The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 (Bill S.744) was a proposed immigration reform bill introduced by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in the United States Senate. The bill was 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 in the Senate on April 16, 2013, during the 113th United States Congress.
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 placed on the Senate calendar. On June 27, 2013, the Senate passed the bill on 68–32 margin. The bill was not considered by the Republican-controlled United States House of Representatives and died in the 113th Congress.
If enacted, the bill would have made it possible for many undocumented immigrants to gain legal status and eventually citizenship. It would have increased border security by adding up to 40,000 border patrol agents. It also would have advanced talent-based immigration through a points-based immigration system. New visas were proposed in this legislation, including a visa for entrepreneurs and a W visa for lower skilled workers. It also proposed 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 The bill also included a $1.5 billion youth jobs program and repealed the Diversity Visa Lottery in favor of prospective legal immigrants who are already in the United States.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that this bill would have reduced the U.S. fiscal deficit by US$197 billion over 10 years and by $700 billion by 2033. The Social Security Administration said that it would help add $276 billion in revenue over the next 10 years while costing only $33 billion.
Overview
The legislation would have made deep and broad changes to existing U.S. immigration law, affecting almost every U.S. government agency. Bill S.744 would have created a program to allow an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States gain legal status in conjunction with efforts to secure the border.
The bill would have provided a pathway to U.S. citizenship for illegal immigrants who had resided in the U.S. before December 31, 2011. Illegal immigrants would have been required to apply for a newly created Registered Provisional Immigrant status. To do so, immigrants would have had to pay a fine, fees, and any back taxes owed; pass a background check; and not have a disqualifying criminal record. The bill also included the DREAM Act and the AgJOBS Act. Immigrants who received Registered Provisional Immigrant status would have been able to apply for legal permanent resident status (in other words, a green card) as long as strict border security provisions were met (including increasing the number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents and officers, constructing a double layer fence along certain parts of the Mexico–United States border, and meeting a target of stopping 90% of illegal border crossings. The bill would also have drastically altered the methods of visa allocation under current family-based and employment-based categories, and would have introduced a "merit-based" visa based on points accrued for educational achievements, employment history, and other contributions to society.
The bill contained many other provisions, including:
Removal of per country green card quota limits, which would help in reducing backlogs. The wait time is in decades for some countries, and many high-skilled immigrants (including U.S.-educated immigrants) tend to return to their home countries due to the lack of a timely process. Creation of a new INVEST visa which would make it easier for prospective foreign entrepreneurs to stay in the U.S. and start companies. Data suggested that companies owned by immigrants were likely to hire more employees than companies owned by U.S. natives. Allotment of up to 25,000 more visas/green cards to foreign students who have earned advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM). Research has shown that, on average, every 100 foreign students who remain in the United States after receiving a degree in science, technology, engineering or math create 262 additional jobs in the United States. Creation of a W visa to allow low-skilled temporary workers. Provision for expanded use of E-Verify by businesses in order to ensure that their workers have the legal right to work in the United States. Replacement of the H-2A visa program for agricultural workers with a new “blue card” for immigrants. Increasing the number of H1B visas and imposing restrictions on the companies who misuse the program. Allowing immigrants illegally brought to the U.S. as children to apply for registered provisional status, and adjusting that status to legal permanent residency after five years. Transferring the quota of green cards now assigned to the Diversity Visa Lottery program to immigrants with advanced skills. Under the current diversity visa lottery rules, lottery winners who have high school diplomas or "[t]wo years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years' training or experience" are eligible for consideration. Creating a program to provide jobs to low-income and minimally-skilled American youth.
Congressional findings
The proposed congressional findings contained in the bill included the following:
The United States has the right and the duty to maintain its sovereignty, to secure its borders and to promote its safety and prosperity; The U.S. will continue to welcome immigrants; The U.S. needs a "stable, just and efficient" immigration system; The U.S. should "control the flow" of legal immigration; Illegal immigration, in some instances, poses a threat to national security; it must be eliminated.
