Thursday, March 10, 2011
[IWS] CRS: IMMIGRATION LEGISLATION & ISSUES IN THE 111th CONGRESS [18 January 2011]
IWS Documented News Service
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Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
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Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Immigration Legislation and Issues in the 111th Congress
Andorra Bruno, Coordinator, Specialist in Immigration Policy
Karma Ester, Information Research Specialist
Margaret Mikyung Lee, Legislative Attorney
Alison Siskin, Specialist in Immigration Policy
Ruth Ellen Wasem, Specialist in Immigration Policy
January 18, 2011
http://www.opencrs.com/document/R40848/2011-01-18/download/1005/
[full-text, 20 pages]
Summary
The Speaker of the House and the Senate majority leader of the 111th Congress pledged to take up
comprehensive immigration reform legislation, the most controversial piece of which concerns
unauthorized aliens in the United States. Although the 111th Congress did not take up a
comprehensive immigration bill, it did consider a narrower DREAM Act proposal to legalize the
status of certain unauthorized alien students. On December 8, 2010, the House approved a version
of the DREAM Act as an amendment to an unrelated bill, the Removal Clarification Act of 2010
(H.R. 5281). A cloture motion in the Senate to agree to the House DREAM Act amendment failed
on a 55-41 vote on December 18, 2010.
The 111th Congress also considered other immigration issues and enacted a number of targeted
immigration provisions. It passed legislation (P.L. 111-8, P.L. 111-9, P.L. 111-68, P.L. 111-83) to
extend the life of several immigration programs—the E-Verify electronic employment eligibility
verification system, the Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program, the Conrad State J-1
Waiver Program, and the special immigrant visa for religious workers—until September 30, 2012.
Among the other subjects of legislation enacted by the 111th Congress were border security (P.L.
111-5, P.L. 111-32, P.L. 111-83, P.L. 111-230, P.L. 111-281, P.L. 111-376), refugees (P.L. 111-8,
P.L. 111-117), and Haitian migrants (P.L. 111-212, P.L. 111-293).
This report discusses these and other immigration-related issues that have received legislative
action or are of significant congressional interest. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
appropriations are addressed in CRS Report R40642, Homeland Security Department: FY2010
Appropriations, and, for the most part, are not covered here.
Contents
Introduction ...............................................................................................................................1
Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification ...........................................................................1
Border Security..........................................................................................................................3
Resources at Ports of Entry ...................................................................................................3
Resources Between Ports of Entry.........................................................................................4
Barriers at the Border ............................................................................................................5
Unauthorized Immigration ..........................................................................................................5
Unauthorized Students ..........................................................................................................6
U.S. Refugee Program.................................................................................................................6
Refugee Resettlement Funding..............................................................................................7
Haitian Migration.......................................................................................................................8
International Adoptions ...............................................................................................................8
Haitian Adoptions .................................................................................................................9
Special Immigrants .....................................................................................................................9
Religious workers ...............................................................................................................10
Afghan Allies......................................................................................................................10
Other Issues and Legislation......................................................................................................10
Birthright Citizenship..........................................................................................................10
Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program...................................................................... 11
Widow Penalty in Permanent Admissions............................................................................ 11
Waivers for Foreign Medical Graduates...............................................................................14
Alien Smuggling.................................................................................................................14
Other Legislation Receiving Action.....................................................................................15
Temporary Professional Specialty (H-1B) Workers and Intracompany Transferees
(L) .............................................................................................................................15
Foreign Students ...........................................................................................................15
Victims of Violence and Trafficking ..............................................................................16
Refugee and Asylee Adjustments of Status ....................................................................16
LPR Return of Talent Program......................................................................................16
Immigration Relief for Immediate Family of Victims of September 11, 2001.................16
Contacts
Author Contact Information ......................................................................................................17
Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................17
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Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
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