COURT UPHOLDS BAN
A federal appeals panel on Friday upheld a Fremont, Neb., ban on hiring or renting to people who are in the U.S. illegally, opening the door for the city to begin enforcing its law. Last year, U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp ruled that parts of the ordinance denying housing permits to those not in the country legally were discriminatory and interfered with federal law. On Friday, two judges of a three-member panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that reasoning, reversing the ruling and vacating the lower court’s injunction. Judge James Loken wrote that the plaintiffs failed to show the law was intended to discriminate against Latinos or that it intrudes on federal law. While the ruling was pending, the city had been enforcing its requirement that businesses use federal E-verify software to check on potential employees.
Associated Press
WHAT’S IN THE BILL
Border security
Before anyone in the country illegally can obtain a permanent residency, the federal government would have to:
— Roughly double the number of Border Patrol agents stationed along the U.S.-Mexico border, to at least 38,405.
— Complete 700 miles of fencing along the border.
— Install billions of dollars in new surveillance systems.
— Implement a system for all employers to verify electronically their workers’ legal status.
—Within five years, meet a goal of catching or turning back 90 percent of would-be border crossers.
Path to citizenship
If the border security plans are on track, the estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. illegally could obtain registered provisional immigrant status six months after enactment of the bill as long as they:
— Arrived in the U.S. prior to Dec. 31, 2011.
—Do not have a felony conviction or three or more misdemeanors.
— Pay a $500 fine.
After 10 years in provisional status, immigrants could seek a green card and lawful permanent resident status if they meet requirements that include learning English, the border security requirements have been met and all people waiting to immigrate through the legal system as of the date of enactment of the legislation have been dealt with.
—People brought to the country as youths would be able to get green cards in five years, and citizenship immediately thereafter.
Other provisions
—Visas for highly skilled workers would be nearly doubled and green card limits would be dropped for those with extraordinary abilities or who graduate from U.S. universities with job offers and degrees in science, technology, engineering or math.
—Visas would be provided for foreign entrepreneurs starting U.S. companies; up to 200,000 low-skilled workers a year into the country for jobs in construction, long-term care, hospitality and other industries; and some agriculture workers.
Associated Press
The focus of hotly contested immigration legislation swung Friday from the Senate to the House, where conservative Republicans hold power, there is no bipartisan template to serve as a starting point and the two parties stress widely different priorities.
“It’s a very long and winding road to immigration reform,” said Rep. Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican, adding that it could be late this year or perhaps early in 2014 before the outcome is known. His own constituents are “very skeptical, mostly opposed,” he said.
Supporters of the Senate bill, which was approved Thursday on a 69-32 bipartisan vote, sought to rally support in the House for the legislation’s promise of a path to citizenship for those living in the United States unlawfully — a key provision in tandem with steps to reduce future illegal immigration.
“The Republican Party still doesn’t understand the depth … of this movement and just how much the American people want comprehensive immigration reform,” said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill. “We need to make sure they come to this understanding.”
But Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., said any bill that results in citizenship is a nonstarter. He called the Senate approach “patently unfair” to those trying to “do it the legal way.”
Traveling in Africa, President Barack Obama called House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California , urging them to pass an immigration bill. Yet not even a firm timetable has been set.
The House Republican rank and file is scheduled to hold a closed-door meeting on the issue shortly after returning from a July 4 vacation, and Boehner has said previously he hopes legislation on the topic can be passed by the end of July. But aides said it is possible the issue will not come to the floor until the leadership had successfully resurrected a farm bill that was defeated last week.
In contrast to the all-in-one approach favored by the Senate, the House Judiciary Committee gave its approval to a series of single-issue bills in recent days, none including a path to citizenship that Obama and Democrats have set as a top priority.
One, harshly condemned by Democrats, provides for a crackdown on immigrants living in the United States illegally. Another sets up a temporary program for farm workers to come to the United States, but without the opportunity for citizenship the Senate-passed measure includes.
A third, which drew several Democratic votes, requires establishment of a mandatory program within two years for companies to verify the legal status of their workers. The Senate bill sets a four-year phase-in, although supporters of the legislation have also signaled they are agreeable to tighter requirements. A fourth increases the number of visas for highly-skilled workers.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., criticized the approach followed so far by House Republicans. “We have taken up a series of small-bore partisan bills that are in some cases bizarre,” she said at a panel discussion hosted by Bloomberg Government and the National Restaurant Association. “We have not touched the whole issue of how you get 11 million people right with the law.”
Also appearing on the panel, Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida said the House must find a solution for those living in the United States unlawfully. “Ignoring that reality does not make it go away,” he said.
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