Legislative history Senate
The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act was created by a group of eight United States senators: Four Republicans and four Democrats - nicknamed the "Gang of Eight:" Michael Bennet (D-CO), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John McCain (R-AZ), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Chuck Schumer (D-NY). S. 744 was introduced into the Senate by Senator Schumer on April 16, 2013, with the other seven members of the Gang of Eight serving as co-sponsors.
The bill was referred to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, which held hearings and markups about the bill. The Judiciary Committee held hearings about the bill on April 19, April 22, and April 23, 2013. On May 9, May 14, May 16, and May 20, 2013, the committee held consideration and mark up sessions. On May 21, the committee ordered the bill to be reported, with amendments, favorably.
Several other committees also held hearings about the bill. The United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held hearings on May 7. The United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship held hearings about the bill on May 16 and May 22.
On June 7, 2013, Senator Patrick Leahy, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, filed Report 113–40 to accompany S.744. The report included the views of the majority of the committee in favor of the bill, as well as minority views and opinions. The 187-page report includes information about why the new immigration legislation is needed, the history of the bill's consideration by the committee, a section by section summary of the bill, a copy of the Congressional Budget Office's report on the bill, some conclusions, and the minority views on the bill.
On June 11, 2013, the Senate voted 84-15 (all 52 Democrats, both Independents, and 30 Republicans voting in the affirmative) to proceed with debate. The Senate considered the bill on the floor on June 12–13, June 17–21, June 24–26, 2013. During this time, it was recommitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee twice to make amendments.
On June 24, 2013, the Senate passed an amendment providing for high-tech surveillance equipment and doubling the number of border agents to about 40,000.
On June 27, 2013, the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 68 to 32. All 52 Democrats, both Independents, and 14 Republicans voted in favor of the bill.
Developments following June 2013 Senate passage
The House of Representatives did not act on this bill.Keeling, Drew (2014), "Immigration Reform Issues Since 2013," Migration as a travel business Conservative Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives were opposed to it. House Republicans and Speaker John Boehner said that this bill would not receive a floor vote. Boehner stated that the House Republicans favored a piece-meal approach on immigration reform (i.e. several different bills instead of one comprehensive reform bill). Instead of putting the existing Senate bill up for vote and making necessary modifications, he asserted that the House GOP would draft another bill of its own without any path to citizenship and without some other changes (such as introducing a visa for entrepreneurs and delimiting the use of H1B visas to prevent their abuse) that the Senate bill offered. A statement of principles on immigration, released by congressional Republicans on January 30, 2014, said: “We will not go to a conference with the Senate’s immigration bill” and that “border security and interior enforcement must come first.”
Senator Chuck Schumer argued that the strategy of passing smaller-scale bills would not work and that Democrats would not support an enforcement bill without the promise of a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush called on the GOP-led House to pass a comprehensive immigration bill and asked his party to quit being "the obstacle" on the divisive issue. Stephen Miller, communications director for Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) played a role in defeating the bill.
In the absence of a “comprehensive fix” from Congress, Obama announced on November 20, 2014 executive actions to “make our immigration system more fair and more just.” These actions included a long-contemplated program of "deferred action" which would allow an estimated 45% of unauthorized immigrants to legally stay and work in the United States.Keeling, Drew (2014), "Immigration Reform in Congress 2013-14," These executive actions were challenged in court.
Provisions
Title I - Border Security Title I, which begins on page 33, covers changes being made to border security in the United States. Some of the goals mentioned below are also addressed in the preceding sector One of the major provisions of S. 744 is a focus on increased border security, primarily dealt with in Title I. The bill establishes a goal of achieving a 90% success rate (Section 3(a)(3)) of intercepting and deporting illegal immigrants who attempt to cross the border in one of the "High Risk Border Sectors" - places where more than 30,000 people cross per year (Section 3(a)(5)). In order to accomplish this, the bill would increase the number of CBP officers by 3,500 people by 2017, authorize the National Guard to participate in missions related to border security, fund additional surveillance and surveillance technology, and provide funding to build a border fence.