Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) Bill introduced in US Senate today!

Registered Provisional Immigrant Status (RPI):  The group of eight bipartisan US Senators has introduced a blueprint for a bill in Congress to allow all undocumented immigrants who entered the US before December 31, 2011, and who do not have serious criminal records to apply for
Registered Provisional Immigrant Status within ONE YEAR (which could be
extended).  RPI would put the undocumented into legal status, allow them to work for any employer of their choosing, and allow travel in and out of the US. 

This 10-year path to citizenship appears to be a good plan,
albeit a lengthy plan!  However, it appears to have side-effects or consequences which may be better than the actual plan itself!

By putting undocumented individuals into a legal status,
this appears to indicate that individuals who previously had to leave the US to
have their personal interviews at our US Consulates abroad, because they did
not qualify to adjust status in the US, may
now be able to complete their processes at our local US Citizenship and
Immigration Services Offices.  In order
to Adjust Status inside the US, a person must either be in legal status, or
have started a process with Immigration before April 30, 2001. It is unclear
whether this Bill, by putting people into legal status, would then allow them
to complete a current process which they have already started, inside the
US. 

For instance, an undocumented person who entered the US without a visa, before December 31, 2011, who is married to a permanent resident or US citizen, currently has to leave the US to complete his/her case at our US Consulate abroad in his/her home country.  If this person is able to apply for RPI status, then that person might be able to complete his/her case
for a green card immediately inside the
US, and not have to wait the 10 years at all to become a permanent
resident.  The mere creation of a current legal status could have excellent ramifications for those who have already
started processes to become legal in the US!

Similarly, many undocumented persons already have a
certified PERM application and an approved Petition for Permanent Resident
status and are solely waiting for their Priority Dates to become current,
knowing that they will then have to leave the US to complete their cases at our
US Consulates abroad.  Another provision of the CIR Bill proposes the elimination
of all backlogs for family and employment –based immigration.  This could mean that persons who are already in the “pipeline” towards permanent residency, through employer-sponsor or family-sponsorship cases, could apply for RPI, and then complete their green cards process under their pending cases immediately.
This appears to be strong incentive to start a process with USCIS as soon as
possible, so that if backlogs are eliminated, undocumented persons could obtain
their green cards much faster than waiting the 10 years under this Bill. 

We don’t know the definition of “serious criminal records”
yet.  A single DUI offense could be considered
a “serious criminal offense” as it is in the Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA program) thus barring some undocumented persons.

Deportation:  One very exciting aspect of the proposed Bill is that families who have been separated through deportation could be reunited!  Undocumented persons who were in the US prior
to December 31, 2011, and who were deported, could apply to re-enter and apply
for RPI, provided that they have a spouse
or child who is a US citizen or legal permanent resident, or a Dreamer eligible
for the Dream Act!  Many individuals
have been deported from the US and are applying for Waivers to return to the US
to be re-united with their families. 
This provision is very generous and could significantly speed up the
process of family reunification. US citizen children have been left in the US
in the care of relatives or the States because their parents have been
deported.  Bringing their parents back to
the US allows the parents to care for and support their own children, so that
these US citizen children do not have to be supported by our communities and
State and Federal governments.

RPI applicants would not be allowed public benefits such as
welfare, Social Security, Medicaid. 
Applicants would be required to pay back taxes, application fees and a
$500.00 fine.  Spouses and children are included. 

Same sex couples are not included at this time, but
could be included in the future, depending upon the outcome of the US Supreme
Court’s decision on DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act).  This is a great disappointment for our LGBT community.  However, at this time, CIR is
a proposed Bill.  This is a critical time for LGBT advocates to call their US Senators and Congress people and let your voices be heard. 

After 10 years in RPI status, the applicant and family are
eligible to apply for permanent resident status (green card) if they have
worked regularly, paid taxes, learned English and civics and pay a $1,000.00
penalty fine.  Although well-intended,
this provision could significantly affect the elderly undocumented, the
disabled and those from countries whose language and alphabet is significantly
different from our Roman alphabet.  Certainly,
everyone in the US should be able to speak English, in a perfect world.  However, many undocumented are elderly.  An 80 year old woman from China will have
significantly more difficulty learning to speak English and learning civics,
than will a 40 year old man from Brazil. 
A mentally-challenged undocumented person from Brazil might not ever be
able to learn English.  This provision may need safe-guards enacted so that family members are not disqualified, and separated.  There may be certain Waiver
provisions enacted. 

After 3 years in green card status, RPI applicants could
apply for citizenship.  This is a change from our current immigration laws which provide that only immigrants married to US citizens can apply for US citizenship after 3 years in green card status, while all others must wait 5 years in green card status.

