Senate activity on Thurs 5/26

STATUS: On May 25, the Senate concluded work on S. 2611, the “compromise” amnesty bill, when it passed by a 62-36 vote. If the bill became law in its current form, it would create the largest immigration increase in U.S. history – a disaster for American workers and taxpayers. S. 2611 would increase legal immigration by 60 million people over the next 20 years and grant amnesty to an estimated eight to 10 million illegal aliens. The Senate passed the bill despite recent polling indicating that Americans oppose amnesty and want legal immigration numbers reduced. The next step could be a conference committee with the House, which passed a strong enforcement-first immigration reform bill last December.

Before passing S. 2611, the Senate voted on six final amendments. An unsuccessful amendment by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX; SA 4097) would have affected the confidentiality of information from DREAM Act-related amnesty applicants in cases where an application was denied and appeals were exhausted. Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s amendment (D-NM; SA 4131), which passed the Senate, would cap the number of employment-based visas for workers, spouses and children at 650,000. Another amendment that Sen. Russell Feingold (D-WI; SA 4083) had passed deletes a provision in the bill that would have prohibited courts from staying removal of any alien except in certain cases. Sen. Jeff Sessions’ unsuccessful amendment (R-AL: SA 4108) would have prevented illegal aliens, whether granted amnesty or not, from being rewarded for their illegal activity by way of a tax credit. A similar fated amendment (SA 4136) by Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) would have prevented illegal aliens granted amnesty from being rewarded for their prior illegal activity by way of a tax credit for tax years before 2006. Finally, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) was able to pass a manager’s amendment (SA 4188) that included language from a number of agreed-to amendments, although no public notice was provided as to which amendments were included.

On May 24, the Senate overrode the wishes of the majority of Americans through two procedural and highly political moves. First, the Senate voted to invoke cloture, which limits debate on the bill (i.e., no more than 30 hours) in preparation for final passage, and limits further amendments to ones that are germane and agreed to in advance. Had 40 Senators voted to reject cloture, the bill would have, effectively, been stopped. Subsequently, the Senate rejected a budget point of order raised by Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO), which, if accepted, would have slowed progress on passage of this amnesty-guestworker "compromise" proposal. Beyond these actions, the Senate voted on eight other amendments, with five of them being adopted. A successful amendment by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV, SA 4127) requires aliens to pay DHS an additional $500 fee before receiving that amnesty or “guestworker” status. An amendment by Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH, SA 4114) was endorsed that reallocates visas made available through the Visa Lottery to allow more "high-skill" workers in through that program. An amendment by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA, SA 4025), which was adopted by voice vote, encourages adoption of children from other countries by U.S. citizens and creates a new nonimmigrant classification for an adoptable child. Also adopted by voice vote were: (1) an amendment by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA, SA 4144), which requires employers who seek to hire H-2C "guestworkers" to meet specified notification and posting requirements to recruit U.S. workers for the position for which the H-2C "guestworker" is sought; and (2) an amendment by Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT, SA 4124), which requires the Census Bureau to report to Congress on how to ensure that illegal aliens are not counted for purposes of House seat apportionment. An amendment offered by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX, SA 4101, which would have established a SAFE "guestworker" visa for citizens of CAFTA-DR and NAFTA nations, was rejected, as was – by a narrow margin (48 for and 49 against) – a proposal by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND, SA 4095), which would have sunsetted the H-2C "guestworker" program after five years. Senators voted to table an amendment by Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA, SA 4084), which would have restricted aliens' access to the proposed "blue card" agricultural "guestworker" program.

On May 23, the Senate voted down an amendment by Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA; SA 4087) that would have replaced the bill's "earned legalization" amnesty and Deferred Mandatory Departure provisions with a one-tiered scheme in which all aliens illegally present in the United States on or before January 1, 2006, are granted amnesty and an "orange card" (instead of the normal "green card") if they are otherwise admissible. That amendment would have added 2 million illegal aliens to the amnesty already contained in the bill. Members succeeded in tabling an amendment (SA 4117) by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) that would have opened up a dangerous loophole for terrorists to enter the United States. An amendment (SA 4177) by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) passed which revised the bill’s mandatory employment verification provisions. The Senate also tabled two other amendments. Sen. Ted Kennedy’s amendment (D-MA; SA 4106) would have affected employer sanctions and enforcement under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Sen. Richard Durbin’s amendment (D-IL; SA 4142) would have provided another waiver from the removal process for family hardship.

