Recognizing the three-year anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which permits young people who were brought to the United States by their parents as children to remain temporarily in the United States and make meaningful contributions to our country.
H.R. 2798, the Strengthening Refugee Resettlement Act, would automatically make all refugees and asylees green card holders, likely increasing the amount of fraud that already exists within the program.
H.R.2758 would exempt a foreign worker who has held a H-2B non-agricultural guest worker visa over the previous three years from the current H-2B annual caps. This bill would likely triple the number of H-2B visas issued to foreign workers each year.
H.R. 2588, the Better Agriculture Resources Now (BARN) Act, would would expand the industries that can currently access the H-2A guest worker visa program and would eliminate the 50% rule that requires an employer to replace an H-2A guest worker with a qualified American worker if one applies and less than 50% of the work has been completed. The bill also shifts administration of the H-2A visa program from the Department of Labor to the Department of Agriculture.
H.R. 2367, the Opportunity for Military Academies and Readiness Act, would allow illegal aliens to be appointed to military academies then become commissioned officers upon graduation and receive a green card. The bill would grant amnesty to an estimated 100 illegal aliens each year.
H.R. 2181, the STAPLE Act, would issue green cards (exempt from existing numerical limitations thereby increasing legal immigration) to foreign citizens who graduate from a U.S. institution with a Ph.D. in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) and are offered employment by a U.S. company. The bill would also exempt these same foreign workers from the H-1B visa numerical limits.
H.R. 2095, the American Families United Act, would grant amnesty to an estimated 5 million illegal aliens by allowing the illegal-alien parents of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents to apply for a waiver from the 3-year and 10-year bars. The bill also authorizes judges to decline to order an alien removed, deported, or excluded and terminate related proceedings or grant permission to reapply for admission or for relief from removal where it would result in a separation hardship for the family.
Making appropriations for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016, and for other purposes. The legislation included provisions that would potentially quadruple the H-2B program for FY2016 and increase refugee resettlement by 21%.
H.R. 1989, the Encourage New Legalized Immigrants to Start Training (ENLIST) Act, would provide amnesty in the form of conditional legal permanent residence to aliens who enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces. Eligible aliens must have been unlawfully present in the U.S. prior to 2012, continuously present in the U.S. since that date, younger than 15 upon initial entry, and otherwise eligible for enlistment. That conditional status is rescinded if the alien separates from the Armed Forces prior to completing the term of enlistment for anything other than honorable conditions.
H.R.1959, the College Options for DREAMers Act, would provide in-state tuition to illegal aliens who would qualify for the DREAM Act.