NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007

The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, or, in its full name, the Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1348) was a bill discussed in the 110th United States Congress that would have provided legal status and a path to legal citizenship for the approximately 12-20 million (by some counts) illegal aliens currently residing in the United States, and provided them with what critics referred to as "amnesty". It also had provisions for increasing border security, increasing monitoring of immigrants, and allowing more guest workers into the country, among others. The bill was introduced in the United States Senate on May 9, 2007, but was never voted on, though a series of votes on amendments and cloture took place. The last vote on cloture, on June 28, failed 46-53, effectively ending the bill's chances. United States Capitol (2002) // The One Hundred Tenth United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, comprised of the Senate and the House of Representatives. ... Type Bicameral Houses Senate House of Representatives President of the Senate President pro tempore Dick Cheney, (R) since January 20, 2001 Robert C. Byrd, (D) since January 4, 2007 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, (D) since January 4, 2007 Members 535 plus 4 Delegates and 1 Resident Commissioner Political... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into illegal immigration. ... Look up Amnesty in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Politics Portal The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral United States Congress, the... In parliamentary procedure, cloture (pr: KLO-cher) (also called closure, and sometimes a guillotine) is a motion or process aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. ...

Legislative history

The bill was a compromise based largely on three previous failed immigration bills:

The bill's sole sponsor in the Senate was Majority Leader Harry Reid, though it was crafted in large part as a result of efforts by Senators Kennedy, McCain and Kyl, along with Senator Lindsey Graham, and input from President George W. Bush, who strongly supported the bill. For that reason it was referred to in the press by various combinations of these five men's names, most commonly "Kennedy-Kyl". A larger group of senators was involved in creating the bill, sometimes referred to as the 'Gang of 12'.^[1] This group included, in addition to the aforementioned senators, Senators Dianne Feinstein, Mel Martinez, Ken Salazar and Arlen Specter. Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act (S. 1033) or the McCain-Kennedy Bill is a comprehensive immigration reform bill discussed in the United States Senate during the Summer of 2005, which was first of its kind since the early 2000s in incorporating legalization, guest worker programs, border enforcement components. ... Edward Moore Ted Kennedy (born February 22, 1932) is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. ... For McCains grandfather and father, see John S. McCain, Sr. ... John Cornyn III (born February 2, 1952) is the junior United States Senator from Texas. ... This page is about the current Arizona Senator; for his father, a U.S. Representative from Iowa, see John Kyl; for a U.S. Representative from Mississippi with a similar name, see John Kyle. ... For the 2007 act, see Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007. ... Arlen J. Specter (born February 12, 1930) is a United States Senator from Pennsylvania. ... Harry Mason Reid (born December 2, 1939) is the senior United States Senator from Nevada and a member of the Democratic Party. ... Lindsey Olin Graham (born July 9, 1955) is an American politician from South Carolina. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ... Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is currently the senior U.S. Senator from California, having held office as a Senator since 1992. ... MelquÃades Rafael Mel MartÃnez (born October 23, 1946) is a Cuban-American, who is currently the junior United States Senator from Florida and the General Chairman of the Republican Party. ... Kenneth Lee Salazar (born March 2, 1955) is an American politician, rancher, and environmentalist from the U.S. state of Colorado. ... Arlen J. Specter (born February 12, 1930) is a United States Senator from Pennsylvania. ...

At the same time, the Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act of 2007 was being considered in the United States House of Representatives, although to considerably less public attention. The Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act of 2007 or STRIVE Act of 2007 is proposed United States legislation designed to address the problem of illegal immigration. ... The United States House of Representatives (or simply the House) is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. ...

