legislation: 99-hr-1061
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| 99-hr-1061 | 99 | hr | 1061 | Comprehensive Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1985 | Immigration | 1985-02-07 | 1985-03-06 | Referred to Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and International Law. | House | Rep. Lungren, Daniel E. [R-CA-42] | CA | R | L000517 | 0 | Comprehensive Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1985 - Title I: Control of Illegal Immigration - Part A: Employment - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make it unlawful for any person to knowingly hire, recruit, or refer any alien not authorized to work in the United States. Makes it unlawful for an employer of three or more persons to hire anyone without complying with the verification procedure set forth in this Act. Sets forth such verification procedure which requires an employer to attest, under penalty of perjury, that he has examined an employee's identification papers, and requires an employee to attest to his or her citizenship or legal work status. Requires employers to keep such records for three years, or one year after an employee leaves, whichever is longer. Makes following such procedure an affirmative employer defense. Directs the President to report to the Congress within three years regarding such verification system. States that nothing in this Act shall directly or indirectly authorize the creation of a national identification card system. Sets forth graduated civil and criminal penalties for verification (pattern or practice) violations. Provides for administrative appeal. Prohibits employers from requiring employees to post indemnity bonds. Authorizes the Attorney General to bring a civil action to enjoin persons systematically violating such hiring provisions. Subjects employers to a $500 civil penalty for verification and recordkeeping violations. Requires the Attorney General to provide notice and hearing opportunity before assessing any civil penalties. Permits the Attorney General to sue in U.S. district court to collect outstanding penalties. States that the provisions of this Part preempt State and local sanctions regarding employment of unauthorized aliens. Directs the President to monitor such program and consult with the Congress every six months. States that no penalties shall be imposed for the first six months after enactment of this Act. Amends the Farm Labor Contractor Registration Act to subject farm labor contractors to the requirements of this Act, beginning seven months after enactment. Makes it illegal to fraudulently misuse or manufacture entry or work documents (up to $5,000 fine or two years' imprisonment or both). Part B: Improvement of Enforcement and Services - Authorizes FY 1986 through 1988 appropriations for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Makes it unlawful to knowingly, or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien is not authorized to enter the United States, bring such person into the country (up to $5,000 fine or one year's imprisonment with additional penalties for a subsequent offense). Directs the Attorney General to develop an INS immigration emergency contingency plan in consultation with the congressional Judiciary committees and State and local governments. Authorizes appropriations for a Treasury immigration emergency fund. Requires INS to have an owner's consent or a warrant before entering a farm or outdoor operation to interrogate any person to determine if undocumented aliens are present. Permits the owner or operator of an international bridge or toll road to request the Attorney General to inspect and approve measures taken to prevent aliens from illegally crossing into the United States. States that such approved measures shall be prima facie evidence of compliance with obligations under such Act to prevent illegal entries. Part C: Adjudication Procedures and Asylum - Directs immigration officers to exclude without a hearing or further inquiry aliens without proper documents or without any reasonable basis for legal entry or asylum. Directs the Attorney General, after consultation with the congressional Judiciary committees, to establish procedures to assure that aliens are not excluded without an inquiry into their reasons for seeking U.S. entry. Establishes in the Department of Justice a United States Immigration Board to hear appeals from final decisions of immigration judges. States that the Board's determination shall be binding on all immigration judges, immigration officers, and consular officers unless modified by a court. Sets forth administrative and operating provisions. Replaces the existing special inquiry officer system with a system of immigration judges. Grants such judges responsibility for exclusion, deportation, asylum, and status rescission cases, as well as penalty assessments. Provides for judicial review of exclusion cases and those asylum cases encompassed within deportation or exclusion orders. States that such final orders shall be reviewed in U.S. appeals courts. Reduces the period for filing such appeals from six months to 45 days. Restricts judicial review of asylum determinations to questions of: (1) jurisdiction; (2) compliance with laws and regulations; (3) constitutionality; and (4) arbitrary decisionmaking. Prohibits judicial review decisions from reopening: (1) exclusion, deportation, or asylum determinations; (2) denials of stays of exclusion or deportation; or (3) expedited exclusions. States that such restrictions and prohibitions should not be construed as limiting habeas corpus. Revises asylum provisions to: (1) require an alien under an exclusion or deportation order to apply for asylum within 14 days and to complete such application within 30 days after notice of such order unless changed circumstances in the alien's country cause a change in asylum eligibility; (2) prohibit an alien from reapplying for asylum after having been denied such status unless such changes have occurred; (3) require asylum applications to be heard before administrative law judges having special training in international law; (4) permit legal counsel at asylum hearings; (5) require an alien to be an admissible refugee in order to be granted asylum; (6) place the burden of proof on the applicant; (7) prohibit the reopening of an application proceeding unless changed circumstances in the alien's country cause a change in asylum eligibility; (8) require application determinations to be made within 60 days after the hearing (which shall be held within 60 days of the application's filing); and (9) make asylum hearings open to the public unless the alien requests otherwise. Requires the President to nominate Board members within 