THE SENATE AMNESTY BILL
Summarized by Reps. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Peter King (R-NY)

A SUFFICIENT “TRIGGER”? NOT EVEN CLOSE

The Senate amnesty bill “triggers” don’t delay the amnesty. Virtually all illegal immigrants who haven’t been convicted of three or more misdemeanors or a felony will be granted legal status and a work permit on the day they file for a “Z” visa. This is just like the 1986 bill -- amnesty first and enforcement maybe never. (Section 1).

The Senate amnesty bill “triggers” don’t even require the miles of border fence that Congress required in a bill President Bush signed last October. “The Secure Fence Act” requires over 700 miles of border fence, so the 370 miles required by the Senate bill trigger is a cut. (Section 1).

The Senate amnesty bill “triggers” require only that the Secretary of Homeland Security submit a written certification that the trigger elements are “established, funded and operational” but not that they are effective in controlling the border and preventing further illegal immigration. (Section 1).

The Senate amnesty bill “triggers“ call for 20,000 Border Patrol Agents to be hired. But because we currently have almost 15,000 agents and the “Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004” required 2,000 new Border Patrol Agents each year through 2010, we are already on track to have that many in three years. (Section 1).

The Senate amnesty bill “triggers” require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to have the resources to “detain up to 31,500 aliens per day.” ICE already has the capacity for 27,500 such detentions and the 31,500 beds required by the Senate bill are also far less than the 43,000 detention beds required to be in use by the end of FY 2007 by the “Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.” (Section 1).

The Senate amnesty bill “triggers” don’t require that the exit portion of the U.S.-VISIT entry-exit system be operational before the foreign worker program and the “Z” visa amnesty begin. Without an exit system, we have no way of knowing who is in the country or if they leave – that knowledge is essential to border security and any foreign worker program.
The Senate amnesty bill “triggers” require only that DHS have the “tools” to conduct worksite enforcement, including identification standards and an employment eligibility verification system. They do not require that DHS use these tools to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining jobs.

MASS AMNESTY? DEFINITELY

The Senate amnesty bill is worse than last year’s Senate-passed bill. It allows nearly all illegal immigrants currently in the United States to stay and work on “Z” visa status without first going home, but in last year’s bill only the illegal immigrants who had been in the country for five years were eligible to stay and work without first going home.

The Senate amnesty bill grants an almost guaranteed path to U.S. citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants currently residing in the United Sates. The illegal immigrant, their spouse, parents over the age of 65 and children get immediate “Z” visa “probationary benefits” which allow them to stay in the United States and work. (Section 601).

The Senate amnesty bill fails to address national security concerns. Illegal immigrants who receive “Z” visa probationary benefits must consent to a “background check,” but that check must be finished in one day. If it is not finished, DHS must give the illegal immigrant probationary status anyway. (Section 601).

The Senate amnesty bill‘s proponents claim that since illegal immigrants will not receive “automatic” citizenship, there is no amnesty. America has granted “automatic” citizenship only five times in our nation’s history – to international friends of the United States after they were dead. The last time the U.S. granted “automatic” citizenship was five years ago when we honored the Marquis de Lafayette, the great French hero of our Revolutionary War. No one who goes through the legal immigration process ever receives “automatic” citizenship. They first receive permanent residence and then have to meet additional tests before they can become citizens. For instance, they have to wait for a period of years and go through a background check and may have to show they know English and U.S. civics.

The Senate amnesty bill does require that a “Z” visa holder remain in “Z” status for several years before they can adjust to lawful permanent resident status. But even legal immigrants have to wait five years before they can apply for citizenship, and of course any future Democratic Administration can shorten the waiting period.

The Senate amnesty bill allows “Z” visa holders to stay indefinitely in “Z” status so they can enjoy all of the benefits of living and working in the United States without paying the bill’s required $4,000 penalty to move toward lawful permanent residence. (Sections 601, 602).

The Senate amnesty bill requires “Z” visa holders to learn English only after eight years in the country. Prior to that, the bill only requires that upon application for the first “extension” the “Z” visa holder “attempt to gain an understanding of the English language.” That “attempt” is shown by “taking” (not passing) the naturalization test and being placed “on a waiting list for English classes” (not actually taking the class). (Section 601).

The Senate amnesty bill includes only a touchback in order to adjust immigration status to lawful permanent residence. The touchback is purportedly fulfilled when the “Z” visa holder (but not their spouse, parents or children) apply for adjustment of status “at a consular office in the alien’s country of origin.” However not even this touchback to the country of origin is required for everyone since the bill specifically allows consular offices to accept “Z” visa applications from applicants who are not from the country in which the consular office is located. A few hours in Mexico will satisfy the touchback for every “Z” visa holder (current immigration law provides that illegal immigrants cannot return to the U.S. for ten years if they have been here illegally for over a year). (Section 602).