On June 7, three Senate votes on cloture (a move to end discussion) for the bill failed, the first losing 33-63, the second losing 34-61 and the third losing 45-50.^[2] This had been thought by some observers to signal the end of the bill's chances, since on that day, after the first failing vote, Harry Reid had told reporters that, if another vote on cloture failed, "the bill's over with. The bill's gone."^[3]

However, at the urging of President Bush, the bill was brought back for discussion in the Senate on June 25.^[4] On June 26, a motion to proceed passed the Senate, by a margin of 64-35 (under Senate rules it needed 60 votes).^[5] A number of amendments to the bill were considered and rejected. Throughout this process there was heavy pressure from talk radio broadcasters and listeners, bloggers, and citizens opposed to the bill; no equivalent popular passion existed on the supporting side. So many opponents contacted senators that both the Senate's Internet server and phone system crashed at different times.^[6] On June 28, the bill failed to get the 60 votes necessary to end debate. The final cloture vote lost 46-53.^[7] This effectively ended its chances, and President Bush said he was disappointed at Congress's failure to act on the issue.^[8] Talk radio is a radio format which features discussion of topical issues. ... The term Blogger may refer to: A blogger, someone who maintains a weblog. ... In parliamentary procedure, cloture (pr: KLO-cher) (also called closure, and sometimes a guillotine) is a motion or process aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. ...

Changes to immigration policy

The bill would have created a new class of visa, the "Z visa", that would be given to everyone who was living illegally in the United States on Jan. 1, 2007; this visa would give its holder the legal right to remain in the United States for the rest of their life, and access to a Social Security number. After eight years, the holder of a Z visa would be eligible for a United States Permanent Resident Card (a "green card") if they wanted to have one; they would first have to pay a $2000 fine, and back taxes for some of the period in which they worked. By the normal rules of green cards, five years after that the immigrant could begin the process of becoming a U.S. citizen. The Few Dishonest and non-patriot U.S.-Senators, played a huge Gamble, to fail the Justified scientific Bill(which was primarily designed to re-inforce the U.S.-Homeland-National-Economical-Activity, with the Efficiency & Competitiveness), for a better Permanent future of the U.S.-Economical-Structure. The failure-drive from some dishonest senators, was a huge historical mistakeful acts, and can beter be explained as an act "to work against the U.S.-Constitutional Policies, (or, it was & is straightly against the U.S.-Patriotism)". The failure of the Bill in 2007, has been created "an increasing opportunities for the growths of the U.S.-rival Industries,Factories,Agricultures,Production-units, Employments, Economical-Growths, Infrastructural-developments, in the U.S.-rival-countries,(like those of China, Russia, Mexico, etc.)". The unfortunate & mistakeful failure of the U.S.-Immigration-Bill("Comprehenssive Immigration Bill-June-2007, which was highly supported & pushed up by the U.S.-President-2007, for the future U.S.-SOCIO-ECONOMICAL-betterment of the U.S.A.-HOMELAND") has been created "a great FEAR of the increasing problems & sufferings from the new inflation, population-rise, increasing cosumer-price-index, increasing U.S.-import expenses, increasing U.S.-Production-costs, shut-down of the U.S.-Homeland-based businesses, industries, factories, agricultural & construction industries, in the U.S.-Homeland". The failure-drive of "the U.S.-Immigration's comprehenssive bill-June-2007",(in an unfortunate & inscientific-way) would better be reallized by "the irresponssible & traitor-acts, from some misleading & dishonest U.S.-Senators, to give the more business & U.S.-investments, to their(dishonest-senators') secretly contracting & bribe-offering U.S.-enemy foreign-client-Business-giants, from the U.S.-enemy-countries". This failures(by some dishonest & misleading Triator Senators, in 2007), would be reallized, better, as "a diplomatic cold-blooded under-covered Terrorism on the U.S.-Homeland-Economical-Industrial-Agricultural-Construction-Housing-Production-Revenue-Developmental Activities". The U.S.-Govt.'s ongoing "the War on Terrorism", would now better be extended, in "the above U.S.-Homeland-Economical-Industrial-Developmental-Sectors", (by arresting and putting in Jail, "all the home-grown undercovered U.S.-Economical-Terrorists-Activists, who HAD BEEN, otherwise, secretly contracted & bribed by the few singual-national U.S.-Enemey-Countries' Business-Giants, to destroy & shut down the Multinational-U.S.A.-System's Homeland-Production-Industrial-Economical-Developmental-Activities and the leading-Growths, in the World"). Entry visa valid in Schengen treaty countries. ... The promotional Social Security card as distributed by the F.W. Woolworth Company In the United States, a Social Security number (SSN) is a 9-digit number issued to citizens, permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents under section 205(c)(2) of the Social Security Act, codified as 42 U... A United States Green Card. ... United States citizenship is membership of the United States political system. ...