Dreamers (persons who entered the US before age 16,
graduated from high school or who are currently in school, and who are under
age 31 on June 15, 2012 according to DACA) would be eligible to apply for their
green cards in 5 years, instead of 10 years, and would be eligible for
citizenship immediately after becoming a permanent resident.  This special provision for Dreamers, children who were brought to the US and raised in the US, is in part due to all of the hard work of the Dreamer-community, and especially to the Bortoletto twins of Danbury!  Kudos!

Undocumented farm workers and their families would be
eligible for an Agricultural Card, and if they pay all assessed taxes and a
$400.00 fine they can adjust to legal permanent resident status. 

Border Security: 
Previously there were rumors that the CIR Bill would be tied to border
security goals, but this does not appear to be the case. The Bill provides for
border security goals, but is not dependent upon reaching these goals.  Instead, the Bill says that 6 months after
the law is enacted, undocumented immigrants may start applying for ROI, once the DHS Secretary submits an operation border security strategy to Congress.  The trigger is solely the submission of a strategy to Congress, not the accomplishment of border security (which could have been an unattainable requirement).

The Bill also requires a mandatory Employment Verification
System (E-Verify) with penalties for document fraud and identity theft.  This is a somewhat troubling provision, since any government-controlled system has inherent problems and can affect US citizen’s
ability to work.  This provision could affect all of us, US citizens included, since every worker in the US may be given an identity number, separate from a Social Security number, in order to be able to work. 

An electronic system may be imposed at airports and sea
ports to track nonimmigrants entering and leaving the US.  Currently, when a nonimmigrant enters the US, he/she is given a small card, called an I-94 card, which is stapled into his/her passport.  Many nonimmigrants
lose the cards, throw them away, or simply can’t find them.  The cards can easily become detached from the passports.  Also, any undocumented person
who enters the US without a visa does not have an I-94 card.  As a result, when a nonimmigrant leaves the US, the procedures have been very lax about collecting the I-94 cards.  This new plan intends to actually track the entries and exits. 

$3 billion will be given for border security.  Where this money will come from may be key.  Perhaps it will be raised from the
filing fees, fines and penalties imposed for this RPI program.  DHS hopes that a 90 percent or higher effectiveness rate will be accomplished in 5 years.

Elimination of Adult Siblings of US Citizen category:  Currently an adult US citizen can sponsor his/her adult brother or sister.  This
category is extremely backlogged.  This Bill proposes to completely eliminate this category 18 months after enactment.  The Bill actually states that
“18months after enactment, a legal resident or citizen can no longer sponsor
adult siblings”.  A legal resident cannot sponsor adult siblings now!  There are
currently many nonimmigrants in this category who have been waiting years for
their numbers to become current.  The question is; would those who are currently waiting “in the queue” also be eliminated?

Elimination of Diversity Program:  We currently have a Diversity Program
which is a Lottery Program for certain countries only.  Applicants apply, and if their names are chosen, by Lottery, they have one year in which to complete all paperwork and enter the US.  This quasi-discriminatory program would be eliminated.

Physicians, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics) doctorates, multinational executives and managers:  Recognizing that the US is in need of physicians, STEM employees, multinational executives and managers, these individuals would be exempt from the RPI process.

Temporary Visas:

H-1B visas are issued to college graduates and those who
have the experience-equivalent of a US college education, to come to work
temporarily in the US for companies. 
Each year, only 65,000 H-1B visas are authorized and they are generally
all used within the first few days of each application period, leaving US
employers lacking the necessary employees. 
The visa number will be increased to 110,000 with a possible increase to
180,000.  Some US citizens have opposed
this provision, fearing that H-1B workers could take jobs away from US
citizens.  To ensure that this does not
happen, the Bill requires employers to pay higher wages to H-1B workers, and
will allow the H-1B employees to change jobs.

Employment visas for Skilled Workers (currently defined as a
job requiring 2 years of experience or more) will account for 40 percent of all
employment visas. 

New W-visa:  Unskilled Workers would be covered by a new W-visa with the creation of an independent agency called the Bureau of Immigration and Labor Market Research to decide annual changes in the visa caps.  W-visa
holders would be allowed to include their immediate families, and would have
whistle-blower provisions, a complaint process, equivalent wages and be allowed
to change jobs.

This Bill is being presented today to the US Senate, with important bi-partisan support.  It must then go to US Senate Subcommittee
Review and Mark-Up, then US Senate Vote. 
The Bill is then referred to the US House of Representatives and face
possible Conference Committee Action where both the House and Senate must
approve any significant changes.  Once
both the US Senate and the US House of Representatives approve the Bill in
identical form, it is sent to the President for signature.

The path of the CIR Bill is just beginning today.  But bipartisanship appears to be confident that passage of Comprehensive Immigration Reform will happen this year.  It is important that everyone contacts
his/her US Senators and US Representatives and MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD.  Let’s tell Congress that we want Comprehensive Immigration Reform this year.