US Immigration Legislation

Congress has failed to pass significant immigration legislation during past two decades.

Some of the bills passed by Congress have benefited or penalized many immigrants while private bills have been introduced to benefit one immigrant or one family of immigrants.

This page links to the text of some pending immigration bills introduced in the Senate and the House of Representatives. It also links to videos and the text of witness testimony before Congressional Committees and Subcommittees regarding immigration.

Whether you are interested in Comprehensive Immigration Reform, the Secure Borders Act, the DREAM Act, the AgJobs bill, the Domestic Partners bill or any other piece of immigration legislation, this is a good place to begin your research.

We hope that the information contained on this page assists you in understanding how U.S. immigration laws and procedures affect you no matter whether you are a person seeking a visa, a green card or U.S. citizenship, or whether you are an employer sponsoring foreign-born professionals for immigration benefits.

You can stay up-to-date with the waiting times in the Visa Bulletin and other immigration news by subscribing to our Free E-Mail Newsletter.

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IMMIGRATION LEGISLATION 2023-2024

• Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act (2024)

If passed in its current form, the Act would be the most sweeping immigration bill of the twenty-first century. It would overhaul the process for seeking asylum in the United States—and impose an “emergency authority” that would leave asylum fully out of reach for those crossing between ports of entry for much of the next three years.

It would attempt to address issues like work permits and years-long waits for asylum seekers, and also raise the initial standard a person must pass in order to access our asylum system. It would expand additional visas and future green card availability and offer a pathway to citizenship to Afghans, while also significantly increasing detention capacity.

The bill represents a serious attempt to acknowledge, and solve, some of the key problems with current border and asylum policy, and to address the federal government’s failure to manage migration in a way that supports American communities and respects humanitarian needs. In particular, it aims to reduce the frequency with which people wait years for a final outcome on their asylum case.

• Strengthening Immigration Procedures Act (2024)
  • Align ineffective assistance of counsel claims in immigration matters to the national standards articulated by the Supreme Court in Strickland v Washington (the bill does not change the underlying Strickland standard).
  • Create parity and reduce confusion by ensuring that the same standard for ineffective assistance of counsel claims is used nationwide, irrespective of the type of legal proceeding.
  • Remove unfair and burdensome barriers to seeking an appeal that a noncitizen is already legally entitled to seek.
  • Reduce paperwork and other unnecessary bureaucratic red tape by streamlining and aligning the standards used across the United States, encouraging fairness for practitioners and noncitizens alike.
  • Promote consistency across the Circuits by codifying the same standard that courts should use to assess these types of allegations.
• Dignity Act (H.R. 3599)
  • requires the hiring of additional CBP personnel and authorizes recruitment, relocation, and retention bonuses for CBP personnel;
  • provides funding for border infrastructure and equipment;
  • makes it a crime to transmit the location of law enforcement with the intent to violate immigration laws or certain other federal laws;
  • requires employers to verify the immigration status of individuals using an electronic employment eligibility confirmation system modeled after the E-Verify system;
  • requires unaccompanied alien children to be processed and reunited with U.S.-based sponsors in accordance with the Flores settlement, which established policies pertaining to the treatment of minors without lawful immigration status;
  • requires the Department of State to implement a strategy to address the key factors contributing to individuals from Central America traveling to the United States;
  • provides a path to permanent resident status to eligible individuals without lawful immigration status who entered the United States as minors (commonly referred to as Dreamers);
  • establishes the Dignity Program, which defers the removal of eligible individuals without lawful immigration status who meet various requirements, including paying into a fund to provide training to U.S. workers; and
  • establishes the Redemption Program, which provides a path to permanent resident status to individuals who complete the Dignity Program and meet various requirements, including making additional payments into the U.S. worker fund.
• Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act of 2023 (S.1208)
• Fairness for Immigrant Families Act (S.819)
• Immigration Parole Reform Act of 2023 (S.506)
• Secure and Protect Act of 2023 (S.425)
• Dream Act of 2023 (S.365)
• Fairness to Freedom Act of 2023 (H.R.2697)
• American Families United Act (H.R.1698)
• Eliminating Backlogs Act of 2023 (H.R.1535)
• Visa Overstay Enforcement Act of 2023 (H.R.777)
• Border Safety and Security Act of 2023 (H.R.29)

IMMIGRATION LEGISLATION 2019-2020

• BELIEVE Act (S.2091)
• H.R.1044 – Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019

IMMIGRATION LEGISLATION 2017-2018

• GOP Senators Support the Secure and Succeed Act – Introduced February 2018
• I-Squared Act (S. 2344) – Introduced January 25, 2018
• Securing America’s Future Act of 2018 (H.R. 4760) – Introduced January 10, 2018
• AILA Opposes Scheduled Immigration Bills Before Judiciary Committee (5-18-17)
• RAISE Act of 2017 (S. 354) – Introduced February 13, 2017
• Cotton and Trump Plot Crackdown on Legal Immigration (2-7-17)
• Senate Democrats introduce bill to block Trump Muslim registry (1-5-17)

HOW TO FIND LEGISLATION, REGULATIONS, REPORTS, ETC.

• The Immigration and Nationality Act (USCIS)
• Public Laws Amending the INA (USCIS)

The following information may be useful in conducting your search:
8 C.F.R. Citizenship and Immigration Service

20 C.F.R. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration

22 C.F.R. Department of State

29 C.F.R. Department of Labor (Employment Standards Administration)

42 C.F.R. Public Health Service

• USCIS Interpretations
• The Federal Register (Daily listing of Federal Regulations)
• USCIS Federal Register Announcements
• Search the United States Code (Titles 1 – 50)
• List of United States Immigration Laws
• How A Bill Becomes A Law
• Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports
• GAO Report: Action Needed to Address Risks and Strengthen Overstay Enforcement (12-7-11)

CONTACT CONGRESS

• Who is My Representative?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: US IMMIGRATION LEGISLATION

• The Fairness to Freedom Act Will Save Lives (4-19-23)
• Menendez Unveils New Plan To Secure Our Borders by Managing Migration in the Americas (4-18-23)
• House Republicans release sweeping Immigration Bill (4-17-23)
• Bill Summary: Border Safety and Security Act of 2023 (3-31-23)
• Bill Analysis: Eliminating Backlogs Act of 2023 (3-30-23)
• Bill Summary: Regional Immigration and Diplomacy Enforcement (RIDE) Act (3-28-23)
• With Congress stuck, some immigrant advocates go local (3-23-23)
• Statement for the Record U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary Hearing on “Living Up to America’s Promise: The Need to Bolster the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program” (3-22-23)
• Bucshon, Krishnamoorthi Introduce Bill to Improve the Legal Immigration System, Eliminate Visa Backlogs (3-10-23)
• Dream Act of 2023 Priority Bill Spotlight (3-7-23)
• Bill Analysis: The Secure and Protect Act of 2023 (2-17-23)
• Grassley Leads Colleagues In Reintroducing Bill To Rein In Executive Branch Abuse Of Immigration Parole (2-16-23)
• Durbin, Graham Unveil Immigration Legislation at an Urgent Time for Dreamers (2-10-23)
• Biden State of the Union 2023: Challenge Congress to Act on Immigration (2-3-23)
• U.S. Sen. John Cornyn eyes the Seemingly Impossible: a Bipartisan Deal on Immigration (1-18-23)

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