The bill would have required such an immigrant to be in their home country when they apply for their green card.

The bill would have also ended so-called "chain migration", in which an immigrant who becomes a U.S. citizen can ease the process by which their relatives from outside the country can get green cards. Under the bill, only the spouse and children of a new citizen would be made eligible for green cards.^[9] Chain migration refers to the mechanism by which foreign nationals are allowed to immigrate by virtue of the ability of previous immigrants to send for their adult relatives. ...

Guest worker program

Another new category of visa, the "Y visa", would have been created, that would let temporary guest workers stay in the country for two years, after which they would have to return home. The original bill set this program at 400,000 people a year. However, its scope was greatly reduced by two amendments passed by the Senate: the first, sponsored by Senator Jeff Bingaman, reduced the number of entrants to 200,000 a year;^[10] the second, sponsored by Senator Byron Dorgan, set the program to only run for five years.^[11] Jesse Francis Jeff Bingaman Jr. ... Byron Leslie Dorgan (born May 14, 1942) is the junior United States Senator from North Dakota. ...

Increased enforcement

The bill would have increased enforcement of the United States-Mexico border, including increasing the number of border patrol agents to 20,000 and adding another 370 miles of fencing, among others. The international border between Mexico and the United States runs a total of 3,141 km (1,951 miles) from San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Baja California, in the west to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and Brownsville, Texas, in the east. ...

The bill would have also created a new program, the "Employment Eligibility Verification System", that would be a central database meant to hold immigrant-status information on all workers living in the United States. Eventually all employers, regardless of size of the company, would have been required to assemble this information and keep the system updated on all their employees.^[12]

Under the terms of the bill, no further part of the bill would have gone forward until these measures had been implemented.

A group of conservative Republican senators, led by Jim DeMint, claimed that a majority of the enforcement provisions in the bill were already required under previous law, including the 2005 REAL ID Act and the 2006 Secure Fence Act.^[13] The Republican Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States of America, along with the Democratic Party. ... James Warren DeMint (born September 2, 1951) has been a U.S. Senator from South Carolina since 2005. ... The REAL ID Act of 2005 is Division B of an act of the United States Congress titled Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005, Pub. ... The US-Mexico border fence near San Diego, California. ...

DREAM Act provisions

The bill contained within it the entirety of the DREAM Act, a bill that has been introduced unsuccessfully several times in the House and Senate, that would provide a fast-track to citizenship for illegal-immigrant minors who either go to college or serve in the U.S. military; it would also qualify such minors for in-state tuition rates if they attend a public university of their home state as any other legal resident or US citizen. The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (also called The DREAM Act) is a bill that has been introduced several times in the United States Congress that would provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrant students. ...

Criticism

The bill received criticism from both the right and the left. Conservatives called the new proposed visa types in this bill amnesty, while liberals criticized the point system and provisions limiting family reunification to nuclear families as unfair. Labor unions, human rights, and some Hispanic organizations attacked the guest workers program, claiming that it would create a group of underclass workers with no benefits[1][2]. Another criticism of the guest workers program was that because each guest worker is required to return home for a year before renewing their visa, these workers would instead overstay their visa, becoming illegal immigrants. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) claimed to find 20 "loopholes" in the immigration bill, including amnesty for child rapists and potential terrorists.[3] Look up Amnesty in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The term nuclear family developed in the western world to distinguish the family group consisting of parents (usually a father and mother) and their children, from what is known as an extended family. ... Illegal immigration is the act of moving to or settling in another country or region, temporarily or permanently, in violation of the law or without documents permitting an immigrant to settle in that country. ... Jefferson Beauregard Jeff Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is the junior United States Senator from Alabama. ... Child sexual abuse is an umbrella term describing criminal and civil offenses in which an adult engages in sexual activity with a minor or exploits a minor for the purpose of sexual gratification. ... This article is becoming very long. ...

