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List of Rejected Amendments that Could Have Improved the Gang of Eight Amnesty Bill

May 23, 2013 By 4 Comments

On May 9, 2013, the Senate Judiciary Committee began amending (“marking up”) S. 744, the 844-page Senate Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform legislation. Three hundred amendments and five days of hearings later, the Senate Judiciary Committee concluded its markup, passing the legislation out of committee 13-5 and sending it to the Senate floor for debate. Rather than improving the legislation, the markup only made the bill worse, doing nothing to secure our porous borders and making it even easier for illegal aliens to gain citizenship.

Below is a list of key amendments offered during the hearing that would have improved the bill, but were ultimately rejected.

Title I

Cornyn 1: Revises border security provisions to:

  1. require DHS and the Comptroller General to determine the borders are secure before permitting illegal aliens amnestied (receiving “registered provisional immigrant” status) to receive a green card;
  2. require DHS to achieve 90% apprehension rate along all border sectors;
  3. require DHS to develop and utilize new and improved border metrics;
  4. authorize the border commission created under the bill to act as an advisory panel to the Secretary of DHS immediately following enactment (rather than taking over in 5 years if Secretary fails to meet goals); and
  5. require DHS to develop a plan to decrease wait times at ports of entry, including by requiring the addition of 10,000 CBP officers, no less than 5,000 of which are mandated to be border patrol officers.

Cruz 1: Prevents illegal aliens from obtaining amnesty until the DHS Secretary:

  1. triples the number of border patrol agents along the Southern border;
  2. quadruples the number of drones, cameras, helicopters, and other equipment along the border;
  3. completes the remainder of the border fence as mandated by the Secure Fence Act of 2006;
  4. develops real-time information sharing w/ the DOH and all federal law enforcement agencies;
  5. completes and fully implements the biometric US-VISIT entry-exit system; and
  6. establishes operational control over 100% of the Southern border. If the DHS Secretary fails to substantially comply w/ all requirements w/in 3 years, the Department’s political appointees’ salaries will be cut by 20 percent and given in the form of block grants to Southern border states.

Grassley 4: Requires DHS Secretary to submit to Congress certification that the Southern border has been under “effective control” for at least 6 months before the Secretary can begin processing applications for amnesty (“registered provisional immigrant” status). Requires the 90% apprehension rate goal be met in all border sectors, not just those deemed “high risk.”

Lee 4: Requires the House of Representatives to vote to determine whether the DHS Secretary has achieved the goals in the Secretary’s border security and fencing plans before the Secretary can process applications for illegal aliens to gain amnesty (“registered provisional immigrant” status) or a subsequent green card.

Sessions 4: Requires the use of a biometric entry-exit system at all ports of entry before the DHS Secretary may adjust the status of RPIs to LPRs.

Sessions 9: Requires the completion of a double-layered border fence along the Southern border, replacing the DHS Secretary’s optional border fencing strategy.

Sessions 11: Ensures that “effective control” of the border encompasses all unlawful entries into the U.S., using the definition of operational control as under the Secure Fence Act of 2006.

Title II

Cruz 2: Prohibits aliens from receiving Federal, State, or local means-tested benefits while not in lawful status.

Cruz 3: Prohibits amnestied illegal aliens from receiving U.S. citizenship.

Lee 8: Prohibits absconders or illegal aliens attempting to reenter after receiving a deportation order from qualifying for RPI status.

Lee 10: Requires illegal aliens pay all back taxes, penalties, and fines before eligible for RPI status.

Lee 12: Prohibits the use of sworn affidavits for employment verification for RPIs seeking to adjust to LPR status.

Sessions 30: Amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit the additional child tax credit to citizens and LPRs.

Title III

Grassley 29: Requires all businesses regardless of size to use the electronic employment authorization system to verify work eligibility of new hires w/in 18 months of enactment.

Grassley 35: Allows state and local E-Verify laws to stay in place until the program is implemented and used nationwide.

Grassley 43: Makes it more difficult for criminal street gang members to gain amnesty; strips DHS Secretary of the authority granted to her to waive gang members into the amnesty.

Grassley 47: Strikes provision from bill making it more difficult to detain criminal aliens.

Grassley 52: Prevents certain changes to the asylum program from taking effect until the Director of National Intelligence submits to Congress a report on the U.S. Government’s handling of the Boston Marathon bombings, including the intelligence and immigration failures leading up to the attack. The changes put on hold include the provision eliminating the requirement those seeking asylum declare their intent to file w/in 1-yr of arriving the United States.

