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Action Alert - STOP Shuler-Tancredo "SAVE" Act (HR 4088)

Call Your Representatives TODAY and demand that they reject the SAVE Act!

Pressure is mounting in the Democratic-led House of Representatives to act on the SAVE Act (HR 4088), an enforcement and deportation-only bill introduced and sponsored by more than 140 Democratic and Republican opponents of humane immigration reform.

Senate Fails to Act

Thursday, June 28th - The Senate today failed to pass a procedural vote on cloture to end debate on the immigration reform bill S. 1639, effectively stopping the bill from moving forward.

Cloture Vote Tally:

Senate Compromise S. 1639 (formerly S. 1348)

Tuesday, June 26, 2007 - S. 1639, the Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007,  is essentially the same as S.1348, which was the product of bipartisan compromise between senators from both parties and the White House in the spring. The new legislation now includes the amendments that passed the Senate. 

Senator Kennedy on the compromise:  "This is not the architecture of an immigration bill that I would have initially liked to see.  But this is a legislative process.  A lot of different interests are at work."

The compromise legislation included:
1) Point-system: The revamping of much of our current immigration system, which is primarily based on family ties, with one based on points.  This system will favor those with high skills and education levels, although it will also give points for family ties. The proposal will clear out the current backlog in family-based applications within the next 8 years, but will end preference categories for children over 21-years-old and siblings of U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
2) Legalization: A legalization program by which those who are currently undocumented can apply for a renewable 4-year temporary visa (Z visa) and be eligible to apply for permanent residency at the end of 8 years after paying a $5,000 fee and meeting language and other requirements.
3) Temporary Worker Program: A temporary worker program for 400,000 employees a year (amended to 200,000). Two-year Y-visas can be renewed three times, but workers must spend at least a year outside the U.S. between each term. Temporary workers can bring immediate family members for one two-year period only if they can financially support them and if they have health insurance. While there is no direct pathway to citizenship, Y-visa holders can earn points while in the U.S. that will help them apply for a green card under the new merit system.
4) Border and Workplace enforcement: Additional border agents and resources, and a requirement that all employers use a national verification system. The proposal also increases penalties for employers who hire undocumented immigrants.
5) Triggers: A trigger mechanism that delays the implementation of legalization and temporary worker programs until certain goals for border security and workplace enforcement are met. Those who are currently undocumented would receive a probationary status prior to the implementation of Z-visas.

Watch debate live on CSPAN. 

Read a National Immigration Forum section-by-section summary.

En español: lea un resumen de la legislación.  Preguntas y respuestas sobre la legislación.

Amendments to S. 1369

Tuesday, June 26 - Today, the Senate voted to renew debate on the immigration compromise bill S. 1369. Over the next several days, there will be 22 amendments that will be debated on the floor before the bill comes to a final vote.

Please see the amendments that MIRA supports. Please call your Senators now and urge them to support the following amendments:

Amendments and Key Votes on S.1348

June 7, 2007
Cloture vote: The motion to invoke cloture and thereby bring an end to the debate within a few days failed 45 to 50, in what marked a major set back for the legislation. Earlier in the day, the same motion failed by a vote of 34 to 61.  (The motion to invoke cloture on amendment 1150, to which many amendments are attached, failed by a vote of 63 to 33.)

Coburn (R-OK) Amendment: Amendment 1311 would increase triggers before Z visas could be granted. It was defeated by a 42-54 vote.

June 6, 2007
Cornyn (R-TX) Amendments: Amendment 1184 would make illegal use of a social security number a retroactive crime, for which one could be deported. The effect of this amendment is to gut the legalization provisions of the bill.  Read a NY Times editorial about this amendment.  The amendment failed by a 46-51 vote.  Amendment 1250, which substantially weakens confidentiality protections for legalization applicants, passed by a vote of 57-36.

Kennedy (D-MA) Amendment: Amendment 1333, offered as a side-by-side to Cornyn's Amendment 1184, would increase immigration penalties for certain criminal convictions. Amendment 1333 passed by a vote of 66 to 32.

