitments as to the temporary entry of workers.

H.R. 939 would authorize the Department of Homeland Security to request that the Defense Department assign regular or reserve components of the military to assist Customs and Border Protection and ICE agents in certain border protection functions, including preventing the entry of illegal aliens into the country.

The bill would require the IRS to notify DHS if: (1) an employee uses an Individual Tax
Identification Number (ITIN) in place of a Social Security number to report employment
earnings; and (2) the ITIN indicates that the employee is not authorized to work in the
United States (ITINs are issued to individuals – regardless of immigration status – who are
required to have a U.S. taxpayer identification number but who do not have, and are not
eligible to obtain, a Social Security Number);