Monday, February 01, 2010

Immigration Reform 101

Immigration policy rests high on the political order in this country and 2010 promises this topic will be hotly debated. Fast forward to the midterm elections and the political pundits will have a field day with immigration reform!

I have been thinking about immigration reform. What is it? What does it mean? How will it affect me or anyone I know?

From what I understand, the bill seeks to do the following:

Visa Reforms: Unclog the visa backlog by evoking unused employment-based visas and family sponsored visas from fiscal years 1992-2008.

Judicial Review: reverse a 1996 law which currently prohibits the courts from reviewing Department of Homeland Security’s decisions on immigration cases.

Legalization: Award a conditional six-year nonimmigrant status for illegal immigrants and their immediate families. This pertains to illegal immigrants who were in the U.S. before Dec. 15, 2009.

Border Security: Provide Customs and Border Protection with sufficient resources (helicopters and aerial surveillances) to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.

Enforcement: Address immigrant harassment by restricting federal immigration enforcement solely to the federal government and not the states and local agencies.

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