Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the
113th Congress: Short Summary of Major
Legislative Proposals
Marc R. Rosenblum
Specialist in Immigration Policy
Ruth Ellen Wasem
Specialist in Immigration Policy
June 6, 2013
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R43099
CRS Report for Congress
Pr
epared for Members and Committees of Congress
Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the 113th Congress: Short Summary
Summary
For several years, some Members of Congress have favored “comprehensive immigration
reform” (CIR), a label that commonly refers to omnibus legislation that includes increased border
security and immigration enforcement, expanded employment eligibility verification, revision of
nonimmigrant visas and legal permanent immigration, and legalization for some unauthorized
aliens residing in the country.
Leaders in both chambers have identified immigration reform as a legislative priority in the 113th
Congress. While Members of the House reportedly have considered several different approaches
to immigration reform during the spring of 2013, debate in the Senate has focused mainly on a
single CIR bill: the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act
(S. 744). This report summarizes major provisions of S. 744, as reported by the Senate Judiciary
Committee. It also discusses H.R. 1417, as reported by the House Homeland Security Committee,
a bill that focuses more narrowly on border security strategies and metrics.
CRS’s analysis focuses on eight major policy areas that encompass the U.S. immigration debate:
comprehensive reform “triggers” and funding; border security; interior enforcement; employment
eligibility verification and worksite enforcement; legalization of unauthorized aliens; immigrant
visas; nonimmigrant visas; and humanitarian provisions.
This report provides a concise summary of major legislation related to each of these issues. An
accompanying report, CRS Report R43097, Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the 113th
Congress: Major Legislative Proposals, by Marc R. Rosenblum and Ruth Ellen Wasem, discusses
these bills and policy areas in greater detail.
Congressional Research Service
Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the 113th Congress: Short Summary
Contents
Comprehensive Reform “Triggers” and Funding ............................................................................ 1
Border Security ................................................................................................................................ 2
Border Security Strategies and Metrics in S. 744 ...................................................................... 2
Border Security Strategies and Metrics in H.R. 1417 ............................................................... 2
Interior Enforcement ........................................................................................................................ 3
Employment Eligibility Verification and Worksite Enforcement .................................................... 3
Legalization of Unauthorized Aliens ............................................................................................... 3
Immigrant Visas ............................................................................................................................... 4
Nonimmigrant Visas ........................................................................................................................ 5
Humanitarian Provisions.................................................................................................................. 5
Contacts
Author Contact Information............................................................................................................. 6
Key Policy Staff ............................................................................................................................... 6
Congressional Research Service
Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the 113th Congress: Short Summary
or a number of years, some Members of Congress have favored “comprehensive
immigration reform” (CIR), a label that commonly refers to omnibus legislation that
F includes increased border security and immigration enforcement, expanded employment
eligibility verification, revision of nonimmigrant visas and legal permanent immigration, and
legalization for some unauthorized aliens residing in the country. Other Members of Congress
may favor addressing these issues sequentially (e.g., by implementing enforcement provisions
prior to legalization), and/or may disagree with the legalization and increased legal immigration
provisions that have been features of major CIR bills. Still others may be interested in legislating
on some elements of CIR but not others.
Leaders in both chambers have identified immigration reform as a legislative priority in the 113th
Congress. While Members of the House reportedly have considered several different approaches
to immigration reform during the spring of 2013, debate in the Senate has focused mainly on a
single CIR bill: the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act
(S. 744).
This report succinctly summarizes major provisions of S. 744, as reported by the Senate Judiciary
Committee. It also discusses H.R. 1417, as reported by the House Homeland Security Committee,
a bill that focuses more narrowly on border security strategies and metrics. This report will be
updated to reflect additional major legislative developments as they occur. CRS’s analysis focuses
on eight major policy areas that encompass the U.S. immigration debate: comprehensive reform
“triggers” and funding; border security; interior enforcement; employment eligibility verification
and worksite enforcement; legalization of unauthorized aliens; immigrant visas; nonimmigrant
visas; and humanitarian provisions.
For a more comprehensive discussion of legislation relating to these issues see CRS Report
R43097, Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the 113th Congress: Major Legislative Proposals,
by Marc R. Rosenblum and Ruth Ellen Wasem.
