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Senate Judiciary Committee Begins ‘Gang of Eight’ Immigration Bill Mark-Up

May 10, 2013 By 7 Comments

Yesterday, the 18 members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee began the process of reviewing and considering amendments to the Gang of Eight immigration bill (S. 744). Presided by Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), the members presented a total of 300 amendments. By the end of the day, all of the amendments to Title I of the bill pertaining to border security had been considered and the Committee will regroup on Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. to pick up where they left off. Below is a general summary of the amendments that were considered, provided by FAIR’s Government Relations team.

Senate Judiciary Committee Markup
May 9, 2013
S. 744—Title I

1.     Manager’s Amendment (note: all subsequent amendments herein are made to this revised version of S. 744)

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

b.     Adopted 14-4

2.     Prohibits border crossing fees for pedestrians or passenger vehicles at land ports of entry along both Northern and Southern borders. Prohibits the government from conducting any study relating to the imposition of such fee.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) (Amdt. #1)

b.     Adopted via voice vote

3.     Requires DHS Secretary to adhere to certain congressional reporting requirements, including submitting to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees the initial “Comprehensive Southern Border Security Strategy” and all subsequent reports on such;  and, reports on border effectiveness rates, surveillance, port of entry wait times, and allocations at ports of entry.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) (Amdt. #2)

b.     Adopted via voice vote

4.     Requires the DHS Chief Financial Officer and Inspector General to conduct annual audits of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Trust Fund.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) (Amdt. #5)

b.     Adopted via voice vote

5.     Expands the functions of the DHS Immigration Ombudsman to include providing assistance to individuals and families who have been the victims of crimes committed by aliens or violence near the border.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) (Amdt. #36)

b.     Adopted via voice vote

6.     Requires DHS Secretary to submit the “Comprehensive Southern Border Security Strategy” to the U.S. Comptroller General, and requires the Comptroller General to review annually the Secretary’s semiannual reports on such, as well as to submit an assessment of the status and progress of the Secretary’s Border Security Strategy.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) (Amdt. #2)

b.     Adopted via voice vote

7.     Increases the number of members on the DHS Border Oversight Task Force from 26 to 29 members by adding 1 private land owner representative from the Northern border region and 2 private land owner representatives from the Southern border region.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) (Amdt. #1)

b.     Adopted via voice vote

8.     Requires that grants to law enforcement agencies for Operation Stonegarden be allocated through a competitive grant process.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) (Amdt. #7)

b.     Adopted via voice vote

9.     Designates human trafficking a form of slavery and adds severe forms of such to the definition of “part 1 violent crimes” for purposes of Byrne grant funding.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) (Amdt. #6)

b.     Adopted via voice vote

10.  Requires CBP to acquire and deploy watercraft to provide support for border-related maritime anti-crime activities.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) (Amdt. #8)

b.     Adopted via voice vote

11.  Creates new DHS Ombudsman for Immigration Related Concerns to, among other things, receive and resolve complaints from individuals and employers over immigration matters involving the Department, to conduct inspections of detention facilities, and to determine whether an individual or employer is suffering or about to suffer an immediate threat of adverse action related to the administration of immigration laws. The Ombudsman also must also annually report objectives to Congress, and has the authority to request Inspector General inspections, investigations, and audits of DHS.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) (Amdt. #24)

b.     Adopted via voice vote

12.   Requires DHS Secretary to establish standards to provide children in the custody of CBP medical and mental health care, food, climate-appropriate clothing, personal hygiene products, and the ability to make supervised phone calls to family members.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) (Amdt. #6)

b.     Adopted via voice vote

13.  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.”

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) (Amdt. #4)

b.     Denied 6-12

14.  Increases overall funding for the bill, including the initial amount for the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Trust Fund from $6.5 billion to $8.3 billion.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) (Amdt. #2)

b.     Adopted 14-4

15.  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. 

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) (Amdt. #4)

b.     Denied 6-12

16.  Requires the bill’s goal of apprehending 90% of unlawful border crossers to apply to all border sectors, opposed to only “high risk” sectors.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) (Amdt. #1)

b.     Adopted via voice vote

17.  Requires the Inspector General for certain grant-receiving agencies to conduct annual audits and other accountability measures such as limiting conference expenses and prohibiting funds from going to nonprofits who maintain funds in offshore accounts to avoid taxes.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) (Amdt. #24)

b.     Adopted via voice vote

18.  Requires the federal government to reimburse state and local governments for the “clerical support” and “public defenders’ services” costs associated with the prosecution and pre-trial detention of federally-initiated immigration-related criminal cases.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) (Amdt. #9)

b.     Adopted via voice vote

19.  Strikes provision requiring: DHS Secretary (in consultation w/ DOJ) to issue use of force policies; ICE, CBP, and USCIS officers to report uses of force; and DHS to investigate, discipline, and review uses of force by officers.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) (Amdt. #37)

b.     Denied 7-11

20.  Limits DHS discretion in removing illegal aliens by requiring the DHS Secretary to certify to Congress the Department will not remove an alien to a location with a “dangerous lack of public order” or to a different sector through which the alien arrived (i.e. eliminates the “Alien Transfer Exit Program” (ATEP)).

