綜合移民改革法 2010

兩位美國參議員推出2010綜合移民改革法案。 此外，該法案提倡自2010年9月30日起（今天）給在美國無證的外國人一種特殊簽證。六年後，他們可以申請綠卡。這個法案由兩位民主黨議員提出。得不到兩黨足夠的支持的話，可能會讓此法案在一開始便夭折。
以下是法案的概要：

THE COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM ACT OF 2010
Introduced by Senator Robert Menendez (D‐NJ) and Senator Patrick Leahy (D‐VT)
Title I – Border Enforcement
• Establishes border enforcement 「triggers」 that must be met before any unauthorized
     immigrants can apply for permanent residency.
•
     Requires DHS to review assets and staffing needed for border security and enforcement.
• Funds port of entry improvements and tools and technology, in line with this review.
• Expands Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement
     (ICE) staffing, in line with this review.
• Improves training and accountability for DHS border and immigration officers.
• Enhances cooperation with Canada and Mexico, as well as local law enforcement agencies,
     to improve border security and coordinate crime fighting.
•
    Clarifies that the power to regulate immigration resides with the federal government, not
    states and localities, and that state and local police do not have the 「inherent authority」 to
    enforce federal immigration laws (outside of 287(g) agreements).
• Involves border communities in enforcement policy through creation of a U.S.‐Mexico
    Border Enforcement Commission and a Border Communities Liaison Office.
Title II – Interior Enforcement
• Requires DHS to track the departure of noncitizens to ensure that individuals do not
overstay their visas.
• Denies 「visa waiver」 privileges to countries whose citizens attempt to overstay visas.
• Refines existing law on illegal entry, illegal reentry and voluntary departure of noncitizens to
    ensure enforcement of those provisions and heighten penalties for those who commit
    serious offenses.
• Funds and expands the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program to cover additional criminal
     justice costs borne by state and local governments.
• Enhances efforts to ensure that DHS does not mistakenly deport U.S. citizens and residents.
• Expands penalties for passport, visa, and immigration fraud; unlawful flight from
     immigration or customs controls; and gang activity.
• Expands other civil penalties and grounds of inadmissibility for certain criminals.
• Provides common‐sense rules governing the detention of families, elderly or ill immigrants,
    crime victims, and other 「vulnerable populations」 like torture survivors, as well as
    enforcement actions that involve children.
• Improves detention conditions to meet basic standards; expands secure alternatives to
     detention.
• Ends the waiting period for refugees and asylees to obtain green cards.
Title III – Worksite Enforcement
•
    Mandates the use of an employment verification system for all employers within five years.

•Creates a new fraud‐
esistant, tamper‐
esistant Social Security card; requires workers to use
    fraud‐ and tamper‐
esistant documents to prove authorization to work in the United States.
• Requires the Social Security Administration to create a reliable and secure way of verifying
    Social Security numbers and work authorization.
• Adds criminal penalties for fraud and misuse of Social Security numbers.
• Provides protections for workers to prevent fraudulent use of social security numbers,
    correct government database errors, and combat employment discrimination.
• Creates a voluntary pilot program using biometric identifiers to demonstrate work
     authorization.

Title IV – Reforming America』s Legal Immigration System
• Creates a Standing Commission on Immigration, Labor Markets, and the National interest to
    evaluate labor market and economic conditions and recommend quotas for employmentbased
    visa programs that Congress and the President would act on. The Commission will be
    made up of the Secretaries of DHS, State, Labor, Health and Human Services, and
    Agriculture, as well as the Attorney General, Social Security Commissioner, and seven nongovernmental
    members appointed by the President.
• Creates the structure for a new nonimmigrant visa program (H‐2C) to address gaps in
     existing worker programs that have lead to undocumented migration. The number of H‐2C
     workers admitted to the program is completely dependent upon the Commission』s
     recommendations regarding the impact on the labor market and economy. Workers must
     have a job offer and meet various application requirements. Once in the U.S., H‐2C visa
     holders are able to change jobs, provided their new employer is authorized to hire H‐2C
     workers.
   
    The H‐2C program has various features to protect U.S. workers, such as: bars to use
    of the program in high‐unemployment areas; requirements for employers to recruit
    and hire American workers first; employer‐paid program fees; employer banishment
    from the program for improper use or misrepresentation; etc.
     H‐2C workers are eligible to apply for green cards after having worked in the U.S. for
    four years, or immediately if they are sponsored by their employer.
• Significantly expands labor protections in current H‐2A, H‐2B, H‐1B, and L‐1 visa programs.
• Ensures that the number of family and employment green cards authorized by Congress do
     not expire because of processing delays; expands the share of visas that each country can
    access within existing quotas that limit overall immigration.
• Exempts certain immigrants from counting against the annual green card quotas so that
     they can immediately reunite with loved ones in the U.S., including spouses and minor
     children of green card holders.
• Revises unlawful presence bars to immigration so that individuals with family ties are not
     permanently banished from the U.S.
• Incorporates the AgJOBS bill, which provides a path to permanent residency for farm
     workers and revises agricultural employer sponsorship requirements.
• Incorporates the Uniting American Families Act, which allows permanent partners to access
     the family‐ased immigration system.
Title V – Legalization of Undocumented Individuals
• Creates Lawful Prospective Immigrant (LPI) status for non‐criminal undocumented
    immigrants living in the U.S. since 9/30/10. Requires applicants to submit biometric and
    biographical data, undergo security and law enforcement checks, and pay a $500 fine plus
    application fees. LPI status lasts four years and can be extended. It includes work
    authorization and permission to travel abroad; immediate family members are also eligible
    for status under the program.
     Immigrants may apply for LPI status even if they are in deportation proceedings at
    the time of application or have an outstanding removal order.
    In order to transition from LPI status to Legal Permanent Residency (i.e. a 「green
    card」), applicants are required to wait at least six years; pay taxes and a $1000 fine;
    learn English and U.S. civics; and undergo additional background checks. They will
    not obtain green cards before those who were waiting 「in line」 to immigrate as of
    date of enactment.
    The LPI program includes a level of administrative and judicial review, confidentiality
    protections for applicants and their employers, and fraud prevention measures.
• Incorporates the DREAM Act, which creates a path to legal status for individuals who were
    brought to the U.S. illegally as children, provided they meet age and other criteria and
    enroll in college or the U.S. military.
Title VI ‐ Immigrant Integration and Other Reforms
• Enhances programs and policies to help immigrants learn English and U.S. civics, such as: tax
    credits for teachers of English language learners and businesses who provide such training
    for their employees; a revamped DHS Office of Citizenship and New Americans to assist with
    immigrant integration; and grants for states who work to successfully integrate newcomers.
• Provides humanitarian immigration visas for Haitian children orphaned by the 2010
    earthquake; Liberian nationals who fled civil strife and received Temporary Protected Status
    in the U.S.; and the immediate relatives of September 11th terrorism victims.
• Establishes a Commission on Wartime Treatment of European Americans and a Commission
    on Wartime Treatment of Jewish Refugees to review the country』s immigration and foreign
    policies during World War II.
• Improves access to interpreters in state courts.
• Evaluates the factors that drive undocumented migration from key sending countries and
    requires the State Department to develop a strategy to reduce migration pressures.


本欄目提供的資訊僅限讀者參考，不構成法律諮詢或律師客戶關係。讀者應就其個案情形向移民律師諮詢。