News

Once again, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) asked for unanimous consent from the Senate this week to pass the Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act, S. 386 in the Senate and H.R. 1044 in the House, that would lift per-country caps for employment-based green cards, but Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) objected. Sen. Durbin used his objection to introduce new legislation, the RELIEF Act, which would substantially increase the number of green cards issued each year, including clear the existing backlog of employment-based green cards over five years.

The House of Representatives blocked passage of H.R. 549 -- a bill to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to illegal aliens from Venezuela -- on Tuesday. House Leadership attempted to pass the bill under suspension of the rules, meaning it would bypass regular House order. But to do so, the bill would need to receive support from at least two-thirds of the House. While the bill received more votes than a simple majority, 268-to-154, it fell short of the two-thirds threshold.

The House of Representatives passed a mass amnesty bill on Tuesday evening, H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act, that would grant lifetime work permits to approximately 3.5 million illegal aliens who claim that they entered the country under the age of 18 and meet certain other conditions and to approximately 450,000 foreign citizens (mostly illegal aliens) whose countries have been given Temporary Protected Status (TPS).