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) (Amdt. #2)

b.     Withdrawn

21.  Prohibits the federal government from reimbursing state and local governments for costs associated w/ the prosecution or pre-trial detention of aliens if the Attorney General concludes there is reason to believe that law enforcement apprehended the alien using “unlawful conduct.”

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) (Amdt. #10)

b.     Adopted via voice vote

22.  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.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) (Amdt. #1)

b.     Denied 5-13

23.  Requires DHS when apprehending aliens to inquire “as soon as practicable” whether the alien is a parent, legal guardian, or primary caregiver of a child, or whether the alien is traveling with a spouse or child. Also requires officers to consider family unity, whether the alien has a child, or any other “humanitarian concern” when determining whether to repatriate or prosecute an illegal alien. Requires border patrol officers to undertake “family unity” and “child best interest” training.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) (Amdt. #23)

b.     Adopted 10-8

24.  Strikes provision specifying training requirements for DHS personnel issued by the DOJ Civil Rights Division.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) (Amdt. #38)

b.     Withdrawn

25.  Amends the definition of “Southwest Border Region” to within 25 miles of the Southern border from within 100 miles.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) (Amdt. #11)

b.     Withdrawn

26.  Authorizes/restores funding for states and local governments to be reimbursed for detaining “unknown” aliens and illegal aliens prior to conviction.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) (Amdt.  #1)

b.     Adopted 10-8

27.  Establishes grant program to be administered by Secretaries of Transportation and General Services Administration to construct transportation and supporting infrastructure improvements at existing and new international border crossings.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) (Amdt.  #10)

b.     Adopted via unanimous consent

28.  Requires DHS Secretary to explain any waivers of law when implementing the border fencing strategy, and states such waivers expire upon certification by the Secretary that the border fencing strategy is “substantially completed.” Requires if or when the DHS Secretary implements the border fencing strategy, to consult with the Secretaries of Interior, Agriculture, states, locals, tribes, and property owners to minimize the fence’s impact on the “environment, culture, commerce, and quality of life.” Adds new section stating that the DHS Secretary is not required to install fencing or infrastructure along the Southern border if the Secretary determines that the use or placement of such resources is not most appropriate method of achieving effective border control. Clarifies that nothing in the bill requires the construction of fencing along Northern border.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) (Amdt. #4)

b.     Adopted via voice vote

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

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) (Amdt. #9)

b.     Denied 6-12

30.  Revises border security provisions among other things 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.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) (Amdt. #1)

b.     Denied 6-12

31.  Increases the number of district court judges in Arizona, California, and Texas. Also amended to provide protections to “whistleblowers” (Sen. Grassley).

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) (Amdt. #2)

b.     Adopted via voice vote

32.  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.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) (Amdt. #11)

b.     Denied 6-12

33.  Requires DHS to decrease wait times at ports of entry, authorizes the hiring of an additional 5,000 border patrol officers, and allows for public and private cost-sharing and reimbursement agreements for the creation or maintenance of new or existing border facilities.

a.     Sponsor: Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) (Amdt. #2)

b.     Withdrawn

 

Filed Under: Amnesty 2013, Politics, Population, Society

Grassley – Amnesty Bill Delegates Too Much to DHS (Video)

May 10, 2013 By 7 Comments

During yesterday’s markup of S. 744, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said the bill was just like Obamacare – which contained 1,600 delegations of Congressional authority. S. 744 allows the DHS secretary to waive rules over 400 times, including in cases where criminals attempt to get amnesty. Watch the video of his remarks about delegation below.

In addition, the border security provisions of the bill are too dependent on the DHS secretary self-certifying that DHS is doing a good job of enforcing the border. Instead, Congress should be the one to make the final judgment on whether the border is secure. Despite these common-sense arguments, however, the Republican members of the Gang of Eight voted against common-sense fixes to the bill yesterday.

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

Work Document Verification; Tilting at Windmills

May 10, 2013 By 3 Comments

An article in Politico on May 9 focused on the Gang of 8’s proposal to expand verification of employment identity documents. Opposition was noted among proponents of the legislation as well as opponents. Libertarians are concerned that the bill will create a national database of all workers, employers are concerned that the system would be unwieldy especially for small businesses, and advocates for effective reforms are concerned that the Gang of 8 bill bends over backwards to weaken the effectiveness of the system.

The concern about a national database of workers is absurd because that system already exists in the requirement for all workers to be registered with the Social Security Administration (SSA). In fact, work eligibility verification relies on accessing the SSA database. The real concern with the bill should be that it discards the current E-Verify system in favor of some new, undefined system. The current system has been improved over the years since it was established under a 1996 legislative mandate. Opponents of the system – both employers who are potentially exposed as knowingly hiring illegal workers, and illegal alien defenders who don’t want job opportunities to be denied to their community – criticize it for having an “error” rate of one or two percent. But, what is termed an error is someone legally entitled to work who is initially not verified by the E-Verify check. Virtually all of these “errors” result from name changes at marriage or misspellings in the SSA database. They are not errors – they simply require correcting the database, which has to be done at some point before the worker can receive retirement benefits.