References

^ 'Gang of 12' mulls over immigration bill, Associated Press, May 24, 2007
^ Senate Gives Up on Immigration Bill, Michael Sandler and Jonathan Allen, CQ Today, June 7, 2007
^ "Immigration: Another Vote Likely, Ken Strickland, MSNBC First Read, June 7, 2007
^ "US Senate to Reconsider Immigration Reform Next Week", Deborah Tate, VOA News, June 23, 2007
^ "Immigration Bill Clears Test Vote in Senate", David Stout and Robert Pear, The New York Times, June 26, 2007
^ "Immigration bill quashed", Stephen Dinan, The Washington Times, June 29, 2007
^ TheHill.com - 46-53, immigration bill goes down in defeat
^ The failure of the Bill in 2007, has been created "an increasing opportunities of the Industries,Factories,Agricultures,Production-units, Employments, Economical-Growths, Infrastructural-developments, in the U.S.-rival-countries,(like those of China, Russia, Mexico, etc.). The failure of the Immigration-Bill(Comprehenssive Immigration Bill, which was highly supported by the U.S.-President, for the future sOCIO-ECONOMICAL-betterment of the U.S.A.) has been created "a great of the inflation, population-rise, increasing cosumer-price-index, increasing import expenses, increasing U.S.-Production-costs, shut-down of the U.S.-Homeland-based businesses, industries, factories, agricultural & construction industries". The failure-drive of the U.S.-Immigration's comprehenssive bill,(in an unfortunate & inscientific-way) would better be reallized by "the irresponssible & traitor-acts, from some misleading & dishonest U.S.-Senators, to give the more business & U.S.-investments, to their(dishonest-senators') secretly contracted bribe-offered U.S.-enemy foreign-client-Business-giants". The bill would have required such an immigrant to be in their home country when they apply for their green card. The bill would have also ended so-called "chain migration", in which an immigrant who becomes a U.S. citizen can ease the process by which their relatives from outside the country can get green cards. Under the bill, only the spouse and children of a new citizen would be made eligible for green cards.[9] Senate immigration bill suffers crushing defeat, CNN.com
^ Major provisions of compromise plan, The Mercury News, May 18, 2007
^ "Senate Cuts Guest-Worker Plan in Immigration Measure", Jay Newton-Small, Bloomberg News, May 23, 2007
^ "Immigration bill fails key test, is withdrawn", Associated Press, June 7, 2007
^ Work bill would create new ID database, Anne Broache and Declan McCullagh, CNET News, May 21, 2007
^ DeMint, Eight Senate Colleagues Challenge Bush to do Immigration Bill's Border Protection Now, Mark Tapscott, Tapscott's Copy Desk, June 12, 2007

The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. ... Bloomberg Television is a cable television network that broadcasts business and financial news 24 hours a day. ... The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ...

