Senate Begins Debate on Immigration Bill; Contains Provisions on International Adoption, Widows, and Orphans

On May 22, the Senate began its consideration of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1348). The measure would, among other provisions, increase border technological surveillance capabilities; hire and train additional border patrol agents; make it unlawful to knowingly hire or recruit an illegal immigrant; and prohibit immigration application approval until background and security checks have been completed and any fraud allegations have been resolved. The measure would exempt from the annual cap on specialty (H-1B) visas individuals who have earned a master’s degree or higher from a U.S. university or been awarded a medical certification based on post-doctoral training in the U.S.

S. 1348 also would reduce backlogs for family-sponsored immigrant applicants and would create a new special immigrant category for women and orphans who “face a credible fear of harm” based on their sex or age, respectively.

The bill would establish a guest worker program for 400,000 to 600,000 temporary workers per year. A guest worker visa would allow a nonimmigrant entrant to work in the United States for two years, with the possibility of renewal; it also would allow the issuance of nonimmigrant visas for the spouse and/or children of guest workers.

An Office of Intercountry Adoption also would be established within the Department of State. The office would: approve the eligibility of U.S. citizens to adopt from foreign countries; investigate whether the foreign-born child is adoptable; provide assistance to families “so as to ensure that all such adoptions are processed in a timely manner”; develop policy regarding child protection and intercountry adoption; and investigate any adoption improprieties or consumer fraud. Foreign-born children who are adopted before age 16 and who have at least one adoptive parent who has been a citizen of the U.S. for at least five years would automatically become a citizen once their adoption was finalized.

During consideration of the bill, the Senate adopted the following amendments:

an amendment by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) to reduce the number of visas issued to temporary guest workers to 200,000 per year, 74-24;
an amendment by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to protect unaccompanied alien children, by voice vote; and
an amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) to establish the American Competitiveness Scholarship program for higher education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, 59-35.The Senate rejected:
an amendment by Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) that would have eliminated the guest worker program, 31-64;
a second amendment by Sen. Dorgan that would have sunset the guest worker program in five years, 48-49.