• House Overight and Government Reform Panel Holds Hearing on the E-Verify System.  On July 23, 2009, the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Management, Organization, and Procurement held a hearing on the E-Verify System. 

            

 

July 22, 2009

• House Homeland Security Subcommittee Approves Three Border Security Bills.  On Wednesday, July 22, 2009, the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism completed a markup of three border security bills, approving all three and forwarding them to the full House Committee on Homeland Security.

            

• House Floor Debate on Torture Victims Relief Act Reauthorization Bill.  On Wednesday, July 22, 2009, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1511U, the "Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2009".  The measure would reauthorize funding for programs to assist the victims of torture who are resettled in the United States.

            

October 8, 2009

• Hearing Examining Faith-Based Perspectives on Comprehensive Immigration Reform.   On Thursday, October 8, 2009, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security held a hearing on faith-based perspectives on comprehensive immigration reform.  Testifying at the hearing were Leith Anderson, President, National Association of Evangelicals; Luis Cortes Jr., CEO, Esperanza USA, Philadelphia; Theodore E. McCarrick, Cardinal Archbishop Emeritus, Diocese of Washington; Michael Gerson, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Global Engagement, Center on Faith and International Affairs; and James Tolle, Senior Pastor, The Church on the Way, Van Nuys, California.
  

Click on the thumbnail below to see video of the October 8, 2009, hearing:


 

• Human Rights Violators and Asylum.  On Tuesday, October 6, 2009, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law held a hearing on human rights violations and asylum.  The hearing was titled, "No Safe Haven: Accountability for Human Rights Violators, Part II."  Testifying at the hearing were Lanny Breuer, Assistant Attorney General, Criminial Division; John T. Morton, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Immigration and Customs Enforcement; David T. Donahue, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services, Bureau of Consular Affairs; and Arthur M. Cummings II, Executive Director, National Security Branch, FBI.

Click on the thumbnail below to see video of the October 6, 2009, hearing:

• Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee Holds Hearing on IDPs in Pakistan.  On Wednesday, July 29, 2009, the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs held a hearing on Pakistan's Internally Displaced Persons (IDP)) Crisis.  Among the witnesses testifying at the hearing was Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Eric Schwartz. 

             

• Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on the EB-5 Investor Visa Regional Centers Program.  On July 22, 2009, the full Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on "Promoting Job Creation and Foreign Investment in the United States: An assessment of the EB-5 Regional Center Program."

            

• Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Holds Hearing on E-Verify  and Biometric Employment Authorization Verification Systems.  On July 21, 2009, the Senate Judiiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security held a hearing on immigration-related employment verification systems.  The hearing examined the controversial E-Verify system as well as potential biometric-based employment verification systems. 

            

• Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Holds Hearing on REAL ID Act and PASS ID Act.  On July 15, 2009, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held a hearing examining the REAL ID Act.  The hearing was titled, "Identification Security: Reevaluating the REAL ID Act".

            



June 3, 2009

• Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on the Uniting American Families Act.  On June 3, 2009, the full Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on S. 424, the "Uniting American Families Act", legilsation that would amend U.S. lasw to permit "permanent partners" of gay United States citizens and permanent residents to be treated under immigration law as if they were the spouses of such persons.

Click on the thumbmail below to see video of the June 3, 2009: 
 

            

May 20, 2009

• Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Holds Hearing on U.S. Border Enforcement.  On May 20, 2009, the Senate Judiiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security held a hearing titled, "Securing the Borders and America's Points of Entry, What Remains to Be Done". 

Click on the thumbmail below to see video of the May 20, 2009, hearing:

            

• Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Comprehensive Immigration Reform.  On April 30, 2009, the Senate Judiiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security held a hearing titled, "Comprehensive Immigration Reform in 2009, Can We Do It and How?"

• Senate Appropriations Committee Approves FY '10 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill.  On Thursday, July 30, 2009, the senate Committee on Appropriations approved its version of the Fiscal Year 2010 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, which funds the federal government's refugee resettlement, trafficking victim assistance, torture victim assitance programs, as well as the care and placement of unaccompanied alien children. 
  
  While the text of the Committee-approved bill has not yet been publicly released, reports indicate that it would cut the Administration's request for refugee and unaccompanied alien child programs by $10 MILLION.
  
  Click on the thumbnail below to listen to audio of the July 30, 2009, markup: 

 

• Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Approves Bill to Replace Key Provisions of the REAL ID Act.  On Wednesday, July 29, 2009, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs approved S. 2161, the "Providing for Additional Security in States' Identification Act of 2009", or the "PASS ID Act".

 

• Senate Appropriations Committee Approves FY '10 State, Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill.  On Thursday, July 9, 2009, the senate Committee on Appropriations approved S. 1434, its version of the Fiscal Year 2010 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill.

            

• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Approves FY '10 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill.  On Wednesday, June 17, 2009, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security approved its version of S. 1298, the Fiscal Year 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill.