Blogging mostly about mundane stuff like, immigration, Workers' Compensation and other immigrant related activities.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Major Provisions

The following is a list of the major provisions of the bill, the compromise reached by Senate Democrats and Republicans and Bush Administration officials. The bill faces threats of a torpedo by dissident House and Senate leaders. Nonetheless, it appears that both Senate and House members are ready to craft legislation that brings an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants out of the dark. The devil will be in the details, but after 20 years of an inflow of illegal immigration any solution won't come easily and the end results are unlikely to meet everyones expectations.

CURRENT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Could receive probationary legal status immediately;

Four-year, renewable "Z visa" for those present in the U.S. before Jan. 1;

May adjust status to lawful permanent resident after paying $5,000 in fines and $1,500 in fees and after head of household returns to home country;

Green cards after three years, rather than eight, for those younger than 30 who were brought to U.S. as minors;

Green cards for farmworkers who have performed such work for 150 hours or three years;

No green cards until "triggers" for border security and workplace enforcement met and clearing of visa backlog, which takes eight years.

BORDER SECURITY

18,000 new Border Patrol agents;

200 miles of vehicle barriers and 370 miles of fencing on U.S.-Mexico border;

70 ground-based radar and camera towers on southern border;

Deployment of four unmanned aerial vehicles;

No more illegal immigrants released upon apprehension;

Funds for detaining up to 27,500 immigrants per day;

New identification tools to prevent unauthorized work.

WORKPLACE

Electronic verification of employees' identity and work eligibility;

Increased penalties for unlawful hiring, employment and record-keeping violations.

GUEST WORKERS*

Temporary program with two-year "Y visas," initially capped at 400,000 per year with annual adjustments based on market fluctuations;

Y visa renewable up to three times, if worker returns home for a year each time (those bringing dependents restricted to one visa);

Families allowed only if they show proof of medical insurance and demonstrate that their wages were 150 percent above poverty level.

FUTURE IMMIGRANTS

Spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens and permanent residents eligible for green cards based purely on family connections.

380,000 visas a year awarded on point system, about 50 percent based on employment criteria, 25 percent on education, 15 percent on English proficiency and 10 percent on family connections;

New limits for U.S. citizens seeking to bring foreign-born parents into the country;

Visas capped at 40,000 annually for parents of U.S. citizens and at 87,000 for spouses and children.

* after border-security measures in place.

Source: The Associated Press

8 comments:

Tom said...

Tony,
Thanks for spelling all this out. I'm new to all this and it's hard to follow the discussions.

And thanks for your comment on my blog! (The killer robot thing.) And your other point -- What sort of backlash have folks experienced? Just crazy comments?

Tom said...

Also saw a Glen Beck animated thing that you posted. I can't watch TV news, it makes me ill, so I had literally never seen him before.

Is Mr. Beck boasting about stealing Mexico's land, and emphasizing that the payment was derisory so we don't miss the point?

Tony Herrera said...

Tom,

Thanks for visiting. The backlash is to be expected. It's actually pretty predictable and to many it's an issue of eugenics, although they would never publicly admit to it.

On a personal note I'm used to the barrage of negative commentary directed at me for supporting the civil rights of undocumented immigrants.

The Glen Becks take the position that we are all pawns in a game being played out by those seeking a New World Order. Mr. Beck is somewhat grounded in reality when he states that neither are the undocumented immigrants leaving, nor is the Reconquista likely to take place, thus everyone should focus on opposing the grand scheme which he and his followers view as the creation of a Americas Union, similar to the European Union.

Tom said...

Well, I have a daughter. I see other little kids who are getting shafted. I don't think I can complain about getting some nasty comments on my blog!

I hate to ask what you mean by eugenics. Breeding us for votes? ... a new race of O'Reillys?

Tom said...

The Americas Union doesn't sound like the direction we're moving in at all. If they're afraid of that, they might as well be afraid of a meteor hitting the earth.

The idea makes me stop and fantasize for a moment, though. Here is Bush in church -- we know that the President is a deeply religious man -- and he happens to hang up his cell phone during the sermon ...

"That which you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me."

Now Mr. Bush missed the first part, but he whispers to Mrs. Bush, "What's that? Do for who? What?" And the minister overhears him and stops talking and waits nervously while Mrs. Bush explains.

Tony Herrera said...

Tom,

Here is a link to the Eugenics page on Wikipedia.

The fear of immigrants and what some will perceive as the degradation of American culture has brought illegal immigration to the forefront. I'm afraid that President Bush missed an opportunity, early in his career to pass simple legislation that would have given this millions of immigrants the basic civil rights we take for granted.

Your fantasy is many peoples reality in as much as Bush is in a position of power, but is powerless to take the right steps, it's not that he does not want to take them, it's that he does not understand how to do so.

Tom said...

Hey, Tony. Thanks for the information. See you around.

Tom said...

I have been reading more about immigration. Is there anything folks like me can do to help?