Comprehensive Reform “Triggers” and Funding
Some Members of Congress have raised concerns about proposals for comprehensive
immigration reform on the grounds that the “bargain” some people see at the heart of such
reform—tougher enforcement on the one hand and legalization plus visa reforms on the other—
may be difficult to enforce. To allay the concerns that legalization would go forward without
increased enforcement, the first sections of S. 744 would make implementation of certain
enforcement provisions pre-conditions for the bill’s legalization provisions. In addition, S. 744
would directly appropriate $11.3 billion for certain enforcement measures and start-up costs
associated with the bill.
At the time this report was published, no House committee had reported an omnibus immigration
bill, and the question of CIR triggers and funding therefore had not been addressed in that
chamber.
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Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the 113th Congress: Short Summary
Border Security
Border enforcement is a core element of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) effort
to control unauthorized migration.1 S. 744 includes a number of sections apparently designed to
strengthen border security, including increased border security personnel, equipment, and
infrastructure; DHS waiver authority and access to certain federal lands; provisions related to
immigration-related crimes and prosecutions; and efforts to strengthen the entry-exit system. The
bill also includes a number of provisions to strengthen oversight of border security activities.
Both S. 744 and H.R. 1417 would include mandates for new border security strategies and the
development of new border metrics.
Border Security Strategies and Metrics in S. 744
In the case of S. 744, DHS would be required to submit to Congress a “Comprehensive Southern
Border Security Strategy” and to establish a “Southern Border Fencing Strategy,” both within 180
days of enactment,2 and to begin implementing the Comprehensive Security Strategy immediately
upon its submission. The Comprehensive Security Strategy would describe plans to achieve and
maintain “effective control” of all sectors along the Southern border. “Effective control” is
defined to include “persistent surveillance” and at least a 90% “effectiveness rate”; and the
effectiveness rate is defined as the sum of alien apprehensions and turn backs divided by total
illegal entries.3
Border Security Strategies and Metrics in H.R. 1417
The Border Security Results Act of 2013 (H.R. 1417), as reported by the House Homeland
Security Committee on May 20, 2013 (H.Rept. 113-87), also would direct DHS to submit to
Congress within 180 days a comprehensive strategy and implementation plan for gaining and
maintaining control of the border. The strategy under the House bill would aim to achieve
“operational control,” defined as in the Senate bill to include a 90% effectiveness rate. The
strategy in H.R. 1417 initially would focus on “high traffic areas,” defined to mean Border Patrol
sectors with “the most illicit cross-border activity”; and would aim to achieve operational control
of the entire Southwest border within five years. In contrast with S. 744, H.R. 1417 also would
require DHS to develop new border security metrics for securing the border between ports of
entry, at ports of entry, and in the maritime environment; and border metrics in H.R. 1417 would
incorporate information about a wide range of border-related threats and issues, including illicit
drug flows, alien recidivism rates, and border crossing wait times, among other issues.4
1 For an overview of current efforts to prevent unauthorized migration at U.S. borders, see CRS Report R42138, Border
Security: Immigration Enforcement Between Ports of Entry, by Marc R. Rosenblum.
2 The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744) §5.
3 S. 744 §3.
4 The Border Security Results Act of 2013 (H.R. 1417).
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Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the 113th Congress: Short Summary
Interior Enforcement
The immigration rules established by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) are
supplemented by an enforcement regime to deter and punish violations of those rules. Violations
may be subject to criminal penalties, civil fines, and/or may be grounds for an alien to be
removed from the country.
Reforms in S. 744 would amend the INA’s interior enforcement provisions. The bill would
provide additional resources to immigration courts, and would create additional grounds of
inadmissibility and deportability, while also broadening judges’ discretion to waive some of these
grounds. In addition, S. 744 would encourage alternatives to detention and strengthen detention
standards and congressional oversight of immigrant detention. Special provisions would be
included to protect children who are affected by immigration enforcement.
At the time this report was published, no House committee had reported a bill addressing interior
immigration enforcement.
