National Immigration Forum

Practical Solutions for Immigrants and America

Legislation

Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the 113th Congress

The Issue

Our immigration system is broken. There are an estimated 10 - 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. Most have lived here for many years, contributing to our economy while providing a better life for their family. We rely on them as workers, but we have not provided them with legal status to work. Our admissions system has not been updated in more than 20 years, and it has become so out of line with today’s realities that some immigrants must wait a decade or more to reunite with close family members. Border and enforcement resources are wasted in pursuit of immigrant workers, when they could be better spent if focused on criminals, violent drug smugglers, national security threats, and unscrupulous employers taking advantage of an exploitable workforce.

The Legislation

  • Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act
    S. 744, introduced in the Senate on April 17, 2013 by Senators Schumer (D-N.Y.), McCain (R-Ariz.), Durbin (D-Ill.), Graham (R-S.C.), Menendez (D-N.J.), Rubio (R-Fla.), Bennett (D-Colo.) and Flake (R-Ariz.). The legislation provides extra resources for border security, provides currently unauthorized immigrants a process for gaining legal status, overhauls the legal immigration system including family-based, employment-based immigration and temporary worker programs, allocates resources to promote immigrant integration, allocates more resources for immigration enforcement in the interior, mandates and electronic worker verification system, makes changes in the refugee and asylum system, and makes reforms to the immigration court system.


Bills adjusting immigration levels for certain categories

A number of bills have been introduced to adjust levels of immigration for certain categories of immigrants. With widespread acknowledgement that many aspects of our immigration system need fixing, it is less likely that bills focusing on a small part of the problem will gain enough support to become law. Among these bills are:

  • Legal Agricultural Workforce Act
    H.R. 242, introduced in the House by Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL) on January 14, 2013. This bill creates a new "W" visa for temporary agricultural workers. Visa allocations will be based on (1) annual numerical limitations and monthly limitations based on enrollment requests, historical agricultural employment needs, and the reports of U.S. workers applying for agricultural employment. It establishes a trust fund to administer and enforce the program and provide monetary incentive for W-visa holders to return to their home countries.


Status

The Senate Legislation
  • On April 22, 2013, there was a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on the legislation, featuring more than 20 witnesses on four panels testifying for and against the bill. All of the testimony and a video recording of the hearing can be obtained here.

  • On April 23, 2013, there was a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee with the sole witness being Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. You can obtain the testimony and watch a video of the hearing here.

  • On April 25, 2013, the Senate Judiciary Committee met to begin formal consideration of the Senate comprehensive immigration reform bill. This day was devoted to opening statements, and you can watch a video recording here. Substantive markup of the bill will begin May 9.


Hearings leading up to the introduction of the legislation:
There have been a number of hearings in Congress focusing on a number of subjects related to immigration reform.


  • On February 5, 2013, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing, "America's Immigration System: Opportunities for Legal Immigration and Enforcement of Laws against Illegal Immigration." To obtain testimony for that hearing and to watch a video recording, click here. (Find a report on that hearing in this policy update from the National Immigration Forum.)

  • On February 13, 2013, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing, "Comprehensive Immigration Reform." To obtain the witness testimony and member statements, and to view a video recording of the hearing, click here. To read a report on the hearing, see this Immigration Policy Update from the National Immigration Forum.

  • On February 26, 2013, the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security held a hearing, "Agricultural Labor: From H-2A to a Workable Agricultural Guestworker Program." To obtain testomony for that hearing and to watch a video recording, click here. (There was a brief report of that hearing in this policy update.

  • On February 26, 2013, the House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, held a hearing, "What Does a Secure Border Look Like?." You can obtain testimony from that testimony by clicking here.

  • On March 5, 2013, the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security helod a hearing, "Enhancing American Competitiveness through Skilled Immigration." To obtain testimony and watch a video recording of that hearing, click here.

  • On March 14, 2013, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs held a hearing, "Border Security: Measuring the Progress and Addressing the Challenges." To obtain testimony and watch a video recording of the hearing, click here.


  • On March 14, 2013, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held a hearing, "Examining the Role of Lower-Skilled Guest Worker Programs in Today's Economy." To obtain the testimony from that hearing, and to view a video recording of the hearing, click here.

  • On March 14, 2013, the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security held a hearing, "The Separation of Nuclear Families under U.S. Immigration Law." To obtain testimony from that hearing, and to watch a video recording of the hearing, click here.



For More Information

Summaries and Analysis of the Senate Legislation



Information on America's Broken Immigration System and the Need for Reform


Web sites

Following are a few Web sites where you can get information on immigration reform from a variety of viewpoints.



For a look at the effort to enact comprehensive immigration reform from 2001 to 2007, see the film series How Democracy Works Now. The film gives a behind-the-scenes look at the parties involved in the immigration policy debate--Representatives, Senators, and their staffs; lobbyists; and grassroots activists--and how outside events changed the course of the debate.

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