immigration issues

Here’s some stuff that I got over e-mail talking about upcoming national days of action for immigrants rights and about some of the proposed immigration legislation. I’m not sure if its all still current or not.

*******National Protest*******
May 1st and April 10th:
Stop the anti-immigrant House resolution 4437
Stop all attacks against all immigrants
Stop criminalization of immigrant communities
A path to citizenship, not a temporary guest worker program without amnesty
Family reunification measures
Worker protections
Protest leaders are asking for Latinos and all affected by immigration
reform bills to remain as idle as possible for the day, no shopping, no
going to school, work, social activities, this is a day for the
government to realize our impact on the community so as to help alter
the immigration reform bill proposals to acknowledge the nation's
dependency on our productivity.
Full rights for all immigrants!

********S.2454********
*Sponsor: *Sen Frist, William
H.http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/?&Db=d109&querybd=@FIELD(FLD003+@4((@1(Sen+Frist++William+H.))+01336))>[TN]
(introduced 3/16/2006)

*Related Bills:*
H.R.4437http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HR04437:>
*Latest Major Action: *4/4/2006 Senate floor actions. Status: Considered by
Senate.

*SUMMARY AS OF:*
3/16/2006--Introduced.

Securing America's Borders Act - Provides for increases in the numbers of
federal immigration enforcement-related positions and technological assets
for use along the borders, including Department of Defense (DOD) equipment.

Provides for: (1) border control facilities construction; (2) land border
port of entry construction and improvements; (3) border patrol checkpoints;
and (4) fencing, barrier, and road construction and improvements in the Yuma
and Tucson sectors.

Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) to develop: (1) a
comprehensive land and maritime border surveillance plan; (2) a National
Strategy for Border Security; and (3) a southern border study.

Directs the Secretary of State to: (1) report to Congress on improving the
exchange of North American security information; (2) work with Canada and
Mexico to assist Guatemala and Belize in border security activities; and (3)
work with appropriate countries to share information and track Central
American gang members.

Provides for biometric data (including entry-exit data collection),
document, and other border security enhancements.

Makes all aliens inadmissible on terrorism-related grounds ineligible for
asylum. Increases the class of aliens ineligible on security-related grounds
for cancellation of removal or voluntary departure.

Makes alien members of criminal street gangs inadmissible and deportable.
Denies temporary protected status to gang members.

Revises alien smuggling provisions. Directs the Secretary to establish the
American Local and Interior Enforcement Needs (ALIEN) Task Force to respond
to the use of government transportation infrastructure to further unlawful
alien trafficking.

Provides a mandatory minimum sentence for carrying or using a firearm during
an alien smuggling crime.

Revises illegal entry, reentry after removal, and related criminal penalty
provisions. Makes it a crime to knowingly be illegally present in the United
States.

Revises passport and visa provisions. Criminalizes: (1) trafficking in
passports; (2) executing a scheme to defraud a person in connection with any
federal immigration matter; and (3) knowing use of any immigration document
issued or designed for use by another.

Makes an alien convicted of a passport or visa violation inadmissible and
removable.

Revises and increases penalties for marriage fraud.

Continues the institutional removal program (IRP) and authorizes its
expansion to all states.

Revises voluntary departure provisions.

Prohibits the knowing sale of firearms to, or the possession of firearms by,
an alien parolee.

Establishes a ten-year statute of limitations for specified
immigration-related offenses.

States that no provision of law shall be construed to provide immigration
benefits to an alien who poses a security threat, is under investigation for
removal, or for whom background checks have not been completed.

Provides reimbursement to states and local government for costs associated
with: (1) processing undocumented criminal aliens through the criminal
justice system; and (2) immigration enforcement training.

Authorizes grants for Indian tribes with lands adjacent to an international
border of the United States that have been adversely affected by illegal
immigration.

Revises alien registration provisions.

Requires, with exceptions, mandatory detention of an alien apprehended
illegally seeking to enter the United States at a U.S. port of entry or land
or maritime border as of October 1, 2006. Provides that during the interim
period an alien must post a bond of at least $5,000 for release pending a
removal hearing.

Includes in the definition of aggravated felony a third drunk driving
conviction.

Requires expedited removal of an illegal alien apprehended within 100 miles
of the border and within 14 days of entry.

Prohibits certain sex offenders from sponsoring an immigrant applicant.

