By Guy Smith and Aishatu Yusuf, USCM intern
May 21, 2007

Key Provisions in the Proposal The proposed immigration bill would: Let an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants who arrive before Jan 1, 2007 apply for legal status; Allow illegal immigrants to seek citizenship if they pay back taxes and 5,000 in fines, have no criminal record and return to their home country within eight years to apply for re-entry; Permit an additional 400,000 foreign workers to take temporary jobs; and Establish new criteria for legal immigration that would increase the number of foreign high-skilled immigrants and reduce the percentage of green cards for family sponsored immigrants Note: Tougher security measures, including a system to verify the legal status of new hires must be in place for the rest of the bill to take effect. The department of Homeland Security estimates this would take ten months.

The Senate begins floor debate May 21 on a bipartisan deal announced May 17 between the Senate and the Bush administration on a massive overhaul of the nation’s immigration system

The proposed legislation represents a break-through in President Bush’s resolve to enact a key piece of his domestic legacy.

Senators from both parties and their staff have been working the past three months negotiating the complex legislation, which varies in some respects to last year’s Senate-passed bill, engineered by Senators Ted Kennedy (MA) and John McCain (AZ).

This year, Kennedy worked with his GOP counterpart John Kyle (AZ), and Bush cabinet members Homeland Security Department Head Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, to craft the new version of the bill that would give an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants currently in the U.S. an opportunity to stay in the county legally and, at the same time, create a new system for future immigration.

The complex brokered deal, 380 pages, was completed before last weekend, giving Senators a chance to preview the draft before debate begins May 21.

Under the proposal, people who immigrated to the county illegally before January 1, 2007 could apply for provisional legal status when the bill takes effect. They can eventually become citizens if they have no prior criminal record, pay back taxes and a fine of $5,000 per household. They would also need to know English and return to their native counties to reapply for guaranteed legal entry.

The bill would provide for more fencing and other security measures along the U.S.-Mexican border, and it would require employees to check all new hires against a government database to determine whether they can legally work in the USA.

In a historic shift, it also would eliminate some of the preferences given to adult children and siblings of U.S. citizens applying to immigrate and create a merit-based point system designed to promote immigration by workers whose skills are in demand in USA.

A new temporary worker program and an increase in the number of existing temporary work visas could raise the number of foreigner workers entering the USA each year, as many as 859,000, depending on market needs. That’s not including agricultural workers, a category that is not capped.

The legislation faces some serious obstacles before it passes the Senate. On the House side, various proposals have been introduced to deal with comprehensive immigration reform, and House Judiciary Committee hearings have been held but no concrete legislation has been advanced.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi, however, said she hopes she will have legislation approved by the August Congressional recess and floor debate is expected in July.

If the bill becomes law, the Senate proposal this year would be the most thorough version of immigration laws in 41 years.

Opposition to the Senate deal quickly organized. Immigrant advocacy groups, mostly Hispanic, expressed concern that the bill makes it more difficult for immigrants to bring relatives from abroad. Conservatives blasted Republican negotiators for endorsing what they said would give virtual amnesty to people who have broken the law.