Immigration Bills

H.R. 1199, Scott Gardner Act, would require DHS to share immigration information with the Department of Justice and submit a joint report to Congress about improving federal immigration databases. It would require each state and their local law enforcement agencies to collect and report all immigration and DWI-related information to receive State Criminal Alien Assistance Program funding. DWI-related information would then appear as a flag on the wants/warrants page of the National Crime Information Center database.

The bill would allocate appropriations and determine federal spending priorities for the remainder of the 2009 Fiscal Year.

H.R. 994, LEAVE Act, contains multiple provisions designed to help federal authorities enforce our immigration laws including mandatory employment verification, assistance by state and local law enforcement, additional ICE agents, secure identification measures, and preventing sanctuary cities from receiving federal funds. Click here to read more about this bill.

The bill would eliminate the extended family visa categories (e.g., married sons and daughters of citizens, etc.), thus ending “chain migration” as recommended by the bi-partisan Barbara Jordan Commission in 1997. Chain migration is the process where seemingly endless “chains” of foreign nationals are allowed to immigrate to the United States, since our laws allow citizens and lawful permanent residents to bring in their non-nuclear, adult family members. It is the primary mechanism that has caused legal immigration in this country to quadruple since the 1960s.

H.R. 662, Employee Verification Amendment Act of 2009, would reauthorize the E-Verify program for a period of 5 years. The E-Verify program allows businesses to determine the legal status of new hires and prevents illegal aliens from being hired, thus making the program an important tool in the Attrition through Enforcement anti-illegal immigration strategy.