Employment Eligibility Verification and Worksite
Enforcement
Under current law, it is illegal for an employer to knowingly hire, recruit or refer for a fee, or
continue to employ an alien who is not authorized to be so employed; but enforcement of these
provisions has been problematic.5
S. 744 would strike and re-write the employment verification and worksite enforcement
provisions of the INA, taking steps to strengthen document integrity and imposing a new
requirement to be phased in over time that all employers use an electronic eligibility verification
system similar to the current E-Verify system.6 The bill would increase civil and criminal
penalties against employers who violated these provisions, and would include additional
provisions designed to limit the burden on employers that would result from these changes, and to
protect the rights of U.S. citizens and other lawful workers.
At the time this report was published, no House committee had reported a bill addressing
employment eligibility verification and worksite enforcement.
Legalization of Unauthorized Aliens
How to address the unauthorized alien population in the United States is a key and controversial
issue in comprehensive immigration reform.7
5 For an overview of existing employer sanctions provisions, see CRS Report R40002, Immigration-Related Worksite
Enforcement: Performance Measures, by Andorra Bruno.
6 For an overview of the E-Verify program, see CRS Report R40446, Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification,
by Andorra Bruno.
7 For a fuller discussion of these issues, see CRS Report R42958, Unauthorized Aliens: Policy Options for Providing
(continued...)
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Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the 113th Congress: Short Summary
S. 744 proposes to establish a general legalization program for most unauthorized aliens in the
United States. The bill would establish a new multi-step, multi-year process that would enable
eligible unauthorized aliens to transition into a provisional legal status and ultimately to lawful
permanent residence. Special pathways would be created for certain aliens who entered the
country as children8 and for agricultural workers.9 In general, aliens who qualify for the initial
legalization program eventually could have an opportunity to apply to become legal permanent
residents (LPRs).
At the time this report was published, no House committee had reported a bill addressing
legalization of unauthorized aliens.
Immigrant Visas
Immigrants are persons admitted as legal permanent residents (LPRs)10 of the United States.
Under current law, permanent admissions are subject to a complex set of numerical limits and
preference categories that give priority for admission on the basis of family relationships, an offer
or employment in the United States, and geographic diversity of sending countries.11
S. 744 would substantially revise future flows of immigrant visas. Spouses and children of LPRs
would be reclassified as immediate relatives, and not subject to numerical limits. Certain high
skilled employment-based immigrants would be exempted from numerical limits, notably aliens
with advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) fields, as
would the spouses and children of employment-based immigrants. Two new “merit-based”
systems also would be established: one to admit workers based on their employment skills, and
the other to admit persons in the existing visa backlog, adult siblings who apply before that visa is
eliminated, and ultimately adjust those unauthorized aliens who would gain legal status under S.
744. The overall per-country limit would increase to 15% for family-based immigrants, and
would be eliminated for employment-based immigrants. And S. 744 also would modify investor
visas, establish new programs to promote immigrant integration, and make several other changes
to immigrant visa policy. The current diversity visa lottery and family fourth preference visa (for
adult siblings of U.S. citizens) would be phased out.
At the time this report was published, no House committee had reported a bill addressing LPR
immigration.
(...continued)
Targeted Immigration Relief, by Andorra Bruno.
8 Such aliens previously have been the subject of similar stand-alone legislation known as the Development, Relief, and
Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act; for a fuller discussion see CRS Report RL33863, Unauthorized Alien
Students: Issues and “DREAM Act” Legislation, by Andorra Bruno.
9 Broadly similar provisions have been included in measures introduced regularly in recent Congresses, including in
bills known as the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act (AgJOBS Act)
10 Legal permanent residents (LPRs) are foreign nationals who come to live lawfully and permanent in the United
States.
11 For a fuller discussion, see CRS Report R42866, Permanent Legal Immigration to the United States: Policy
Overview, by Ruth Ellen Wasem.
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Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the 113th Congress: Short Summary
Nonimmigrant Visas
Nonimmigrants—such as tourists, foreign students, diplomats, temporary workers, cultural
exchange participants, or intracompany business personnel—are admitted for a specific purpose
and a temporary period of time.12
S. 744 would revise and expand nonimmigrant (i.e., temporary immigration) programs for high-
and low-skilled workers, as well as for tourists, students, and other nonimmigrants. The bill
would increase the cap on professional specialty workers (H-1B workers), while also imposing
new requirements on businesses that employ H-1B workers, as well as those that employ intra-
company transferees (L visas). Reforms would be made to the existing H-2B program for lower-
skilled non-agricultural workers in temporary or seasonal employment, while the H-2A program
for agricultural workers would be phased out. New nonimmigrant visa programs would be
established for lower skilled agricultural and non-agricultural workers that would be more
flexible for employers, while also expanding certain rights for workers. Additional nonimmigrant
visa changes would facilitate temporary immigration by doctors, investors, and aliens from
certain countries with U.S. trade agreements; encourage tourism within the United States; and
strengthen oversight of foreign students, among other changes.
