Aside from consideration of a bill to raise the annual limit on H-1B workers (see article immediately following this one), Congress has been very busy this past month considering a number of items of legislation.
– Reorganization of the INS
We have reported several times in the past about calls for the abolition or dramatic restructuring of the INS. The drive to overhaul the organization was given a boost last year when the government’s blue ribbon Commission on Immigration Reform issued a recommendation to scrap the agency. The INS fought back with a vigorous defense of its performance and the need to maintain the status quo (albeit with better funding for the agency).
Late last month, the US House of Representatives Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations Subcommittee held hearings on the prospects for INS reorganization. The most important part of the hearings was the INS’ unveiling of its own reorganization plan. The plan, drawn up by the Booz-Allen and Hamilton consulting firm, calls for the division of the agency’s functions into three parts – enforcement, benefits and support services. The plan also reportedly calls for the abolition of the 33 INS districts and replacing District Directors with officials that would separately be responsible for enforcement and benefits.
In testimony before the House subcommittee, INS Commissioner Doris Meissner claimed the proposal “untangles INS’ overlapping and frequently confusing organizational structure.” Attorney General Janet Reno echoed this sentiment saying the reorganization “will greatly improve the ability of the INS to effectively and efficiently perform its duties.”
The INS plan is aimed at addressing the criticism that the agency cannot handle the conflicting missions of enforcer of the immigration laws and the agency responsible for doling out benefits such as permanent residency and citizenship.
But the INS will have a hard time convincing Congress that the agency can heal itself. Subcommittee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-KY) is on the record as stating that he supports the dismantling of the agency. In response to the INS plan, Rogers told Commissioner Meissner, “I think you’re trying to rearrange the furniture on the deck of the Titanic.” Rogers went so far as to tell Meissner, “There’s no way you can fix this agency.”
Other organizations such as the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the American Immigration Lawyers Association have also weighed in on this issue. AILA’s Board of Governors recently approved a four-point resolution on INS reform:
1. The INS is failing in its mission;
2. AILA opposes the Commission on Immigration Report and considers its “solution” even worse than the present situation;
3. AILA urges the creation of a new, independent, Cabinet level department or agency which would combine all current federal government immigration functions, and urges two divisions within the new agency, separating services from enforcement functions; and
4. Should the creation of this independent agency prove infeasible, AILA urges the creation, within the Department of Justice, of two separate agencies for services and enforcement.
– Naturalization reform
Several proposals addressing problems in the naturalization process have recently been proposed in Congress. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Representative Richard Gephart (D-MO) have recently proposed “The New American Citizenship Act” which includes provisions designed to reduce the naturalization backlogs, strengthen the role of community organizations in the naturalization process (countering the recent trend of curtailing the role of these groups), better prepare applicants for citizenship, and increase the integrity of the naturalization process. The bill would also limit the INS’ authority to increase naturalization fees until it cuts the naturalization backlog by 30%. The House version of the bill is HR 3341 and the Senate version is S 1717.
Republicans, on the other hand, are focusing on reducing the potential for fraud in the naturalization process. Senate Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Spencer Abraham (R-MI) and House Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Smith have proposed legislation entitled “The Naturalization Reform Act of 1997” (HR 2837) that would codify many of the reforms that the INS has already adopted. A new provision would also extend to five years the amount of time the INS has to revoke citizenships. The bill is chiefly aimed at preventing criminals from accidentally acquiring citizenship. Critics of the bill claim that the measure would dramatically increase the backlog of citizenship applications.
AILA has criticized the bill claiming it would “make the naturalization process more bureaucratic, preclude appropriate streamlining, expand administrative naturalization, bar naturalization for those who are “deportable” (including people who have failed to file change-of-address cards with the INS), make it tougher to prove “good moral character”, and lead to increases in the naturalization backlog. AILA also notes that Smith has been sending out “Dear Colleague” letters with misleading statistics on problems in the immigration process.
In another measure affecting naturalization, Republicans are pushing a proposal that would require IDs, citizenship checks and more of voters. The bill is entitled “The Voter Eligibility Verification Act” and is sponsored by Representative Steve Horn (R-CA). Democrats criticize the proposal claiming that the amount of voter fraud is insignificant and the Republican party really is interested in weakening the power of immigrants. Others claim the proposed voter verification system would be problematic since the INS and the Social Security Administration databases are both seriously flawed. The bill is set for a House floor vote after the Easter/Passover recess.
– Visa Waiver Pilot Program
The House has passed a bill (HR 2578) that would extend the Visa Waiver Pilot Program for two more years until 2000. Lower entry thresholds would allow at least Greece and Portugal to join the process.
– Agricultural Guest Workers
Congress appears close to approving a major guestworker bill that would allow farmers to bring up to 20,000 workers per year. The chief opponent of the bill, Representative Lamar Smith, has apparently agreed on a compromise proposal. Smith will reportedly get a cut in the number of unskilled permanent residents admitted each year from 10,000 to 5,000. Lottery visas would be decreased from 55,000 to 5,000.
The new 24 month pilot program would essentially revive the “bracero” programs approved in the First and Second World Wars which ended in 1964.
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