Affirms state law enforcement authority to assist (including transfer to
federal custody) the federal government in enforcing U.S. immigration laws
during the normal course of law enforcement duties. Provides for related
federal reimbursement of state costs.

Provides for listing of immigration violators in the National Crime
Information Center Database.

Makes it unlawful to: (1) knowingly hire, recruit, or refer an unauthorized
alien; or (2) hire, recruit, or refer a person without complying with
identification and employment documentation verification requirements.

Directs the Secretary to implement, and sets forth the provisions of, an
electronic employment verification system.

Establishes in the Treasury the Employer Compliance Fund.

Provides for visa backlog reductions. Authorizes unused visa number
recapture. Exempts immediate relatives of U.S. citizens from the annual cap
on family-based immigration. Increases: (1) employment-based green cards;
and (2) per-country limits for family-sponsored and employment-based
immigrants. Reallocates immigrant visas.

Revises student visa and advanced degree visa provisions.

Makes the J-1 visa (medical services in underserved areas) program
permanent.

Consolidates immigration appeals into the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit.

Authorizes the Board of Immigration Appeals to reverse an immigration
judge's removal decision without remand.

Eliminates judicial review of visa revocation.

Authorizes reinstatement of a prior removal order against an alien illegally
reentering the United States.

Requires an alien applying for withholding of removal to establish that his
or her life or freedom would be threatened in the country of return, and
that race, religion, nationality, or political or social group would be a
central factor in such threat.

Subjects removal appeals to an initial certification of reviewability
process by a single judge of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.

Limits attorney awards in final orders of removal.

Requires, with exceptions, the Board of Immigration Appeals to hear cases in
three-member panels.

********H.R.4437********
*Title:* To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to strengthen
enforcement of the immigration laws, to enhance border security, and for
other purposes.
*Sponsor: *Rep Sensenbrenner, F. James,
Jr.http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/?&Db=d109&querybd=@FIELD(FLD003+@4((@1(Rep+Sensenbrenner++F.+James++Jr.))+01041))>[WI-5]
(introduced 12/6/2005)
Cosponsors http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HR04437:@@@P> (35)
*Related Bills:*
H.RES.610http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HE00610:>
, H.RES.621 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HE00621:>,
S.2454http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:SN02454:>
*Latest Major Action: *1/27/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read
twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

*SUMMARY AS OF:*
12/6/2005--Introduced.

Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of
2005 - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to: (1) take all
appropriate actions, including development of a national border strategy, to
maintain operational control over the U.S. international land and maritime
borders; (2) report on cross-border security agreements with Mexico and
Canada; (3) provide for biometric data enhancements; (4) report on the One
Face at the Border Initiative; (5) increase port of entry inspection
personnel and canine detection teams; (6) report on the airspace security
mission's impact on the National Capital Region; (7) reimburse private
owners along the border for certain property damage; (8) establish at least
one Border Patrol unit for the Virgin Islands; (9) report on Central
American gang travel across the U.S.-Mexico border; and (10) deploy
radiation portal monitors at U.S. ports of entry to screen inbound cargo for
nuclear and radiological material.

Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) with respect to alien
smuggling and illegal entry and presence to: (1) revise the definition of
aggravated felony; (2) provide mandatory minimum sentences on smuggling
convictions, and expand seizure and forfeiture authority; (3) make illegal
U.S. presence a crime; (4) increases penalties for improper U.S. entry and
for marriage and immigration-related entrepreneurship fraud; (5) provide
mandatory minimum sentences for aliens convicted of reentry after removal;
(6) impose on smugglers the same sentences that the aliens they have
smuggled would receive; (7) include among smuggling crimes the carrying or
use of a firearm during such activity; and (8) revise voluntary departure
provisions.

Directs the Secretary: (1) and the Secretary of Defense to develop a plan to
increase the availability of Department of Defense (DOD) surveillance
equipment along the U.S. international land and maritime borders; (2) to
assess border security vulnerabilities on Department of Interior land
directly adjacent to the U.S. border; (3) conduct a training exercise on
border security information sharing; (4) establish a Border Security
Advisory Committee; and (5) establish a university-based Center of
Excellence for Border Security.

Authorizes the Secretary to permit the use of DHS grants for border security
activities.

Expresses the sense of Congress with respect to border security cooperation
with sovereign Indian Nations.

