"Immigration reform" in the United States of America is widely used to describe proposals to increase legal immigration while decreasing illegal immigration, such as the guest worker proposal supported by President George W. Bush. Illegal immigration is a controversial issue in the United States. Proponents of greater immigration enforcement argue that illegal tarnish the public image of immigrants, cost taxpayers an estimated $338.3 billion, and jeopardize the safety of law enforcement officials and citizens, especially along the Mexican border. Vicente Fox, former Mexican president, writes that in 2001, President George W. Bush, and the leadership of both parties of Congress were about to pass significant immigration reform legislation benefiting Mexican emigration to the U.S.[3] The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 made it illegal to hire or recruit illegal immigrants, but left the immigration system without a key component - a workable non-immigrant visa system program for lesser-skilled workers to enter the United States. Following the 1986 amnesty, almost 12 million undocumented workers came across the U.S. border. It was estimated that this undocumented workforce made up about five percent of the U.S. workforce. It was also estimated that about 70 percent of those undocumented workers were from the country of Mexico.[4] In 2006, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Border Protection, Anti-terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, and in 2006 the U.S. Senate passed the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006. Neither bill became law because their differences could not be reconciled in conference committee.[5] The legislative negotiations and national activism behind immigration reform from 2001-2007 is the subject of 12-part documentary film series How Democracy Works Now. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_reform The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 (S.744) is an immigration reform bill introduced by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) in the United States Senate and co-sponsored by the other seven members of the "Gang of Eight" a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators who wrote and negotiated the bill. It was introduced into the United States Senate of the 113th United States Congress on April 16, 2013. The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on the bill in April 2013. The bill was voted out of Committee on May 21, 2013 and was introduced in Senate. On June 27, 2013, the Senate passed this bill 68-32. Whether the United States House of Representatives will even consider it is uncertain. The bill would make it possible for many undocumented immigrants to gain legal status and eventually citizenship. It would also make the border more secure by adding up to 40,000 border patrol agents. It also advances talent-based immigration through a points-based immigration system. New visas have been proposed in this legislation, including a visa for entrepreneurs and a W visa. It also proposes new restrictions on H1B visa program to prevent its abuse and additional visas/green-cards for students with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees from U.S. institutions. The bill also includes a $1.5 billion youth jobs program and repeals the Diversity Visa Lottery in favor of prospective legal immigrants who are already in the United States. Some politicians have commented that if this immigration reform does not pass the Congress, and the Senate and the House try to pass their own separate versions with no compromise, it could result in a stalemate with the problem of a broken legal immigration system remaining. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates this reform bill would reduce the US fiscal deficit by US$197 billion over the next ten years and by $700 billion by 2033.[5] Its report also states that, if this bill becomes law, US wages would be 0.5 percent higher in 2033 than under current law. The Social Security Administration says that this bill, if it becomes law, would help add $276 billion in revenue over the next 10 years while costing only $33 billion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Security,_Economic_Opportunity,_and_Immigration_Modernization_Act_%28S.744%29

• published: 20 Jan 2014
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