Comprehensive Immigration Reform ASAP Act of 2009

House of Representatives Democrats, led by Representative Gutierrez (D-Ill.) introduced the Comprehensive Immigration Reform ASAP Act of 2009 (H.R. 4321) in the House of Representatives on December 15, 2009.

COMMENTARY
Here is a summary of what I see as the main highlights of this bill:
• Reduction of existing backlogs: Permits the “recapture” of unused employment-based visas and family-sponsored visas from fiscal years 1992-2008 and allows future unused visa numbers to roll over to next fiscal year. Immediate relatives are exempted from the annual cap on the number of immigrant visas. This section increases the percentage limit of visas which may be issued yearly to a single country.
• Promotion of Family Unity: To recognize family unity principles and facilitate backlog reduction, reclassifies spouses and children of lawful permanent residents as immediate relatives. The government is given greater discretionary authority to waive unlawful presence bars to reunite families upon a demonstration of hardship for applicant’s U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident family members.
• Immigrants with Advanced Skills Exempt from Visa Cap: Exempts several categories of highly skilled workers from the employment-based immigrant visa cap.
• Visa Program for Qualified Undocumented Workers: Creates a program providing conditional nonimmigrant status for undocumented immigrants (and their spouses and children) in the U.S., which is valid for six years.

Early criticism seems to be that the bill is too generous to immigrants. Changing the preference system for spouses and children of permanent residents to classify them as immediate relatives (who always have a visa number available) is certainly a generous benefit.

The bill does not have a provision for a guest worker program. “Any bill without a temporary worker program is simply not comprehensive,” said Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) a reform supporter who has worked on legislation in the past with Gutierrez.

The bill does not appear to have enough stringent enforcement measures to win support in the Senate. Rep. Lamar Smith (Texas), the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, stated “The bill won’t pass because the American people oppose rewarding lawbreakers, which then encourages even more illegal immigration.”

People generally expect Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to lead upcoming reform measures in the Senate. Here is a link to his stated (more stringent) goals for immigration:

We also need to keep the following in mind: IMMIGRATION IS LOW ON THE ADMINISTRATION’S LIST OF PRIORITIES. Here is what I interpret as the list of the administration’s top priorities for 2010:
• The Economy
• Afghanistan/Iraq/The War on Terror
• Health Care Reform
• Financial Regulatory Reform
• Clean Energy Legislation
• Immigration

Congressional elections will also take place in 2010. That may influence the timing of when the Senate begins detailed debates on this issue. I also find it very unlikely that the Administration would have the broad measure of support to tackle immigration, especially after confronting the other major issues on its agenda. I will end this article with a quote that demonstrates the priority assigned to immigration:

Democratic leaders expect immigration reform to be on the agenda, but it’s not first in line. “The administration has laid out several priorities including financial regulatory reform and clean energy legislation,” said Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). “We hope to consider comprehensive immigration reform in addition to these issues in the first half of next year.”