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Dems Introduce Immigration Fairness Bill

By Jeralyn, Section Civil Liberties
Posted on Tue May 04, 2004 at 06:54:19 PM EST
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From a press release of the National Network for Immigrants and Refugees Rights (NIRR)

Representatives Luis Gutierrez (IL-D), Bob Menendez (NJ-D) and Senator Kennedy (MA-D) today introduced the Democrats’ immigration reform proposal, “Safe, Orderly, Legal Visas and Enforcment Act of 2004” or “SOLVE.” Unlike the immigration proposal outlined by President Bush in January, this proposal came in the form of a substantive legislative bill that addresses legalization, family reunification and an immigrant worker program with access to permanent residency.

The new bill proposes access to legal status through “earned” legalization for undocumented immigrant workers currently in the U.S. It also specifies immigration law changes to address the backlog of potential immigrants seeking visas and would remove the barriers to visa applications, such as the “3 and 10 year re-entry bars” that have been added during the last decade.

Here are more specifics:

Immigrants who have been here for five (5) or more years on date of introduction and can demonstrate 24 months in aggregate of employment (including self-employment) in the U.S. and payment of taxes would be eligible for legalization. The principal applicant's spouse and unmarried children under 21 are also eligible. These applications will be adjudicated outside the caps/numerical limitations

• Grounds of inadmissibility related to undocumented status would be waived

• Applicants shall undergo criminal background checks and medical examination, and register with the Selective Services. They shall also be able to travel and work with authorization while application is pending

• Applicants shall demonstrate an understanding of English and civics, or be pursuing a course of study to achieve such understanding

• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall not use the applicant's information for any purpose other than to make a determination on the application, unless they have committed fraud or are a national security threat (confidentiality)

• Bill provides for administrative and judicial review for denials of an application

• Applicants here less than five years shall be eligible--after a background check-- for transitional status (TS) of 5 years, during which they shall be able to work with authorization and travel abroad. After 24 months of work in aggregate, they, too, shall be eligible for adjustment of status

FAMILY REUNIFICATION AND BACKLOG REDUCTION

• Immediate relatives will be exempted from counting towards the 480,000 ceiling on family-based immigrant visas and include immediate relatives of permanent residents

• Per-country ceilings on visas: Immigrants waiting more than five years shall be allocated a visa outside the per-country limits

• Unused family-based visas in any given year shall be "recaptured" and applied to future years without per-country limitations

• The income test for the affidavit of support shall be reduced from 125% to 100% of the poverty level

• The 3- and 10-year bars to re-entry shall be repealed

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