Sessions 31: Amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit the Earned Income Tax Credit to U.S. citizens and LPRs.

Sessions 32: Among other things, affirms in Fed law that state and local law enforcement have inherent authority to assist in the enforcement of fed immigration law.

Title IV

Grassley 56: Strikes the provision waiving for “low-risk” applicants the requirement under current law that all individuals (with the exception of those below age 14 and above age 79) seeking a visa be subject to an in-person interview.

Grassley 60: Requires all employers using H-1Bs (instead of only H-1B-dependent employers) to attest that they made good faith efforts to recruit U.S. workers first.

Grassley 67: Requires annual audits of one percent of employers employing H-1B and L-nonimmigrant workers.

Grassley Second Degree #1 to Hatch-Schumer Second Degree to Hatch 10: Requires all employers make a good-faith attempt to recruit U.S. workers before using H-1Bs.

Sessions 1: Among other things, revises the immigrant visa system and caps the number of green cards per year at 1.2 million. Caps the number of nonimmigrant visas at 1 million per year with 169,000 guaranteed to go to certain nonimmigrant categories.

Sessions 6: States changes made to the Visa Waiver Program (use of visa overstay rate to determine Visa Waiver Program eligibility) under bill would not take effect until the biometric entry-exit system is fully implemented.

Filed Under: Amnesty 2013, Border, Jobs, Law, National, Politics, Population, Society

Senate Judiciary Committee Rejects Effort to Stop Gang Members from Being Amnestied

May 20, 2013 By 11 Comments

An amendment presented by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) (#43) that would have made it more difficult for gang members to obtain amnesty, was voted down along party lines during today’s Senate Judiciary Committee mark-up of the Gang of Eight amnesty bill.

The Gang of Eight bill (S. 744) allows an illegal alien who is a convicted member of a criminal street gang to be eligible for amnesty if he renounces his gang affiliation. A renunciation is not needed for gang members under 18. (See FAIR’s Analysis of the Gang Provisions in the Senate Amnesty Bill) The Grassley amendment would have stricken this section and changed the standards of admissibility relating to aliens in criminal gangs by making it harder for those aliens to be eligible for admissibility or RPI status. It also would have switched the burden of proof from the Secretary of Homeland Security to the alien.

The amendment stated that an alien is inadmissible if they are a member of a criminal street gang unless the alien could demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the alien did not know and could not have known that the organization was a criminal street gang. The amendment used this same standard for determining whether an alien would have been deportable for being in a criminal street gang and for determining whether the alien would have been eligible for RPI status.

You can view the list of amendments being debated today on the Senate Judiciary Committee Website.

Filed Under: Amnesty 2013, Crime, Law, National, Politics, Population, Society

Lax Border Security Provisions Remain in Gang of Eight Bill

May 15, 2013 By 4 Comments

Despite committing to be open to improving their bill, Members of the Senate Gang of Eight on the Judiciary Committee rejected a multitude of amendments intended to strengthen the bill’s border security provisions.

At the Senate Judiciary Committee’s markup hearing Thursday to address the “border security” provisions (Title I) of the Gang of Eight amnesty bill, the two Republican Gang of Eight Members — Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) — consistently voted with the Committee’s 10 Democrats to block changes to the bill’s core “border security” provisions. As a result, the Committee failed to pass any meaningful reforms to the Gang’s nearly 900-page bill.

The only positive amendment adopted by the Committee was an amendment by Ranking Member Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to require the 90% apprehension rate goal outlined in the legislation to apply to all border sectors instead of just “high risk” sectors. (See Grassley Amdt. #1) As introduced, the Gang of Eight bill requires DHS to achieve a 90% apprehension rate at the U.S.-Mexico border, but only in “high risk” border sectors. The bill defines “high risk” as sectors in which border patrol agents catch 30,000 or more unlawful entrants per year. Sen. Grassley’s amendment struck all mention of “high-risk” sectors from the bill.

True immigration reformers offered numerous other amendments, but those failed. For example, Sen. Grassley offered an amendment that required that the border be under “effective control” for at least six months before DHS could process amnesty applications. Similarly, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) offered an amendment that: (1) required the border be secured before an amnesty could take place, (2) tripled the number of border patrol agents, (3) quadrupled the number of drones and cameras, (4) completed the border fence, and (5) implemented the biometric entry-exit system (US-VISIT). Sen. Lee introduced an amendment requiring Congress to certify the border as secured before any illegal aliens could be amnestied.

