On Thursday, April 29th, six Senate Democrats held a press conference at which they released an outline for proposed comprehensive immigration reform legislation. Ostensibly, the purpose of the outline was to attract Republican support for the legislation. That seems highly unlikely in the partisan atmosphere of Washington.

The outline is broken into six separate components:

·         Border enforcement

·         Interior enforcement

·         Biometric ID and employment verification

·         Legal immigration reform

·         Legalization

·         Miscellaneous

The border and interior enforcement provisions, while very much needed, are clearly set forth first so that the proposed legislation will be perceived as an attempt to fix the problem of illegal immigration. Under these proposals, border security would be strengthened and interior enforcement would be stepped up considerably. New detention centers would be built to house those arrested and new immigration courts would be established to speed the removal process.

Customs and Border Protection would begin monitoring both the entry and exit of nonresident foreign nationals. Presently, only entries are controlled. Under the new proposal, exits would be matched up with entries to determine whether someone has overstayed their authorized period of admission. Those people would then be targeted for visits by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Perhaps the centerpiece of the new enforcement strategy is the proposed biometric Social Security card. Over the next several years, everyone in the United States would be required to obtain a new fraud resistant Social Security card that contains biometric identifiers. Once these cards are in place, all employers would be required to see them before hiring new workers or keeping existing workers on payroll. Employers that fail to use the new system would face severe penalties.

The idea behind this proposal would be to dry up the jobs market for illegals in the United States by punishing employers who hire people that do not have lawful employment authorization. The new cards would be required for anyone working in the U.S., not just foreign nationals.

In summary, the new anti-illegal alien strategy will involve:

·         strengthening border security to make it harder to enter without inspection;

·         stepping up interior enforcement by, among other things, tracking the entries and exits of foreign nationals and promptly visiting those who fail to leave on time;

·         expanding the resources necessary to arrest, detain, and remove illegals and overstays expeditiously.

With the exception of the biometric Social Security card, opposed by civil libertarians as a "national ID card", these proposals are largely non-controversial and widely supported.

The outline is vague with respect to legal immigration reform. One provision would recapture visas lost through bureaucratic malfeasance over the last few years. This would make most employment based categories "current" immediately.

The authors explain that they propose to eliminate the current family based immigration backlog within eight years. Were this to become law, all of those with family based preference priority dates on or before the date of enactment could reasonably expect to see their priority dates become current within eight years. In that the family based fourth preference category for the Philippines has a twenty three year backlog, and the family based "2B" category for Mexico is backlogged eighteen years at the present time, this represents a significant backlog reduction.

The proposal would also change the classification of spouses and unmarried minor children of lawful permanent relatives from preference immigrant (subject to the quota) to "immediate relatives" (exempt from the quota).

It would also raise the family based single state limit from 7 percent to 10 percent of the worldwide family based quota.

On the employment based side, there are proposals for "highly skilled" and "lower skilled" immigration reform.

First, the authors propose to eliminate the current single state limit. Following this, there will only be one set of worldwide dates for employment based categories in the Visa Bulletin each month.

Among the "highly skilled" reforms, the authors propose to include a direct path to permanent residence for advanced degree graduates of US colleges and universities who hold degrees in science, technology, engineering or math, and who have a specific job offer from a US employer for work relating to their degree. These applicants would be able to file for adjustment of status directly without the need for a labor certification.

The authors are a bit vague about this, but it appears that they propose to implement the "commission" idea that has been soundly rejected in the past. This would involve the creation of a commission that would monitor the requirements of US businesses and establish two year employment based immigration programs that would have to then be voted upon by Congress before being implemented. Thus, if there is a shortage in a particular area, the commission would have to recognize this fact, recommend a solution, and let Congress vote on it. This is an unwieldy, unrealistic program that would be a disaster if implemented. You can count on the business community to oppose this idea and do everything possible to block it.

The authors also propose to implement the highly restrictive H and L visa "reforms" proposed by Senators Grassley and Durbin last year. Among other things, this would prevent a company with 50 or more employees from hiring H1B workers in numbers that would exceed 50% of the company's workforce. It would also subject all employers to the current requirements that are only imposed on H1B dependent employers, while eliminating the current exemptions for employees who have a masters degree or who earn more than $60,000 per year. L1B employees would be admitted for only a year at a time and would be subject to much closer scrutiny.

For "lower skilled workers" the authors propose to incorporate the AGJOBS bill. They would also reform the H2B program by requiring US employers to train US workers for the jobs that they propose to fill using foreign nationals.

Interestingly, they are proposing a new three year H2C visa, with the possibility of a three year renewal. These workers would have job portability and would be able to apply for immigrant status. The number of visas would depend upon the unemployment rate.

The legalization program appears to be similar to the one proposed in the 2007 legislation. They authors are vague about the precise requirements. The proposal would require that all applicants for legalization immediately register with the government. That is, everyone who believes that they are eligible for legalization must, as a precondition for further relief, file a formal registration with the government shortly after this legislation take effect. Failure to register will render individuals ineligible to apply for legalization later.

To complete the legalization process, individual applicants will have to pay filing fees, file and pay all back taxes that are owing, take classes in English and US history and institutions, and establish good moral character. A single felony conviction or three misdemeanor convictions will render an applicant ineligible for legalization. Those who pass the initial screening will receive LPI (lawful prospective immigrant) status. They will receive employment authorization and permission to remain lawfully in the US. They will also be able to bring their spouses and unmarried minor children after they receive LPI status.

Anyone who is in lawful status or who enters the US unlawfully after the bill is introduced in Congress will not be eligible to apply for legalization.

The bill will incorporate the DREAM Act that has been considered previously.

After the current visa backlogs are cleared, in approximately eight years, LPIs may begin filing for lawful permanent resident status. To do this, they must show that all tax debts have been paid, that they have lived in the US continuously, that they have not been convicted, at any time in the past, of one felony or three misdemeanors, and that they have registered for Selective Service.

The final part of the proposal deals with a number of housekeeping provisions, such as making the R visa permanent, making the Conrad 30 J visa program permanent, allowing Irish citizens to apply for E3 visas, and similar provisions.