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New legislation for asylees
- Thread starter Gilbert
- Start date
Jack Archer
Registered Users (C)
What Happened to the Previous Bills?
Hi Gilbert,
Why do legislators keep proposing new Bills insteads on continue working on the old Bills that are currently pending.
One Congressman Berman in 2000 proposed a similar Bill to lift the cap on asylee adjustment. That Bill is inactive since the day it was introduced. And so is the Bill proposed by Shiela Jackson-Lee in 2001 (HR1560) to increase the cap to 25,000 per year.
I have done my fair share of taking part in the letter writing campaign for the both bills. Sadly, there was not a single return from the politicians.
I have a very bad feeling that this Bill will follow the other two bills into the twilight zone.
Hi Gilbert,
Why do legislators keep proposing new Bills insteads on continue working on the old Bills that are currently pending.
One Congressman Berman in 2000 proposed a similar Bill to lift the cap on asylee adjustment. That Bill is inactive since the day it was introduced. And so is the Bill proposed by Shiela Jackson-Lee in 2001 (HR1560) to increase the cap to 25,000 per year.
I have done my fair share of taking part in the letter writing campaign for the both bills. Sadly, there was not a single return from the politicians.
I have a very bad feeling that this Bill will follow the other two bills into the twilight zone.
Jack Archer
Registered Users (C)
Bill Sponsors
S1311 is sponsored by Senator Patrick Lehy (Democrat-Vermont) and cosponsored by:
Sen. Brownback (Republican-Kentucky)
Sen. Collins (Republican-Maine)
Sen. Durbins (Democrat-IL)
Sen. Graham (Democrat-Florida)
Sen. Jefford(Independent-Vermont)
Sen. Kennedy (Democrat-Massachusette)
The good signs (atleast in my opinion) are that this Bill is sponsored by Senators whereas the previous bills were sponsored by Congressman/woman. And this Bill has bi-partisan support (actually multi-partisan support if you count Senator Jefford).
If anyone is interested in reading more about this bill please go here:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:s.01311:
S1311 is sponsored by Senator Patrick Lehy (Democrat-Vermont) and cosponsored by:
Sen. Brownback (Republican-Kentucky)
Sen. Collins (Republican-Maine)
Sen. Durbins (Democrat-IL)
Sen. Graham (Democrat-Florida)
Sen. Jefford(Independent-Vermont)
Sen. Kennedy (Democrat-Massachusette)
The good signs (atleast in my opinion) are that this Bill is sponsored by Senators whereas the previous bills were sponsored by Congressman/woman. And this Bill has bi-partisan support (actually multi-partisan support if you count Senator Jefford).
If anyone is interested in reading more about this bill please go here:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:s.01311:
Jack Archer
Registered Users (C)
Effective Date
"SEC. 303. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall take effect 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act."
That means the amendments made by this Act will only take effect 90 days after the Bill is enacted. And there is no telling how long it will take for the Congress to enact on this Bill.
I will have to say what I have been saying all along everytime such Bill is introduced: If we don\'t have fulltime lobbyists constantly pushing the politicians this Bill will follow it\'s predecessors into the twilight zone.
"SEC. 303. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall take effect 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act."
That means the amendments made by this Act will only take effect 90 days after the Bill is enacted. And there is no telling how long it will take for the Congress to enact on this Bill.
I will have to say what I have been saying all along everytime such Bill is introduced: If we don\'t have fulltime lobbyists constantly pushing the politicians this Bill will follow it\'s predecessors into the twilight zone.
No Title
The Berman bill is dead. It was introduced in the second session of the 106th Congress. The immigration subcommittee did not take any action on it. When Congress adjourned before Christmas 2000, the 106th Congress became history and all pending legislation died with it.
We have to bear in mind that many bills are introduced in Congress every year. It is rare for them to be serious considered. It is still rarer for them to win approval. I have never been optimistic about the Shiela Jackson-Lee proposal. She is a liberal Democrat in a chamber controlled by conservative Republicans. In the past few years, she has introduced tons of bills to relax one aspect of immigration law or another. None has been successful.
S. 1311 was supported by a diverse group of Senators and that makes me cautiously hopeful. Senator Kennedy is chairman of the immigration subcommittee and Senator Leahy is chair of the judiciary committee (of which immigration subcommittee is a part).
Senator Brownback led the immigration subcommitee for a few months this year, until Senator Jefford\'s leaving the Republican Party.
Moreover, this bill addresses other areas of urgent concern, such as summary removal and the detention of asylum applicants. This should thus command more widespread support in and outside Congress.