45 days. Sets forth other administrative and operating provisions for the transfer of asylum proceedings from the existing special inquiry system to the administrative law judge system. Part D: Adjustment of Status - Prohibits adjustment of status to permanent resident for violators of nonimmigrant visa terms. Title II: Reform of Legal Immigration - Part A: Immigrants - Provides for: (1) additional immigrant visas for Canada and Mexico (20,000 each plus each other's unused visas from the previous fiscal year); and (2) an increase in the colonial quota from 600 to 3,000. Requires the President to submit a triennial comprehensive immigration-impact report to the Congress. Permits waiver of excludability for certain aliens coming to the United States to do research. Permits waiver of the offer of employment requirement for certain aliens in the professions or with exceptional abilities in the sciences or the arts. Permits certain alien retirees to adjust to permanent resident status. Part B: Nonimmigrants - Separates temporary agricultural labor (H-2A) from other temporary labor (H-2) for purposes of nonimmigrant worker provisions. Requires an employer H-2 visa petition to certify that: (1) there are not enough qualified U.S. workers for the job; and (2) similarly employed U.S. workers' wages will not be adversely affected. Permits the Secretary of Labor to charge application fees. Prohibits the Secretary from approving such petition if: (1) the job is open because of a strike or lock-out; or (2) the employer violated temporary worker admissions terms within the past two years. Provides with regard to temporary agricultural workers that: (1) employers need not submit such petition more than 50 days in advance of need; (2) the Secretary must decide on a petition within 20 days of need; (3) producer associations may file such petitions; and (4) the Secretary shall establish expedited procedures for review of denied petitions or de novo administrative hearings. Requires the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretaries of Labor and Agriculture, to report annually to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations beginning with FY 1986: (1) to recruit domestic workers and monitor the nonimmigrant work program; (2) for labor certifications by the Department of Labor; and (3) for the Department of Agriculture for related duties. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should establish an advisory commission to consult with Mexico and advise the Attorney General regarding such temporary worker program. Establishes a nonimmigrant seasonal (perishable crops) agricultural work program. Limits visas to an 11-month maximum period. Requires such program to impose monthly and annual quotas by agricultural employment region. Sets forth a visa allocation preference system. Provides civil penalties for unlawful employment practices. Makes such workers ineligible for: (1) public assistance; and (2) status adjustment. Directs the Attorney General to establish a program trust fund. Authorizes the Secretary of State to expand and establish consulates in labor-source countries. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should establish related bilateral advisory commissions with such countries. Directs the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretaries of Labor and Agriculture, to implement a three-year agricultural labor transition program. Provides for visa reductions of one-third for each of the three years. Sets forth program provisions. Requires foreign students to return to their home country for two years before being eligible to adjust to permanent resident status. Permits waiver of such requirement where a student: (1) is an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen; or (2) has an advanced American degree and faculty job offer or a job offer in other specified fields. Prohibits other foreign students and visitors admitted under the visa waiver program from adjusting to permanent resident status. States that time spent in student or trainee status shall not count for purposes of eligibility for suspension of deportation. Authorizes the Attorney General and the Secretary of State to establish a three-year pilot visa waiver program for up to eight countries providing a similar benefit to the United States. Sets forth program provisions. Authorizes a visa waiver program for Guam. Title III: Legalization - Provides for the status adjustment of certain aliens who entered the United States before January 1, 1980. Authorizes the Attorney General to adjust to permanent resident status those aliens who: (1) entered the United States illegally before January 1, 1977; (2) have since resided continuously in the country; (3) are otherwise admissible; and (4) apply within a specified period. Authorizes similar status adjustment for specified aliens who entered legally as nonimmigrants but whose period of authorized stay ended before January 1, 1977. (Stipulates that in the case of exchange visitors the two-year foreign residence requirement must have been met or waived.) Authorizes the Attorney General to adjust to temporary resident status aliens who have resided continuously in the United States since before January 1, 1980, or who were given Cuban/Haitian entrant status prior to January 1, 1981. Permits such temporary resident aliens to: (1) work in the United States; (2) travel abroad; and (3) apply for permanent resident status after three years. Permits waiver of such requirements for persons 65 years or older. Provides for volunteer organization assistance in the initial application screening process. Provides penalties for providing false application information. Directs the Attorney General to establish an application fee schedule. Waives numerical limitations, labor certification, and other specified entry violations for such aliens. Permits the Attorney General to waive other grounds for exclusion (except criminal, persecution, most drug-related, and security grounds) to assure family unity or when otherwise in the national interest. Directs the Attorney General to establish a single level of administrative appellate review for adjustment applications. Makes temporary residents (other than Cuban/Haitian entrants) and permanent residents (for the first three years) ineligible for Federal public assistance (other than medical care, aid to the aged, blind, or disabled, and public health). Requires the President to report to the Congress on the impact of such adjustment program. Updates the registry date for permanent entry admissions records from June 30, 1948, to January 1, 1973. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1989 for State legalization assistance. | 2025-08-29T16:32:22Z |