Legislation
What to Expect Now That Congress Is Back
Congress returned to work this week after a six week recess. While September promises to be a busy month for lawmakers, it is unlikely that immigration reform will be high on their “to do” list. Nonetheless, immigration policy will be affected by any congressional action (or inaction) on spending bills… Read More
Time for Congress to Go Back to Bi-Partisan Comprehensive Solutions to Immigration
Washington D.C. – Today, the Senate rejected the motion to proceed on Senator David Vitter’s (R-LA) “Stop Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act” (S. 2146). This bill is an enforcement-only approach to immigration and would punish cities and states that adopt community policing policies that work to make communities safer and… Read More
Out of Sync: New Temporary Worker Proposals Unlikely to Meet U.S. Labor Needs
The temporary worker program now taking shape in Congress is unlikely to provide the U.S. economy with the numbers or kinds of workers that U.S. industries need. Read More
Senate Rejects Two Anti-Immigrant Bills Before It Goes out on Recess
This week, the Senate defeated cloture on motions to proceed—a motion to begin debate—on two “Sanctuary City” bills sponsored by Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). Both bills take an enforcement-only approach to immigration reform and fail to address the nation’s outdated immigration laws or the need… Read More
Comparing the House and Senate Plans to Fund Immigration Agencies
The House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committees unveiled and passed out of committee their budgets for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which begins on October 1, 2016. Although the House and Senate have proposed funding some of the requests made by the President in… Read More
Why California’s Bill Allowing Undocumented Immigrants to Purchase Health Insurance is Good Policy
Governor Jerry Brown of California signed a historic law which could make his state the first to allow undocumented immigrants to purchase health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. SB10 directs the state to negotiate a waiver with the federal government to allow this population to purchase insurance on the… Read More
House Judiciary Marks Up Criticized Visa Security Act
This week, the House Judiciary Committee marked up and passed bill H.R. 5203, the Visa Integrity and Security Act of 2016 (VISA Act). The stated goal of the legislation introduced by Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA) is to enhance the security procedures for the processing of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas. Some… Read More
The American Immigration Council Welcomes Bi-Partisan Senate Immigration Bill
Washington D.C. – The American Immigration Council applauds the “Gang of Eight” Senators who have introduced the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act.” The Senators and their staff have been working tirelessly, for months, to create a bi-partisan solution that attempts to fix our broken… Read More
Senators Introduce Bill to Provide Children in Immigration Proceedings a Lawyer
Every day children, some as young as toddlers, are sent into immigration courts all around the country. They can be asked to make their own immigration cases before a judge, often while a government attorney argues that they should be deported. This is because the government maintains there is no… Read More
Is It Time to Change our Cuban Immigration Policy?
In December of 2014, President Obama restored full diplomatic relations with Cuba and, for the first time since 1961, opened an embassy in Havana. Many believe that normalizing relations with Cuba may prompt Congress to change the current laws regarding the treatment of Cuban migrants. Perhaps in anticipation of… Read More
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