May 23, 2006

Update on Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006

Motion for Cloture Filed

With the hope of bringing this debate to an end, Senator Frist filed for cloture on Monday evening, May 22. We anticipate seeing a vote on cloture by noon on May 23 and expect a vote on the underlying bill, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, not long after.

The Senate Continues to Offer Up Amendments to the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 (S. 2611)

The Senate continues to debate the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 and offer amendments to the bipartisan compromise. Though there have been many amendments discussed and voted on in the last several days, we would like to bring your attention to the following amendments addressed this week:

• Senator Feinstein Offered an amendment for the creation of an Orange Card program. DEFEATED. Senator Feinstein’s Orange Card amendment would have replaced the three-tiered treatment of undocumented immigrants in S. 2611 (the bill now being considered by the Senate) with one simple process that applies to undocumented immigrants who lived in the U.S. on 1/1/06 and meet certain other requirements.

• Senators Obama-Feinstein-Bingaman Guest-worker Proposal on Prevailing Wage and Protecting Unemployed Americans. PASSED. This establishes a prevailing wage for all occupations, directs the employer to use Department of Labor data for calculating a prevailing wage in cases where neither a collective bargaining agreement exists nor the Service Contract Act governs and currently bars use of the program if unemployment rates for low-skilled workers in a metropolitan area average more than 11%. Obama amendment lowers that to 9% of workers unemployed with a high school diploma or less.

• Chambliss Amendment to the AgJOBS Farmworker Immigration Compromise. DEFEATED. This amendment, if passed, would have lowered the wages of agriculture workers and undercut the AgJOBS compromise.