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What We Won With Senate Immigration Bill S. 744

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Are you looking for Resources on S. 744: Senate Immigration Bill?

This week, the Senate passed a landmark immigration reform bill by a 68-32 vote.  Immigration reform is NOT yet a done deal–we now have to fight to pass immigration reform through the House of Representatives, then conference the two bills together.  But the Senate bill–while it is a compromise full of unnecessary and overstrict border measures–is full of provisions that would substantially improve the lives of immigrants.  Here’s a short list of some of them:

  1. Path to citizenship for vast majority of the 11 million!!!
  2. While in RPI status, immigrants can work, travel and live without fear of deportation
  3. Reunification of many families separated by deportation
  4. 5 year path to citizenship for Dreamers
  5. DACA recipients will have RPI status expedited
  6. Farm workers will get a ‘blue card’ and will be on a 5 year path to citizenship
  7. Expedited path for those already here in a temporary status (TPS/DED)
  8. Families that have spent years, even decades waiting for their turn in line will finally be reunited
  9. Spouses and children of LPRs would be considered immediate family members and therefore would no longer be subject to arbitrary visa caps.
  10. Allows DREAMers to become citizens through military service
  11. Immigrants on the path to citizenship can pay fees in installments
  12. Individuals with final removal orders may be eligible for RPI status
  13. Beacons for those toiling at the border
  14. New temporary worker programs that protects immigrant workers and American labor force
  15. All workers, including RPIs, will be treated equally by the tax system and eligible for tax credits
  16. Spouses of H-1B holders will now be able to work
  17. Immigration Judges will have some flexibility to consider individual factors when making decisions
  18. Children and the mentally disabled will be eligible for court appointed counsel in immigration proceedings
  19. Removal of filing deadline for asylum seekers
  20. Encourages immigrant integration through more targeted programs and foundations to help legal immigrants become citizens
  21. Inclusion of POWER Act, bolsters legal remedies to immigrant workers who are fired in violation of labor laws
  22. Strict limits on solitary confinement in immigration detention facilities
  23. Provides immigration status to certain battered spouses and children
  24. Prohibit ICE from conducting raids/arrests outside schools, churches, hospitals and other “sensitive locations”
  25. Makes it substantially easier for both LPRs and non-LPRs to qualify for cancellation of removal, and removes the cap on the number of cancellations that DOJ/DHS can grant in a year.
  26. Protects the ability of W visaholders (essential workers) to change jobs.
  27. Ensures access to affordable housing for battered immigrants.
  28. Encourages alternatives to immigration detention
  29. More protections for workers recruited abroad
  30. Stricter penalties for notario fraud
  31. Requires a use-of-force policy among all DHS agencies
  32. Future work-visa holders will be able to self-petition for green cards rather than relying on employers to decide whether they can call America home for good

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