Immigration Bills

S. 3217, the Startup Act 2.0, would would create 50,000 new STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) work visas for foreign students who graduate from a U.S. college with a master's degree or a Ph.D each year. The foreign students automatically earn 1-year work visa upon graduation and earn an additional 4-years if they are "actively engaged" at the end of the first year. At the end of the 5 year period, the foreign workers will be able for legal permanent worker status.

S. 3185, the Securing the Talent America Requires for the 21st Century Act (STAR) Act, would increase the number of high skilled STEM workers by 55,000 by eliminating the visa lottery. The bill also allows unused green cards allotted for STEM fields to be used in subsequent years. Furthermore, STEM master's degree holders can compete with U.S. workers immediately and receive a green card as soon as they are hired and Ph.D. holders receive a green card immediately.

The bill would require each state and their local law enforcement agencies to collect and report all immigration and DWI-related information as a prerequisite for receiving State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP, a program that provides assistance to states for the incarceration of illegal aliens) funding. DWI-related information would then appear as a flag on the wants/warrants page of the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.

The bill would close certain loopholes exploited by companies who use H-2B unskilled labor visas instead of recruiting from the existing workforce. Specifically, it would require the Department of Labor to certify that prospective H-2B employers conduct a robust recruitment drive to find available United States workers, including advertising at job fairs, advertising with state and local recruitment agencies and nonprofit organizations, and advertising on local radio and the Internet.

The bill would amnesty certain illegal aliens under the pretense of increasing military readiness. More specifically, it would authorize the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to cancel removal proceedings for certain illegal aliens and adjust their standing to conditional lawful permanent resident (LPR) status for six years if they lived in the United States for five continuous years before the bill’s enactment.