“The Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernisation Act f 2013”, “Section 744”, “The 2013 Senate Immigration Bill”, “The Immigration Bill” – were the echoes heard in the United States Senate in the spring of 2013. The Bill aims to reform the entire immigration system in the United States of America and was presented by a bipartisan group of eight senators popularly known as the ‘Gang of Eight’, led by Senator Charles Schumer on April 16, 2013.
The Bill stares at a long road that aims to streamline the current immigration framework and revamp all aspects of immigration procedure – from border and enforcement issues to legal reforms. The key highlight of the Bill is the legal status it promises to provide in the form of permanent residence coupled with citizenship to undocumented immigrants. Additionally, it seeks to adopt a point-based immigration system similar to that of the United Kingdom, tighten border security, alter family and employment based visa categories for immigrants and provide economic opportunities, among others.
The Bill had emerged from the Senate Judiciary Committee in May and was passed with a 68–32 majority in June. From its current procedural standing, it will be sent to the House of Representatives soon for consideration.
The Bill spreads over five sections – Border Security (organising border structure and border plans), Immigrant Visas (dealing with legalisation of the undocumented population and integration of new comers), Interior Enforcement (addressing e-verify and humanitarian reforms), Reforms to Non-Immigrant Visa Programs (tackling with existing visa programs and creating a new W-visa for less skilled workers) and Jobs for Youth (establishing a fund to provide job opportunities to the lower strata of young people). The catch of the eye would inter alia include:
The Bill aims to focus on augmented border security to intercept those unregulated immigrants who endeavour to cross the border. It has been suggested to construct a new fence along the US-Mexico border, deploy more funds for border surveillance and authorise the National Guard for military participation in border security. If the Bill is passed, the United States Department of Homeland Security would be required to submit two reports with plans to implement this strategy.
The primary aim of this Bill is to provide legal recognition to the estimated 11.5 million undocumented and unrecognised immigrants. For this purpose, it creates a separate category of immigrants called the ‘Registered Provisional Immigrant’ (RPI) and sketches the stepladder to achieve this status. The Bill also identifies an ‘illegal immigrant’ and prohibits persons falling in this category to apply for a RPI status.
A version of The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2013 has been incorporated in the RPI program to embark upon the status of illegal immigrants who entered the US as minors. DREAMER’s have a much accelerate process in achieving RPI status.
The Bill creates a non-immigrant, less skilled W visa agricultural programme which seeks to replace the existing H-2A agricultural worker programme. Once approved, this programme mandates the designated agricultural employers to conduct basic recruitment activities ensuring that there are no available US workers before W visa workers are employed.
Under the Bill, the nationwide E-verify programme will be mandated and expanded for all employers over a period of five years. Under the current scenario, only 1% of US employers are enrolled in E-verify, making it prone to discrepancies. The mandatory nature of this scheme will provide for a uniform national standard and act as a watchdog on the entry and exit of foreign nationals.
In order for the US economy to have a continuous flow of labour and investment, the Bill enhances employment related programs. It augments the H1-B visa cap and wage requirements and also encourages employers to take significant efforts to employ US workers. It also limits the employer’s ability to place L-1 workers with other employers.
As per the findings of the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation, if the Bill is enacted it would help reduce the federal budget deficit by $ 1 trillion over the next 20 years, boosting the US economy without negatively affecting US workers.
The issue of serving the purpose of the economy and immigrants as narrated in the Bill is the most debated one. To obtain legal status, the undocumented immigrants would have to wait for a protracted period of thirteen years. The Bill definitely puts a strain on the 700-mile border fencing which will require 20,000 high-tech patrol agents. While some argue that the twice over security would prove useful for the economy in preventing thousands of illegal workers pouring into the US, some foresee continuous persistent crossovers, huge managerial obscurity and a burden on the average tax payer. The tech industry has lobbied hard for getting skilled immigrants on board. But critics argue that the current Bill accommodates the needs of large corporations such as Microsoft and Google as compared to average small scale business needs. The process of verifying immigration details and conducting a background check before hiring an employee, as a part of the mandatory E-verify system, is not easier as it sounds keeping in mind the loopholes in updating the database. However, everything has its fair amount of positive and negative weights attached to it and the silver lining of reforming the entire immigration process should not be elapsed or given less importance.
In its present shape, the Bill will have a detrimental effect on India. A look at the H1-B and L-1 (temporary work visas) provisions show they have been designed in a way that makes them more difficult and costly for firms such as Infosys, Wipro and TCS to sustain their economic model. The proposed legislation suggests that a company with more than 15% workforce on these permits will be restricted from placing more workers on site. Besides, from 2016, any company with more than half of its workforce on such permits will be forbidden to apply for more visas. US companies support these provisions for the simple reason that it will help them procure more visas and employ more natives, leading them to increase their market share. The Bill also seeks to fast-track permanent residency, which will aggravate brain drain from India as it will encourage Indian students who already form the second largest chunk of foreign students in the US.
The Bill, unaltered from as it stands presently, would leave not only the American citizens but nations worldwide with much to digest. Though it proposes numerous positive changes, the onerous roadblocks seem to overweigh, leaving concerns about citizenship, intense militarisation and a harsh employment verification system. On the other hand, passing such legislation would exacerbate and create barriers for Americans within their country as it is universally acknowledged that immigrants have and will continue to make significant contribution to the US economy. Similar immigration reforms in the past in America should be considered before taking any haste and politically-driven decision. It can only be hoped that the Bill is re-examined as it moves the ladder of legislative process in a way it serves its real purpose.
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