At the time this report was published, no House committee had reported a bill addressing
nonimmigrant visas.
Humanitarian Provisions
The United States has long held to the principle that it will not return a foreign national to a
country where his life or freedom would be threatened. This principle is embodied in several
provisions of the INA, most notably in provisions defining refugees and asylees.13 Current law
also includes provisions to protect certain other humanitarian populations.
S. 744 would increase the flexibility of asylum and refugee provisions several ways, including by
expanding the time period for an alien to apply for asylum and expanding certain benefits to
families of asylees. Other changes would tighten refugee and asylum laws and would be
especially aimed at national security concerns. The bill also would include provisions to combat
human trafficking, to protect trafficking victims, and to grant legal status to certain battered
spouses and children.
At the time this report was published, no House committee had reported a bill addressing
humanitarian immigration issues.
12 For a fuller discussion of nonimmigrant visas, see CRS Report RL31381, U.S. Immigration Policy on Temporary
Admissions, by Ruth Ellen Wasem.
13 For a fuller discussion, see For a fuller discussion, see CRS Report RL31269, Refugee Admissions and Resettlement
Policy, by Andorra Bruno; and CRS Report R41753, Asylum and “Credible Fear” Issues in U.S. Immigration Policy,
by Ruth Ellen Wasem.
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Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the 113th Congress: Short Summary
Author Contact Information
Marc R. Rosenblum
Ruth Ellen Wasem
Specialist in Immigration Policy
Specialist in Immigration Policy
mrosenblum@crs.loc.gov, 7-7360
rwasem@crs.loc.gov, 7-7342
Key Policy Staff
Area of Expertise
Name
Phone
E-mail
Employment eligibility verification,
Andorra Bruno, Specialist
7-7865 abruno@crs.loc.gov
worksite enforcement, legalization,
in Immigration Policy
DREAM Act, guest workers
Border security, CIR triggers,
Michael Garcia, Legislative
7-3873 mgarcia@crs.loc.gov
inadmissibility, interior enforcement,
Attorney
detention and removal
Legal immigration (family),
William Kandel, Analyst in
7-4703 wkandel@crs.loc.gov
naturalization, immigrant integration,
Immigration Policy
international adoptions, immigration
fiscal impacts, immigration demography
Legal immigration (immigrants and
Margaret Lee, Legislative
7-2579 mmlee@crs.loc.gov
nonimmigrants), legalization,
Attorney
naturalization and citizenship, EOIR
Legalization, worksite enforcement,
Kate Manuel, Legislative
7-4477 kmanuel@crs.loc.gov
noncitizen eligibility for public benefits,
Attorney
interior enforcement, detention and
removal
Guest-worker wage requirements;
Gerald Mayer, Analyst in
7-7815 gmayer@crs.loc.gov
effects of immigration on the U.S.
Labor Policy
labor market
Border security, entry-exit system,
Marc Rosenblum, Specialist 7-7360 mrosenblum@crs.loc.gov
interior enforcement, CIR triggers and
in Immigration Policy
funding, employment eligibility
verification
Foreign labor contractors
Jon Shimabukuro,
7-7990 jshimabukuro@crs.loc.gov
Legislative Attorney
Interior enforcement, detention and
Alison Siskin, Specialist in
7-0260 asiskin@crs.loc.gov
removal, Visa Waiver Program,
Immigration Policy
investors, nonimmigrant visas,
noncitizen eligibility for federal benefits
Legal immigration (immigrants and
Ruth Ellen Wasem,
7-7342 rwasem@crs.loc.gov
nonimmigrant), inadmissibility,
Specialist in Immigration
document integrity, visa policy,
Policy
noncitizen eligibility for federal benefits
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