Legislation

Legislation

Early Concerns With Senate Immigration Bill

Early Concerns With Senate Immigration Bill

The “Gang of Eight” officially introduced their comprehensive immigration reform bill—the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act—in the Senate today, capping off months of negotiations to craft a bipartisan solution. As many have said, it is not a perfect bill, but it is a good compromise that will go far in an attempt to fix our broken immigration system. Read More

Senate Immigration Bill Has Arrived!

Senate Immigration Bill Has Arrived!

The Senate’s “Gang of Eight” has introduced the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act” in the 113th Congress.  The bill is 844 pages long and will no doubt invite weeks of debate on many of its provisions. The bill is the culmination of months of work… Read More

Senate Immigration Bill Has Arrived!

Senate Immigration Bill Has Arrived!

Senate Immigration Bill Has Arrived!

Senate Immigration Bill Has Arrived!

The Senate’s “Gang of Eight” has introduced the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act” in the 113th Congress.  The bill is 844 pages long and will no doubt invite weeks of debate on many of its provisions. The bill is the culmination of months of work… Read More

Details Begin to Emerge on New Immigration Bill

Details Begin to Emerge on New Immigration Bill

Ahead of the expected release of a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the Senate this week, details were released outlining the broad strokes of the bill. The “Gang of Eight”—a bipartisan group of senators who have been working to develop the proposal—delayed a press conference that had been planned for today about the bill out of respect for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. The Senate group could announce the final measure tomorrow Read More

Senators Close To Introducing Immigration Reform Bill

Senators Close To Introducing Immigration Reform Bill

After months of negotiations, the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” is ready to introduce the Senate immigration reform bill this week. Details about the measure—like the billions it would earmark for border security and the new visa program it would create based on work skills—have been leaking ahead of an expected announcement. And the proposal would create a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants who already are living in the United States. Read More

The Charismatic Leaders Behind Immigration Reform

The Charismatic Leaders Behind Immigration Reform

The tens of thousands of people who gathered Wednesday in front of the Capitol to rally for comprehensive immigration reform had two clear messages for Congress: reform must include a direct path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States, and “The Time Is Now.” Read More

Despite Governor's Best Efforts, New Mexico Keeps Driver's Licenses for the Undocumented

Despite Governor’s Best Efforts, New Mexico Keeps Driver’s Licenses for the Undocumented

By Joan Friedland, Senior Advisor to the National Immigration Law Center. New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez has failed in her fourth attempt to persuade the New Mexico legislature to repeal the state’s driver’s license law.  The law, in effect since 2003, provides access to driver’s licenses for eligible applicants, regardless of their immigration status.  This year’s legislative session ended in New Mexico on March 16, after the House and Senate committees considered and rejected driver’s license restrictions. Read More

Labor and Business Strike Immigration Deal on Worker Program

Labor and Business Strike Immigration Deal on Worker Program

Over the weekend, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO reached an agreement on  a new type of  immigrant worker program that has the potential to reshape the way temporary and permanent immigration visas contribute to American immigration policy. Although this is commonly referred to as future immigration flow, it should not be confused with other debates over increasing visas for high skilled workers or increasing employment based green cards. Instead, the agreement represents an attempt to reshape how business and labor will deal with the incredibly complex issues that are part of filling the demand for less-skilled labor in the United States. In the short term, it sets up a series of concepts that both sides would be willing to support in comprehensive immigration reform—but the Gang of Eight still has to convert those concepts into workable legislation. Read More

Facebook Founder “Likes” Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Facebook Founder “Likes” Comprehensive Immigration Reform

While immigration reform has long been important to Silicon Valley, for the most part the advocacy has focused on high tech issues such as expanded immigration for workers in science and technology fields and increased access to H-1B temporary visas.  The breadth of support for more comprehensive reform, however, has been growing, as it becomes increasingly clear that issues like family-based immigration, enforcement, training the next generation of Americans for the next generation of jobs, and a pathway to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants are actually deeply connected.  Read More

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