To view a listing of all of Thursday’s amendments, click here. The Senate Judiciary Committee continued amending the bill Tuesday at 10 a.m.

Filed Under: Amnesty 2013, Border, Law, Politics, Population, Society

DHS Sends Incomplete, Delayed Response to Congressman Collins’ Inquiry

May 14, 2013 By 2 Comments

On March 7, Congressman Doug Collins (R-GA) along with four other Republican Members of the Georgia delegation, Reps. Lynn Westmoreland, Phil Gingrey, Tom Graves, and Paul Broun, sent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano a letter demanding answers about the Department’s decision to release detained illegal aliens supposedly for budgetary reasons. The letter included eight specific questions the Congressmen wanted answered and requested a reply by the end of March.

On May 7, DHS finally got around to replying—over one month late. Remarkably, the response failed to answer any of the questions the Georgia Republicans sought answers about.

For example, the Georgia Republicans asked “How many illegal aliens were released in Georgia and how many have criminal convictions? What are the specific crimes committed by the illegal aliens released in Georgia?” Nothing in the DHS response mentioned anything about Georgia. Rather, the response addressed the amount of illegal aliens released throughout the country (2,226) and the number with “identified” criminal convictions (622).

However, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on March 20 that “Federal immigration authorities confirmed Wednesday they have put 28 illegal immigrants back behind bars in Georgia and other states after releasing them and 2,200 others because of federal spending cuts.”

Although DHS continues to deceive the American public about the politically motivated decision to release illegal aliens, Congressman Collins has vowed to continue fighting to hold the Department accountable.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s coverage of the issue is available here (including the Georgia delegation’s March 7 letter and the DHS reply).

Filed Under: Amnesty 2013, Border, Crime, Law, Politics, Population, Society

Health and Human Services Unprepared for Immigration Reform Impact

May 8, 2013 By 1 Comment

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testified that HHS has its “hands full” with implementing Obamacare and is unprepared for the Senate “comprehensive” immigration reform bill’s impact on health insurance costs. (PJ Media, Apr. 12, 2013)

During a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on April 12, Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-TX) asked Sebelius, “Has HHS made any preparation for how to meet the added cost of providing care for the potential 10 or 12 million [illegal aliens] that might gain permanent resident status under any kind of an immigration bill?” (Id.) “Sir, we don’t do anything about what the Congress may or may not do in the future. No sir,” replied Sebelius. (Id.) “So, there’s been no preparation made whatsoever for that large group of people,” pressed Marchant. (Id.) Sebelius declared, “We are working with the law as it is right now and, believe me, have our hands full to try and make sure that the law of the land is carried out.” (Id.)

Under the Gang of Eight’s bill, amnestied illegal aliens can adjust to legal permanent resident status in 10 years, at which point they become eligible for Obamacare. (See FAIR S. 744 Amnesty Summary) And, illegal aliens who qualify for amnesty through the DREAM Act or as agricultural workers can apply for green cards in only five years. (Id.) The Republican staff of the Senate Budget Committee estimates that the long-term cost of amnesty could cost taxpayers trillions of dollars. (See FAIR Legislative Update, Apr. 15, 2013)

 

Filed Under: Amnesty 2013, Law, Politics, Population, Society

Senate Continues to Examine Amnesty Bill, Begins Amending Legislation Thursday

May 7, 2013 By 1 Comment

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has allowed additional hearings on S. 744, the Gang of Eight’s “comprehensive immigration reform” bill. First, the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on the border security provisions in the bill Tuesday, May 7 at 10:30 a.m., and will feature five witnesses from the Department of Homeland Security.  (See HSGAC Committee Website) The other hearing will be held by the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Wednesday, May 8 at 2:30 p.m. entitled “The Role of Immigrants in America’s Innovation Economy.” (See Commerce, Science, and Transportation Website) That hearing will focus on “implications for the U.S. technology sector and universities offering science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degrees,” and is expected to be used to shore up support for the legislation’s provisions increasing the number of H-1B visas and STEM green cards.

Despite the addition of these two last-minute hearings, the Judiciary Committee still intends to begin amending the roughly 850-page bill the morning of Thursday, May 9 at 9:30 a.m.  (See Senate Judiciary Committee Website) Stay tuned to FAIR for details….

Filed Under: Amnesty 2013, Law, Politics, Population, Society
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