Rather than focusing on false issues of privacy or error rates, persons who want to see effective protection of jobs for legal workers should focus on the fact that S.744 is aiming to discard a working, effective system to be replaced with an undefined system that will be created by an administration that identifies with the defenders of illegal aliens.

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

The Other Big Winners in Gang of Eight Immigration Bill: Lawyers, Lobbyists and Advocacy Groups

May 9, 2013 By 5 Comments

Some of the interests that stand to gain the most from the Senate Gang of Eight immigration bill, S. 744, are obvious.
Within six months of enactment of the bill, millions of illegal aliens would be eligible for Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI) status – the first and most important step in the amnesty process. They would be granted permission to remain and work in the United States while they wait for green cards and eventual citizenship.

Also obvious winners in the 844-page bill are business interests that would gain easier access to foreign labor. S. 744 provides for significant increases in guest workers who would be made available to businesses, as well as new flows of low-skilled and skilled permanent immigrants.

But there are still others who would hit the jackpot if S. 744 were to become law: lawyers and an array of groups that advocate on behalf of illegal aliens. Click here to read my full op-ed in today’s Townhall.com.

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

Rubio is Wrong

May 9, 2013 By 15 Comments

Sen. Marco Rubio yesterday attacked the estimate by the Heritage Foundation that adoption of the Senate’s amnesty bill negotiated by the Gang of Eight would cost U.S. taxpayers $6.3 TRILLION over the next 50 years after subtracting tax receipts. He told the Tampa Bay Times that the flaw was Heritage’s assumption that “these people are disproportionately poor because they have no education, and they will be poor for the rest of their lives in the U.S. Quite frankly that’s not the immigration experience in the U.S.”

Rubio is wrong. A survey of beneficiaries of the 1986 amnesty, five years after gaining legal status, found that on average they had not gained in income any more than other workers, and most had actually lost ground economically. That survey was the only one of its kind, and it did not include the agricultural worker amnesty recipients who were the least likely to have benefited from the amnesty.

Most of the arguments that adoption of the amnesty would be an economic benefit – like Sen. Rubio’s – are based on the assumption that newly legalized workers will get better jobs and move out of poverty. The experience with the beneficiaries of the 1986 amnesty proves that assumption is naïve – at best – or deliberately misleading.

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

Marco Rubio on Modernizing Our Legal Immigration System (Part 2)

May 8, 2013 By 2 Comments

In my examination of Sen. Rubio’s (and the Gang of Eight) immigration bill, particularly its claim of modernizing our legal immigration system, today I take a look at guest worker program components of the bill.

Modernizing Our Legal Immigration System: Guest Worker Program
Rubio Speak

The bill establishes a guest worker program for lower-skilled workers that ensures our future flow of workers is manageable, traceable, fair to American workers, and in line with our economy’s needs. The modernization of our visa programs will ensure people who want to come legally – and who our economy needs to come legally – can do so.

The Truth about the Rubio Amnesty

  • Sen. Rubio’s bill is perfectly designed to displace millions more American workers and to continue to depress wages across the labor market. Having taken care of the “jobs Americans can’t do” by pumping up the number of H-1Bs, those “jobs Americans won’t do” will be filled by 200,000 new permanent “guest” workers 200,000 new permanent “guest” workers.
  • A new W visa will be created for non-agricultural workers (with yet another separate visa category for Ag workers) in occupations that do not require a bachelor’s degree, excepting computer occupations. This includes 18 of the top 20 fastest growing occupations in the U.S., such as registered nurses, truck drivers, and landscaping workers.
  • In March 2013, there were 6.4 million unemployed persons in the U.S. who have less than a bachelor’s degree.
  • The construction industry has a special carve-out that allocates it at least 15,000 workers, and can go as high as 66,000. In March 2013, there were 1.2 million unemployed construction workers.
  • In the “Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers” occupational category, which has a median hourly wage of $10.98 an hour, the number of guest workers can go up to 20,000 and can never go down. That one’s for you, Sen. Graham.
  • Sen. Rubio’s “conservative” solution is to create another government bureaucracy, the “Bureau of Immigration and Labor Market Research,” under the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service (USCIS). This commission would be staffed with “experts” who will determine just how acute a labor shortage there is in lesser-skilled occupations and recommend how many new guest workers should be admitted every year.
  • Employers can apply for guest workers unless the unemployment rate in a designated area is above 8.5 percent. There is no metric to account for the fact that unemployment rates have been going down across the country because Americans are dropping out of the workforce, not because they are returning work.
  • The new bureau can even declare a “shortage occupation” to allow employers to bring in workers even when unemployment is above 8.5%.
  • Sen. Rubio has made much of the requirement that employers in shortage occupations that bring in workers have to pay a slightly higher wage, but that wage would only be slightly higher than the already depressed prevailing wage. Wages for workers without college degrees have been stagnant the 1970s.
Filed Under: Amnesty 2013, Jobs, Law, Politics, Population, Society
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