My guess is if the asylee quota is going to be changed at all, the change will be incorporated into a massive immigration reform package that includes a lot of things, such as the President\'s possible legalization program.
The Berman bill is dead. It was introduced in the second session of the 106th Congress. The immigration subcommittee did not take any action on it. When Congress adjourned before Christmas 2000, the 106th Congress became history and all pending legislation died with it.
We have to bear in mind that many bills are introduced in Congress every year. It is rare for them to be serious considered. It is still rarer for them to win approval. I have never been optimistic about the Shiela Jackson-Lee proposal. She is a liberal Democrat in a chamber controlled by conservative Republicans. In the past few years, she has introduced tons of bills to relax one aspect of immigration law or another. None has been successful.
S. 1311 was supported by a diverse group of Senators and that makes me cautiously hopeful. Senator Kennedy is chairman of the immigration subcommittee and Senator Leahy is chair of the judiciary committee (of which immigration subcommittee is a part).
Senator Brownback led the immigration subcommitee for a few months this year, until Senator Jefford\'s leaving the Republican Party.
Moreover, this bill addresses other areas of urgent concern, such as summary removal and the detention of asylum applicants. This should thus command more widespread support in and outside Congress.
My guess is if the asylee quota is going to be changed at all, the change will be incorporated into a massive immigration reform package that includes a lot of things, such as the President\'s possible legalization program.
No Title
Judging from Congress\'s immigration record in the past two decades, I think that if the proposal to raise or even lift the asylee cap were to succeed, it would be part of a massive immigration reform package. Congress has a tendency to enact significant immigration laws around Thanksgiving. If the Bush administration is indeed going to propose special treatment for Mexicans, there will be serious, three-way, behind-the-scene negotiations involving the White House, Congressional Democrats and Congressional Republicans. Some immigration attorneys are now suggesting that perhaps that final package will include a relatively generous legalization program applicable only to Mexicans (to satisfy the White House), some symbolically tough measures against future illegal immigration (to placate the conservatives) and new registry date to benefit all nationalities (to keep the Democrats happy). There should also be a miscellaneous category that will address the asylee cap and other obscure problems (obscure from the perspective of lawmakers, not us).
The 90 day delay in the bill is common. The INS needs the time to prepare for and smoothly implement change.
So we asylees might be getting a gift around the holiday season.
Judging from Congress\'s immigration record in the past two decades, I think that if the proposal to raise or even lift the asylee cap were to succeed, it would be part of a massive immigration reform package. Congress has a tendency to enact significant immigration laws around Thanksgiving. If the Bush administration is indeed going to propose special treatment for Mexicans, there will be serious, three-way, behind-the-scene negotiations involving the White House, Congressional Democrats and Congressional Republicans. Some immigration attorneys are now suggesting that perhaps that final package will include a relatively generous legalization program applicable only to Mexicans (to satisfy the White House), some symbolically tough measures against future illegal immigration (to placate the conservatives) and new registry date to benefit all nationalities (to keep the Democrats happy). There should also be a miscellaneous category that will address the asylee cap and other obscure problems (obscure from the perspective of lawmakers, not us).
The 90 day delay in the bill is common. The INS needs the time to prepare for and smoothly implement change.
So we asylees might be getting a gift around the holiday season.
Jack Archer
Registered Users (C)
Better not to mix the two issues in one immigration reform package
I hope that the asylee adjustment Bill is not mixed with the Mexican legalization bill in one package.
The Asylee adjustment Bill has already received multi-partisan support in the Congress and as you already know majority of Democrats are not willing to approve the President\'s Mexican legalization proposal without adding their own proposals.
So I am guessing if the two issues are mixed as one package then it will be a long long time before the Congress enact on such proposal. But it\'s all politics and some politicians can mix the two issues and say to the rest of the Congress "Hey, you\'re not getting what you want until you also enact on what we want."
I think we can consider ourselves VERY LUCKY if we get that holiday gift from the Congress.
I hope that the asylee adjustment Bill is not mixed with the Mexican legalization bill in one package.
The Asylee adjustment Bill has already received multi-partisan support in the Congress and as you already know majority of Democrats are not willing to approve the President\'s Mexican legalization proposal without adding their own proposals.
So I am guessing if the two issues are mixed as one package then it will be a long long time before the Congress enact on such proposal. But it\'s all politics and some politicians can mix the two issues and say to the rest of the Congress "Hey, you\'re not getting what you want until you also enact on what we want."
I think we can consider ourselves VERY LUCKY if we get that holiday gift from the Congress.