Inhofe (R-OK) Amendment: Amendment 1151, the English only amendment, passed by a vote of 64 to 33.

Salazar (D-CO) Amendment: Amendment 1384, to enhance the role of the English language, was agreed to by a 58-39 vote.

Craig (R-WY) Amendment: Amendment 1182, authorizing the establishment of new units of Customs and Border Patrol officers, was agreed to by voice vote.

Clinton (D-NY)/Hagel (R-NE) Amendment: Amendment 1183 would reclassify spouses and minor children of permanent residents as "immediate relatives" for whom they can petition for permanent residency. (Under current law and in the Senate Compromise, permanent residents can petition for their spouses and minor children but they are not considered "immediate relatives".  Greencards for these applicants are capped at 87,000 annually, creating a waiting period of several years.)   This amendment was ruled out of order by the chair, and the motion to waive CBA failed 44-53. 

Lieberman (ID-CT) Amendment: Amendment 1191, which seeks to safeguards certain asylum proceedures and improve detention conditions, was agreed to by Unanimous Consent.

Menendez (D-NJ)/Hagel (R-NE) Amendment: Amendment 1194 would move the May 1, 2005 cut-off date for family backlog reduction to January 1, 2007. (Currently, four million family members of American citizens and permanent residents are on the waiting list to come to the United States, some waiting over 20 years to do so.  The Senate compromise proposes to eliminate this backlog in 8 years, but only for petitions filed prior to May 1, 2005.)  This amendment was ruled out of order by the chair. The motion to waive CBA (requiring 60 votes), failed 53-44.

DeMint (R-SC) Amendment: Amendment 1197, to require health care for Z visa holders, was defeated 43-55.

Menendez (D-NJ)/Obama (D-IL) Amendment: Amendment 1202, which would end the point system after five years unless Congress voted to continue it, was rejected by a 42-55 vote.

Sessions (R-AL) Amendment:  Amendment 1234, making Y and Z visa holders ineligible to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit, passed by a 56-41 vote.

Bingaman (D-NM) Amendment: Amendment 1267 to remove the requirement that Y visa workers return home for a year, was defeated 41-57.

Schumer (D-NY) Amendment: Amendment 1272, to establish decision-making guidelines and a tracking system for the issuance of B-1 visitor visas, was agreed to by voice vote.

Dorgan (D-ND) Amendment: Amendment 1316, to sunset the Y-1 visa program after 5 years, was agreed to by a vote of 49 to 48.

Reid (D-NV) Amendment: Amendment 1331, to clarify the application of the earned income tax credit, passed 57-40.

Vitter (R-LA) Amendment: Amendment 1339 would require that implementation of the U.S. VISIT system's biometric border check-in and check-out be included among triggers necessary for the beginning of the legalization and other provisions of the bill.  The amendment was defeated 48-49.

Ensign (R-NV) Amendment: Amendment 1374, making alterations to the point system, was defeated 42 to 55.

Hutchison (R-TX) Amendment: Amendment 1415 to bar Social Security benefits based on earnings obtained without work authorization, was agreed to by voice vote.

Kyl (R-AZ) Amendment: Amendment 1460, modifying the allocation of visas for backlogged family petitions, passed by a 51-45 vote.

June 5, 2007
Allard (R-CO) Amendment: Amendment 1189, which would limit access to green cards for Z visa holders, failed by a vote of 31 to 62.

McConnel (R-KY) Amendment: Amendment 1170, which would require voters to present photo identification, was defeated by a 41-52 vote.

Feingold (D-WI) Amendment: Amendment 1176, which establishes a commission to look at WW2 refugees, passed by a vote of 67 to 26.

Durbin (D-IL)/Grassley (R-IA) Amendment:  Amendment 1231, which sets requirements for employers seeking to hire guest (Y-visa) workers to demonstrate that they have tried to hire American workers, passed by a 71-22 vote. 

June 4, 2007
Alexander (R-TN) Amendment: Amendment 1163, establishing an award to recognize companies for extraordinary efforts in English literacy and civics, was agreed to by unanimous consent.