The Senate amnesty bill requires the federal government to give “Z” visa holders (even those on probationary status) a valid U.S. Social Security number. They will begin earning Social Security benefits for their work once they get probationary status – even if they are ultimately denied a “Z” visa. (Section 606).

The Senate amnesty bill provides an incentive for additional mass illegal immigration. It authorizes the DHS Secretary to keep the “Z” visa application period open for as long as two years, giving would-be illegal immigrants plenty of time to come here illegally and giving those already here plenty of time to sneak their families into the country.

The Senate amnesty bill will produce the same massive fraud that resulted from the 1986 amnesty bill. The Senate bill allows illegal immigrants who seek “Z” visa status to show bank records, “remittance records” and even Asworn affidavits@ to show eligibility for “Z” visa status. This will only strengthen the already booming industry for fraudulent documents. In addition, the Secretary of Homeland Security has the ability to alter the document requirements in any way they like. (Section 601).

The Senate amnesty bill also gives illegal immigrants other options to apply for amnesty B including the DREAM Act (Title VI, subtitle B) and the AgJobs Act. (Title VI, subtitle C).

MILLIONS OF NEW FOREIGN WORKERS? DEFINITELY

The Senate amnesty bill allows 200,000 new “Y” visa holders to work temporarily in the United States during each year (Section 409). Temporary workers lower wages and take jobs away from American workers. All credible studies show that low-skilled American workers’ wages are reduced by low-skilled immigrants. One study estimated immigration has reduced the wages of low-skilled Americans by “$1,915 per year.” Harvard economist George Borjas estimates that immigration has caused 40 percent of the decline in real wages among African-Americans in the United States.

The Senate amnesty bill specifically allows employers to lay off American workers and replace them with “Y” non-immigrant workers as long as they lay off the Americans more than 90 days before or after they file the petitions for the foreign workers. (Section 403).

TOUGH ENFORCEMENT? NO WAY

The Senate amnesty bill claims to have tough criminal penalties to crack down on gang violence. However the bill has the opposite effect. It imposes significant obstacles to removing dangerous alien gang members from the country and barring entry of dangerous alien gang members to the country. The bill narrows the definition of “criminal gang” so that many smaller gangs are excluded and also requires the government to prove a bad intent on the part of an alien-gang member in order to remove them. (Sec 205).

The Senate amnesty bill is not tough on passport fraud and misuse. It actually weakens existing criminal laws prohibiting passport fraud and misuse by eliminating increased punishments for violations intended to facilitate terrorist acts, drug trafficking and other serious crimes. (Section 208).

The Senate amnesty bill is not tough on illegal reentry. The bill actually reduces existing punishments for illegal reentry by convicted aliens from a maximum of 10 years to two years imprisonment, when they have been convicted of three misdemeanor offenses or a felony for which they served less than five years in prison. (Section 207).

The Senate amnesty bill does not make engaging in terrorist activity a bar to the “good moral character” required to obtain immigration benefits. Thus a terrorist could get a “Z” visa and other immigration benefits.

TOUGH@ ELECTRONIC EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION?
HARDLY

The Senate amnesty bill uses 40 pages to set forth requirements and procedures for use of the Employment Eligibility Verification System, but then gives the DHS Secretary and the Social Security Administrator the authority to change the entire system through publication of the changes in the Federal Register. (Section 302).

The Senate amnesty bill requires that workers have the right of administrative and judicial review over a “final nonconfirmation” of employment eligibility. During that administrative and judicial review, the employer cannot fire the employee. While the Administrative review is required to be finished in 30 days and the worker has 30 days from that time to file for judicial review with the U.S. Court of Appeals, the judicial review time period is not defined, so an illegal immigrant worker who files a frivolous appeal could stay employed for months, and even years, if the Court does not hear their case right away. (Section 302).

DRAMATIC INCREASE IN LEGAL IMMIGRATION? YES

The Senate amnesty bill claims to end chain migration, but for most of the next two decades, the bill will increase extended-family chain migration. Currently, chain migration accounts for about 112,000 green cards a year. The bill increases that number to 440,000 a year -- four times as many -- until such time as everyone in the chain-migration backlog who submitted petitions before May 1, 2005 receives a greencard. However, with an estimated eight million aliens in the backlog (including an estimated number of spouses and minor children), it will take 18 years to clear the backlog. That is 18 years of vastly increased chain migration. Even after the 18 years, prospective immigrants will get “points” for extended family relationships to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. So, chain migration will never go away. (Section 501).