Immigration Legislation and Issues in the 108th Congress

Publication Date: October 2004

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Population and demographics

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Abstract:

The 108th Congress has considered and is considering legislation on a wide range of immigration issues. Chief among these are the immigration-related recommendations of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9/11 Commission), expedited naturalization through military service, and foreign temporary workers and business personnel.

Several major bills that seek to implement recommendations of the 9/11 Commission propose significant revisions to U.S. immigration law: H.R. 10, S. 2845, S. 2774/H.R. 5040, and H.R. 5024. Of these bills, H.R. 10 proposes the most extensive revisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The major immigration areas under consideration in these comprehensive 9/11 Commission bills include: asylum, biometric tracking systems, border security, document security, exclusion, and visa issuances.

The 108th Congress has enacted a measure on expedited naturalization through military service. P.L. 108-136, the FY2004 Defense Department Authorization bill, amends military naturalization and posthumous citizenship statutes and provides immigration benefits for immediate relatives of U.S. citizen servicemembers who die as a result of actual combat service.

In the area of foreign temporary workers and business personnel, the 108th Congress has enacted legislation to implement the Chile (P.L. 108-77) and Singapore (P.L. 108-78) Free Trade Agreements. These agreements address several categories of temporary workers and business personnel currently governed by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), including professional workers. Separate legislation on H-1B professional workers (S. 1452/H.R. 2849, H.R. 2235, H.R. 2688, H.R. 3534, and H.R. 4166) and L intracompany transfers (S. 1452/H.R. 2849, S. 1635, H.R. 2154, H.R. 2702, H.R. 4415, and H.R. 4166) has also been introduced. Also pending are proposals to reform existing guest worker visas (S. 1645/H.R. 3142, S. 2010, S. 2185, S. 2381/H.R. 4262, H.R. 3534, and H.R. 3604) and establish new guest worker visas (S. 1387, S. 1461/H.R. 2899, S. 2010, S. 2381/H.R. 4262, and H.R. 3651).

Since the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-296) created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Congress has considered legislation to clarify the allocation of immigration authorities between the Secretary of DHS and the Attorney General. P.L. 108-7 amended the INA in an apparent effort to clarify the authority that was to remain with the Attorney General. H.R. 1416, as passed by the House and reported by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, would further amend the INA to remove certain references to the Attorney General.

Among other immigration-related legislation receiving action are adjustment of status of unauthorized alien students (S. 1545), noncitizen eligibility for Medicaid (P.L. 108-173), consular identification cards (H.R. 1950), elimination of the diversity visa lottery (H.R. 775) and employment eligibility verification pilot programs (P.L. 108-156). This report will be updated as legislative developments occur.