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Senate to Take Up Final DHS Appropriations Bill that Extends E-Verify & Three Expiring Visa Programs and Provides Immigration Relief to Widows and Orphans of Deceased U.S. Citizens
By Micheal E. Hill
Monday, October 19, 2009 - 7:00 am EDT
[Updated: Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - 9:45 am EDT]
The Senate this week could take up a compromise version of the fiscal year 2010 bill that funds the nation's borde r enforcement, interior immigration enforcement, and immigration services functions. The House of Representatives approved the measure on Thursday, October 15, 2009, by a vote of 307-114. Senate action could come as soon as Tuesday, October 20, 2009. Should the Senate, as expected, approve the measure, it will clear it for the President's expected signature.
This week's Senate action is expected to occur in connection with H. Rept. 111-298, the conference report accompanying H.R. 2892, the Fiscal Year 2010 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act. The measure contains a three year-long extension of the controversial E-Verify Program, as well as three year-long extensions of the EB-5 Investor Visas Regional Centers Program, the Special Immigrant Non-Minister Religious Worker Visa Program, and the Conrad 30 State J-1 Visa Program.
The conference report also directly appropriates about $50 MILLION for refugee and asylum adjudications and provides for the admission of widows and orphans of deceased United States citizens under some circumstances.
From an immigration perspective, the conference report is more controversial for what it does not contain. It rejects a number of controversial immigration enforcement policy provisions that the Senate adopted when the Senate considered the measure last Summer, including E-Verify, border fencing, and SSA No-Match letters.
Conferees reached agreement on settling the differences between the House-passed and Senate-passed versions of the fiscal year 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations Act on Wednesday, October 7, 2009, filing the conference report late in the evening on Tuesday, October 13, 2009.
Resolution of Key Immigration-Related Policy Differences between the House and Senate Bills
The following is a brief summary of some of the agreements reached on major immigration policy and spending provisions:
- The E-Verify System. Section 546 of the Senate-passed bill sought to extend permanently, require that all federal contractors participate, and permit employers to use the system to verify the immigration status of existing employees; not just new-hires. The House-passed bill would have extended the program for two years. But it did not contain any of the policy provisions.
The conferees opted to extend the E-Verify program for three years but rejected the Senate E-Verify policy provisions.
- SSA No-Match Letters. Section 561 of the Senate-passed bill would have provided that none of the amounts made available under the Act could be used to implement changes to a Bush era rule describing the process for employers to follow after receiving a ‘‘no match’’ letter in order to qualify for ‘‘safe harbor, which the Senate-passed bill. The House-passed bill did not contain comparable language. The conferees rejected the Senate language.
The conferees rejected the Senate's SSA No-Match language.
- Border Fencing. Section 560 of the Senate-passed bill would have imposed a number of restrictions and mandates on the Administration with regard to fencing being constructed along the U.S. border with Mexico. The House-passed bill contained no such provisions.
The conferees rejected the Senate's border fencing language.
- Investor Visa Regional Centers. The Senate-passed bill would have extended for three years the EB-5 Investor Visa Regional Centers program. The House-passed bill contained no such provision.
Sec. 548 of the conference agreement extends the EB-5 Regional Centers program through October 1, 2012.
- Religious Worker Non-Minister Special Immigrant Visa Program. The Senate-passed bill would have extended for three years the Special Immigrant Non-Minister Religious Worker Visa Program. The House-passed bill contained no such provision.
Sec. 568(a)(1) of the conference agreement extends the Special Immigrant Non-Minister Religious Worker Visa Program for three years, through October 1, 2012. Sec. 568(a)(2) of the conference agreement requires USCIS to conduct a study and report on certain aspects of the program.
- Conrad 30 State J-1 Visa Program. The Senate-passed bill would have extended for three years the Conrad 30 State J-1 Visa Program. The House-passed bill contained no such provisions.
Sec. 568(b) of the conference agreement extends the Conrad 30 State J-1 Visa Waiver Program through October 1, 2012.