Grassley (R-IA) Amendment: Amendment 1166, which limits judicial review for immigrants whose visas are revoked, was agreed to by unanimous consent.

Cantwell (D-WA) Amendment: Amendment 1167 authorizes the Attorney General to carry out the Northern Border Prosecution Initiative, which reimburses county and municipal governments for costs associated with certain criminal activities. Agreed to by unanimous consent.

Cornyn (R-TX) Amendment: Amendment 1238, increasing funding for local law enforcement agencies near the border to do immigration enforcement to $100 million (from $50 million in the legislation), was agreed to by unanimous consent.

May 24, 2007
Vitter (R-LA) Amendment: Amendment 1157 would strike Title VI of the bill, which provides for the legalization of those currently undocumented. It was rejected by a 29 to 66 vote.

Coleman (R-MN) Amendment: Amendment 1158 outlaws state and local policies that prevent employees (including police and health and safety workers) from inquiring about the immigration status of those they serve. The amendment was defeated 48 to 49.

Dorgan (D-ND) Amendment: Amendment 1181 to end the temporary worker program after five years was rejected by a vote of 48 to 49.

Akaka (D-HI) Amendment: Amendment 1186 to exept children of certain Filipino World War II veterans from numerical limitations on immigrant visas was adopted by a vote of 87 to 9.

May 23, 2007
Bingaman (D-NM) Amendment: Amendment 1169 reduces the number of temporary workers provided for in the bill through the Y-visa program to 200,000 per year. (S. 1348 provided for 400,000 Y visas per year, but allowed that number to be increased to 600,000.) The amendment was adopted by a 74-24 vote.

Gregg (R-NH) Amendment: Senator Gregg's amendment to increase border security requirements before legalization and other provisions can be triggered was adopted by a voice vote.

Graham (R-SC) Amendment: Senator Graham's amendment providing jail sentences of no less than 60 days for immigrants apprehended at the border who have previous criminal convictions in the US, was approved by unanimous consent.

Feinstein (D-CA) Amendment: Senator Feinstein's amendment, providing protections for unaccompanied immigrant children, was approved by a voice vote.

Leahy (D-VT) Amendment: Senator Leahy's amendment, allowing immigrant dairy workers to come to the U.S. for as long as three years, was approved by a voice vote.

Hutchison (R-TX) Amendment: Senator Hutchison's amendment providing local officials and the Secretary of Homeland Security greater involvement in decisions about the location of border fencing, was adopted by unanimous concent.  

May 22, 2007
Dorgan (D-ND) Amendment: Amendment 1153 to eliminate the Y nonimmigrant guestworker program from the bill failed by a vote of 31 to 64.

May 21, 2007 
Cloture Vote:  Cloture on the motion to proceed with the legislation was invoked by a 69-23 vote.  This measure prevents a filibuster, and therefore allowed effective debate to begin.

Additional Amendments:

Kerry (D-MA) Amendment: This amendment provides for the release of nursing mothers, pregnant women, sole care providers, and others in the case of raids, and for greater cooperation with state social service agencies. 

Coleman (R-MN) Amendment: Amendment 1473 is similar to amendment 1158, which was defeated May 24.  The amendment outlaws state and local policies that prohibit a government entity (including police and health and safety workers) from inquiring about the immigration status of those they serve.

Baucus (D-MT)/Tester (D-MT) Amendment:  Amendment 1236, would remove the requirement for the government to impose a national identity card system (as REAL ID would do.) In short, the amendment allows workers to provide a future employer with their existing driver's license. Residents in at least 4 states - Georgia, Montana, Oklahoma and Washington - will not have a Real ID license because their state has passed binding legislation prohibiting participation.

Grassley (R-IA)/Baucus (D-MT)/Obama (D-IL) Amendment: Amendment 1441 would privacy and identity theft protections to the Employment Eligibility Verification System (EEVS) in Title III of the Senate immigration bill. It would eliminate the requirement to produce a REAL-ID-compliant drivers' licenses. It would pr