Requires the mandatory detention of illegal aliens apprehended at a U.S.
port of entry or along the U.S. land or maritime borders. Permits release
with notice to appear only if the alien: (1) is not a security risk; and (2)
provides a specified bond. Denies admission to the nationals of a country
that refuses or delays acceptance of its nationals ordered removed from the
United States.

Requires that the Secretary place an alien (other than from Mexico or
Canada) who has not been admitted or paroled into expedited removal if
apprehended within 100 miles of the border and within 14 days of
unauthorized entry.

Directs the Secretary to take specified actions to ensure coordination of
DHS border security efforts.

Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish in DHS an Office of
Air and Marine Operations whose primary mission shall be to prevent the
entry of terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism,
narcotics, and other contraband into the United States.

Directs the Secretary to transfer to United States Immigration and Customs
Enforcement all functions of the Customs Patrol Officers unit operating on
the Tohono O'odham Indian reservation (the "Shadow Wolves" unit). Authorizes
the Secretary to establish within United States Immigration and Customs
Enforcement additional Customs Patrol units to operate on Indian lands.

Bars an alien: (1) deportable on terrorist grounds from receiving
withholding of removal; (2) convicted of an aggravated felony, unlawful
procurement of citizenship, or domestic violence, stalking, or child abuse
from admissibility; (3) convicted of an aggravated felony from refugee or
asylee status adjustment; (4) removable on terrorist grounds from becoming
naturalized; and (5) from being naturalized while in removal proceedings.

Revises and enhances detention provisions for certain dangerous aliens
subject to removal, including establishment of a detention review process
for cooperating aliens.

Increases penalties and sets mandatory minimum sentences for aliens who fail
to comply with removal provisions.

Makes an alien deportable for: (1) three or more drunk driving convictions;
and (2) social security number and identification fraud.

Authorizes (and reimburses) local sheriffs or sheriff coalitions in
specified counties along the southern border to enforce the immigration laws
and to transfer illegal aliens to federal custody. Establishes in the
Treasury the Designated County Law Enforcement Account.

Makes an alien inadmissible for U.S. entry if: (1) such alien has been
deported for criminal street gang participation; or (2) the consular officer
or the Secretary knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that such alien
is a member of a criminal street gang seeking U.S. entry in furtherance of
gang-related crimes or activities, or is a member of a designated criminal
street gang. Makes an alien deportable who: (1) is a street gang member
convicted of committing or attempting to commit a gang crime; or (2) is
determined by the Secretary to be a member of a designated criminal street
gang. Authorizes the Attorney General to designate a group or association as
a criminal street gang. Requires mandatory detention of alien gang members
subject to removal. Makes such aliens ineligible for asylum and protection
from removal to certain countries.

Authorizes expedited removal for aliens inadmissible for security or
criminal grounds.

Makes sexual abuse of a minor an aggravated felony for immigration purposes.

Directs the Secretary to establish, and sets forth the provisions for, an
employment eligibility verification system. Expands the employment
eligibility verification system to include: (1) previously hired
individuals; and (2) recruitment and referral. Sets forth civil and criminal
penalty provisions for noncompliance.

Provides for: (1) voluntary employer verification utilizing such system two
years after enactment of this Act for previously hired individuals; (2)
mandatory employer verification three years after enactment of this Act by
federal, state, and local governments, and the military for employees not
verified under such system working at federal, state or local government
buildings, military bases, nuclear energy sites, weapons sites, airports, or
critical infrastructure sites; and (3) mandatory employer verification six
years after enactment of this Act for all employees not previously verified
under such system.

Makes employer participation in the basic pilot program mandatory two years
after enactment of this Act.

Authorizes the Board of Immigration Appeals to reverse an immigration
judge's removal decision without remand.

Eliminates judicial review of visa revocation.

Authorizes reinstatement of a prior removal order against an alien illegally
reentering the United States.

Requires an alien applying for withholding of removal to establish that his
or her life or freedom would be threatened in the country of return, and
that race, religion, nationality, or political or social group would be a
central factor in such threat.

Subjects removal appeals to an initial certification of reviewability
process by a single court of appeals judge.

Requires all nonimmigrant applicants to waive any right to: (1) review or
appeal a determination of inadmissibility at port of entry; or (2) contest,
other than through asylum, any action for removal.