- Relief for Widows and Orphans of U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents. The Senate-passed bill would have protected widows, widowers and orphans of deceased U.S. citizens who are in the family immigration system by allowing widows, widowers and orphans, to immigrate on a family-based visa despite the death of a petitioner. The House-passed bill contained no such provisions.
Sec. 568(c), (d), and (e) of the conference agreement protects widows, widowers and orphans of deceased U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents who are in the family immigration system by allowing widows, widowers and orphans, to immigrate on a family-based visa despite the death of a petitioner.
Resolution of Key Immigration-Related Funding Differences
There were a number of significant differences in the level of funding in the House- and Senate-passed bills for various immigration- and refugee-related bureaus and programs within the Department. The most prominent difference was found in the area of appropriations for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
The House-passed bill would have appropriated $2.8 BILLION for USCIS, including $298 MILLION in directly appropriated funds. However, the Senate-passed bill would have appropriated $2.639 BILLION for USCIS, including only $135.7 MILLION in directly appropriated funds.
The conferees agreed to include $2.726 BILLION for USCIS, including $224 MILLION in directly appropriated funding for USCIS.
Within the appropriation for USCIS--
- Refugee and Asylum Adjudications. The conferees dramatically cut the Administration's request for funding for refugee and asylum adjudications. The Administration had asked for $206 MILLION for that purpose. The House-passed bill would have appropriated $100 MILLION for those adjudications. The Senate-passed bill would have appropriated no funds. The conferees agreed to appropriate $50 MILLION.
- Military Naturalizations. The conferees agreed to directly appropriate $5 MILLION for military naturalization adjudications. This is approximately what the Administration asked for and what was provided for in the Senate-passed version of the bill. The House-passed version of the bill would not have appropriated any funds for this purpose.
- Immigrant Integration. The conferees agreed to appropriate $11 MILLION "to expand immigrant integration and outreach efforts that promote legal paths to US citizenship." The amount is an increase of $9.2 MILLION in fiscal year 2010 compared to the $1.9 MILLION that was provided for this purpose in fiscal year 2009, and that it is $1 MILLION more than the Administration requested.
- Funding for the USCIS Ombudsman. The conferees agreed to appropriate $6.685 MILLION for the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, which is $250,000 less than the amount the Administration requested and $214,000 more than was provided in fiscal year 2009 for that purpose.
- Funding for E-Verify. The conferees agreed to appropriate $137 MILLION to operate the E-Verify System "and further improve its accuracy and compliance rates."
Outlook
At the time of this writing, no unanimous consent agreement on how to handle the conference report had been entered into.
A number of points of order will lie against the conference report for violating Senate rules. Accordingly, any senator who desires to could force the Senate to vote on whether to waive those violations. In some instances, the Senate would be able to waive the Senate rules with a simple majority vote. However, in other instances, the Senate might need 60 votes in order to waive points of order against the bill.
Conference reports on appropriations bills can be filibustered. And so a determined minority in the Senate could force Senate Majority Leader Reid to file a cloture petition to shut off debate on the measure. If the Majority Leader does file a cloture petition, he would need to amass 60 votes in order invoke cloture.
While it appears highly likely that the Senate will clear the conference report accompanying the Fiscal Year 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations Act, it was not known at the time of this writing whether opponents in the Senate will exercise parliamentary options that are available to them force the Senate to spend an extended amount of time debating the measure or to require 60 votes in order to pass it.
RELATED DOCUMENTS:
Click Here to see the text of H. Rept. 111-209, the conference report accompanying H.R. 2892
Click Here to see a summary of the conference agreement that was prepared by staff members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees
RELATED STORIES FROM MicEvHill.Com:
Side-by-Side Comparison of Key Immigration-Related Provisions in the Various Versions of H.R. 2892
House Agrees to Conference Report on DHS Appropriations; Senate to Act Next WeekConferees Jettison Controversial Immigration Enforcement Policy Provisions in Agreement on Homeland Security Appropriations Bill
House-Senate Conference on Homeland Security Appropriations Bill Hits Snag
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