External links

Categories: Immigration to the United States | United States federal immigration and nationality legislation | George W. Bush administration controversies Look up Thomas in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The libertarian Reason Magazine dedicated an issue to Ayn Rands influence one hundred years after her birth. ... In 2004, United States President George W. Bush proposed a guest worker program to absorb migrant laborers who would otherwise come to the U.S. as illegal aliens. ... Illegal immigration to the United States refers to the act of foreign nationals voluntarily resettling in the United States in violation of U.S. immigration and nationality law. ... The trafficking of human beings is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people for the purpose of exploitation. ... A Labor shortage is an economic condition in which there are insufficient qualified candidates (employees) to fill the market-place demands for employment at any price. ... Terrorist redirects here. ... The border between Mexico and the United States spans four U.S. states, six Mexican states, and has over twenty commercial crossings. ... THIS IS FALSE INFORMATION The Economic impact of illegal immigrants in the United States depends on whether taxes paid by illegal immigrants and their contributions to the economy make up for the government services which they use. ... Immigration reduction refers to movements active within the United States that advocate a reduction in the amount of immigration allowed into the United States or other countries. ... Legalization is the process of removing a legal prohibition against something which is currently illegal. ... The Guest worker program is a program that has been proposed many times in the past and now also by U.S. President George W. Bush as a way to permit U.S. employers to sponsor non-U.S. citizens as laborers for approximately three years, to be deported afterwards... Image File history File links US_Department_of_Homeland_Security_Seal. ... The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (also called The DREAM Act) is a bill that has been introduced several times in the United States Congress that would provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrant students. ... Radio Station advertisement in Spanish in East Los Angeles against the H.R.4437. ... In 2004, United States President George W. Bush proposed a guest worker program to absorb migrant laborers who would otherwise come to the U.S. as illegal aliens. ... Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act (S. 1033) or the McCain-Kennedy Bill is a comprehensive immigration reform bill discussed in the United States Senate during the Summer of 2005, which was first of its kind since the early 2000s in incorporating legalization, guest worker programs, border enforcement components. ... S. 2691/ H. R. 5744, also known as the â€œSecuring Knowledge Innovation and Leadership Act of 2006â€, or the â€œSKIL Billâ€ from its acronym and rhyme, is targeted at increasing legal immigration of scientific, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workers into the United States by increasing the quotas on the... For the 2007 act, see Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007. ... The Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act of 2007 or STRIVE Act of 2007 is proposed United States legislation designed to address the problem of illegal immigration. ... The REAL ID Act of 2005 is Division B of an act of the United States Congress titled Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005, Pub. ... President George W. Bush signs the Secure Fence Act of 2006, in the Roosevelt Room on October 26, 2006. ... In 2006, millions of people were involved in protests over a proposed reform to existing United States immigration laws. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) is an American political advocacy organization. ... NAOC Logo The Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CCIR), also known as CCIR/NAOC or New American Opportunity Campaign is a non-profit immigrant rights advocacy organization based in Washington, DC, established in 2003 to pass comprehensive immigration reform. ... The National Immigration Forum was established in 1982, dedicated to increasing public support for admitting larger numbers of immigrants and refugees into the United States. ... CCC Logo The Center for Community Change (CCC) is one of the larger community building organizations in the United States. ... The We Are Americe Alliance (WAAA) is a national alliance of immigrant rights organizations and allies in the United States that work towards social justice, including comprehensive immigration reform and immigrants civic participation. ... The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) is a non-profit, and non-partisan, ethno-centric, political advocacy group in the United States. ... The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is a non-partisan, non-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization in the United States that advocates for reforms of U.S. immigration policies that would result in significant immigration reduction. ... The Minuteman Project is an activist organization started in April 2005 by a group of private United States individuals to monitor the United Statesâ€“Mexico borders flow of illegal immigrants, although it has expanded to include the United States-Canada border as well. ... The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, often confused with The Minuteman Project, Inc. ... California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR) is a political advocacy group devoted to immigration reduction, based in Huntington Beach, California. ... Save Our State logo â€œSave Our Stateâ€ redirects here. ... The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) is a nonpartisan immigration reduction-oriented, non-profit research organization and was founded in 1985. ... NumbersUSA is an immigration reduction organization whose intent is to reduce United States annual immigration to pre-1965 levels, but without the country of origin quotas that were in place during this period. ... The Migration Policy Institute is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank established in 2001 by Kathleen Newland and Demetrios G. Papademetriou. ... The first naturalization law in the United States was the 1795 Naturalization Act which restricted citizenship to free white persons who had resided in the country for five years. ... Amendment XIV in the National Archives The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (Amendment XIV) is one of the post-Civil War amendments (known as the Reconstruction Amendments), intended to secure rights for former slaves. ... The first page of the Chinese Exclusion Act. ... The Gentlemens Agreement of 1907 ) was an informal agreement between the United States and the Empire of Japan regarding immigration and racial segregation. ... In the United States, the Emergency Quota Act (ch. ... It has been suggested that National Origins Quota of 1924 be merged into this article or section. ... The Bracero Program, (after the Spanish word for unskilled laborer), was a temporary contract labor program initiated by an August 1942 exchange of diplomatic notes between the United States and Mexico. ... The Immigration and Nationality Act amendments of 1965 (Hart-Celler Act, INS Act of 1965, Pub. ... The Immigration Reform and Control Act (Simpson-Mazzoli Act (IRCA), Pub. ... The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, Pub. ...

Contents