On May 22, members voted to table an amendment sponsored by Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA; SA 4009) that would have required an employer applying to hire H-2A workers, or utilizing "blue card" status temporary agricultural workers, to pay the greater of the local prevailing wage for that occupation or the minimum wage. The Senate endorsed an amendment by Sen. John Ensign (R-NV; SA 4076) that would authorize border state governors to have their National Guard troops train annually on the border, although the troops would not directly participate in the apprehension of illegal aliens.

The Senate adjourned on Friday, May 19, after briefly debating S. 2611, the "compromise" amnesty bill. No votes were held. On Thursday, May 18, the Senate adjourned after voting on ten amendments to S. 2611, the "compromise" amnesty bill. The Senate passed an amendment by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA; SA 4066) that retracts provisions of a positive amendment (SA 3965) passed the night before. SA 4066 removes a provision requiring Federal certification of an employer's need to import foreign workers. An amendment by Sen. Ensign (SA 3985) would have cut off access to Social Security benefits for most illegal aliens, but the amendment was tabled. Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HA; SA 4029) succeeded in passing an amendment that exempts children of naturalized Filipino World War II veterans from numerical limits. An amendment (SA 3964) by Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) was adopted that would remove the ability of illegal aliens to prove their employment history through reasonable inference. This would greatly reduce the potential for fraud. An amendment (SA 4064) by Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) would have made English the official language of the United States. Although the amendment passed, it was displaced by a subsequent amendment by Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO; SA 4073) that was more symbolic than substantive in nature. SA 4072, sponsored by Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), would have used funds targeted for administration of the amnesty and temporary worker programs to reimburse state and local governments for the costs of incarcerating criminal aliens as well as for health care and educational services related to non-citizens. That amendment failed but a related one (SA 4038) by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) passed that would impose fees on amnestied aliens to fund health care and educational services for non-citizens. The Senate tabled SA 3969, an amendment by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), which would have removed the automatic path to citizenship for “guestworkers.” Members concluded the day by passing an amendment (SA 3998) by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) that would increase detention space for apprehended illegal aliens.

May 16 was the first full day of debate on floor amendments to S. 2611. An unsuccessful amendment offered by Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) would have prohibited the implementation of any guestworker or amnesty scheme until DHS could certify that necessary border security measures and increases in Federal detention space were fully operational. A somewhat similar but much weaker amendment by Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) was adopted. It would authorize the President to trigger implementation of guestworker and amnesty provisions by certifying that such programs would strengthen national security. The most contentious discussion of the day surrounded Sen. Byron Dorgan's (D-ND) proposal to strike the controversial guestworker provisions from the bill, which after lengthy debate, was tabled permanently. Sen. Jeff Bingaman's (D-NM) amendment capping the number of new guestworkers at 200,000 per year was agreed to by voice vote after an attempt was made to table it. This removed the most out-of-control part of the bill, but still would lead to more than 60 million immigrants over the next 20 years. The Senate also adopted an amendment by Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) to add 1,000 Border Patrol agents.

On May 15, the President for the first time before a national audience stated what most secure-borders advocates have long believed – that President Bush supports citizenship for illegal aliens. He stopped short of endorsing S. 2611 by name but supported its contents. He also called for stationing 6,000 National Guard troops at the border for one year to assist in installing surveillance technology, analyzing intelligence about human and drug trafficking and installing fences. The full Senate also began debate on S. 2611.

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A study released May 15 by the Heritage Foundation's Robert Rector estimates that S. 2611 will allow 103 million persons to immigrate legally to the United States over the next twenty years, fully one-third of the current population, and cause increased government spending of at least $46 billion per year.

On May 11, Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced the full Senate would take up S. 2611 and outlined an agreement on the selection of a potential conference committee with the House. The Senate portion of the conference committee would include 26 members - an unusually large number - including14 Republicans and 12 Democrats. The seven most senior Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee (Sens. Specter, Orrin Hatch (UT), Charles Grassley (IA), Jon Kyl (AZ), Mike DeWine (OH), Jeff Sessions (AL), and Lindsey Graham (SC)) and the five most senior Democrats (Sens. Patrick Leahy (VT), Ted Kennedy (MA), Joseph Biden (DE), Herbert Kohl (WI), and Diane Feinstein (CA)) would be members of the conference committee. The rest of the conferees would be selected individually by Frist and Reid.

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