Jack Archer
Registered Users (C)
90 day
That is generally true. But sometimes on occassions they add small amendments like Syrian/Jew asylee exemption from asylee adjustment quota, etc through Presidential determinations. Clinton issued this order sometime back in 2000 to exempt Syrian nationals of Jewish faith to exempt from asylee adjustment quota.
I think if the Bush administration and the House Republicans play politics and bundle up the asylum reform bill with Mexican legalization bill then the Democrats will delay it for many reasons.
You\'re right about the 90 day implementation time for most Bills. Unless it is a Bill effecting national security etc the 90 day implementation is pretty much standard for all Bills. But think about the overall time it will take for us asylees to benefit from this Bill (if it is gonna be enacted at all). It\'s gonna look something like this:
Time for the Congress to enact the Bill + time for implementation + time it will take for the INS to clear the back-log cases
That is generally true. But sometimes on occassions they add small amendments like Syrian/Jew asylee exemption from asylee adjustment quota, etc through Presidential determinations. Clinton issued this order sometime back in 2000 to exempt Syrian nationals of Jewish faith to exempt from asylee adjustment quota.
I think if the Bush administration and the House Republicans play politics and bundle up the asylum reform bill with Mexican legalization bill then the Democrats will delay it for many reasons.
You\'re right about the 90 day implementation time for most Bills. Unless it is a Bill effecting national security etc the 90 day implementation is pretty much standard for all Bills. But think about the overall time it will take for us asylees to benefit from this Bill (if it is gonna be enacted at all). It\'s gonna look something like this:
Time for the Congress to enact the Bill + time for implementation + time it will take for the INS to clear the back-log cases
No Title
I have sent letters to several Congresspersons asking for support to HR 1560 introduced by Mrs Jackson-Lee. So far, I only got answer from Rep Lincoln Diaz-Balart, and in his letter he also made reference to a massive immigration reform package in which these and other changes are being contemplated. Somehow I am slightly more optimistic about the future of this Bill. Meanwhile, I believe we should keep writing these legislators.
The possible approval of a legalization program for Mexicans only, is causing other immigrant groups ask for the same benefit. So, I believe that the legalization of Mexicans (if it happens) most likely will not proceed alone. It will come with some other reforms in the actual immigration legislation. And, hopefully we will get benefit from that.
I have sent letters to several Congresspersons asking for support to HR 1560 introduced by Mrs Jackson-Lee. So far, I only got answer from Rep Lincoln Diaz-Balart, and in his letter he also made reference to a massive immigration reform package in which these and other changes are being contemplated. Somehow I am slightly more optimistic about the future of this Bill. Meanwhile, I believe we should keep writing these legislators.
The possible approval of a legalization program for Mexicans only, is causing other immigrant groups ask for the same benefit. So, I believe that the legalization of Mexicans (if it happens) most likely will not proceed alone. It will come with some other reforms in the actual immigration legislation. And, hopefully we will get benefit from that.
Jack Archer
Registered Users (C)
No Title
http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/vll/legislation/hr4681sum.html
H.R. 4681, the Bill introduced by Representative Rick Lazio (R-NY) in June 2000 to exempt certain Syrian Jewish asylees from 10,000/year adjudication quota was passed in July 2000. [Former] President Cliton signed the Bill in October 2000 and it is a part of the INA now.
I\'m now starting to see how American politics work. We all remember who Lazio was and which office he ran for in 2000 right? He needed NY Jewish community votes during his Senate campaign and fellow House Republicans did him one helluva favor by passing HR 4680 in one month.
http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/vll/legislation/hr4681sum.html
H.R. 4681, the Bill introduced by Representative Rick Lazio (R-NY) in June 2000 to exempt certain Syrian Jewish asylees from 10,000/year adjudication quota was passed in July 2000. [Former] President Cliton signed the Bill in October 2000 and it is a part of the INA now.
I\'m now starting to see how American politics work. We all remember who Lazio was and which office he ran for in 2000 right? He needed NY Jewish community votes during his Senate campaign and fellow House Republicans did him one helluva favor by passing HR 4680 in one month.
Jack Archer
Registered Users (C)
No Title
Senate calendar shows that the 107th Congress will officially adjourn on October 5th 2001 and the 108th session wont begin until January 1st 2002. So if S.1311 and all other Bills do not get enacted before October 5th nothing will happen this year.
Senate calendar shows that the 107th Congress will officially adjourn on October 5th 2001 and the 108th session wont begin until January 1st 2002. So if S.1311 and all other Bills do not get enacted before October 5th nothing will happen this year.