Immigration Legislation and Status Adjustment Legislation

Publication Date: April 2002

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Population and demographics

Type:

Abstract:

Although President George W. Bush has said he opposes broad legalization for unauthorized migrants, there were reports in the summer of 2001 that the President would recommend legislation to legalize an estimated 3 million Mexicans working in the United States without legal authorization. President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox have established a Cabinet-level working group to develop "an orderly framework for migration that ensures humane treatment [and] legal security, and dignifies labor conditions." Initial speculation that the President would unveil a legalization proposal in early September was tempered by subsequent reports that he would recommend a more gradual series of proposals. Talks with Mexico continued after the September 11 terrorist attacks, and now the issue is re-emerging.

On August 2, Congressional Democrats announced a set of principles that will guide broad immigration legislation they intend to propose, and among those principles is a plan for "earned legalization." Their proposal would not be limited to nationals of any one country and would focus on "longtime, hard-working residents of good moral character, with no criminal problems ... who are otherwise eligible to become U.S. citizens."

While supporters characterize legalization provisions as fair treatment of aliens who have been living and working here for years as good neighbors and dedicated employees, opponents describe such proposals as an unfair reward to illegal aliens who violated the law to get into the United States.

During the 106th Congress, Democratic Members, with support from the Clinton Administration, unsuccessfully tried to enact a set of immigration legalization and status adjustment provisions known as the "Latino and Immigrant Fairness Act" (S. 3095). Congress ultimately enacted a set of provisions (P.L. 106-553 and P.L. 106554) known as the "Legal Immigration Family Equity Act" (LIFE). LIFE creates a new nonimmigrant "V" visa for certain immediate relatives of legal permanent residents (LPRs), expands the use of the "K" nonimmigrant visa to include immediate relatives of citizens, allows aliens in the "late amnesty" class action court cases to adjust to LPR status, and temporarily reinstated section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), enabling unauthorized aliens to become LPRs if they are otherwise eligible for visas.

President Bush expressed support for an extension of section 245(i), which expired April 30, 2001, and reached a compromise with congressional leaders (H.Res. 365) that passed the House March 12, 2002. Previously, a section 245(i) extension bill introduced by House Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Chairman George Gekas (H.R. 1885) had passed the House of Representatives May 21, 2001. The Senate passed their version of H.R. 1885 on September 6, 2001.

Recent estimates of unauthorized aliens based upon the 2000 census range from 7.5 to 9 million, with some suggesting that unauthorized aliens in the United States may be more than twice the 5.1 million total INS estimated previously.