One-page summary of Gang of 8 Amnesty Bill

FAIR has released a one-page summary of the Gang of 8 Amnesty Bill.  You can also read it on scribd. Here is the summary, as of April 17, 2013.

1.  Amnesty. The G8 bill creates three amnesty programs:

a.  Blanket Amnesty: Illegal aliens in the U.S. before 12/31/11 get amnesty 6 months after enactment (receive what G8 calls "registered provisional immigrant" status).

b.  DREAM Act: Illegal aliens who entered the U.S. before 16 years of age who meet certain requirements will receive green card in 5 years, then can immediately receive citizenship.

c.  AgJOBS: Illegal aliens who can establish they have worked in agriculture for a certain period of time receive green card in 5 years.

2.  Border Security.

a.  The bill requires DHS to submit a plan to secure the border and provide additional fencing (at its discretion) within 6 months.

b.  Gives DHS 5 years to apprehend 90% of illegal border crossers in "high risk" sectors (areas with 30,000 apprehensions/year).

c.  If DHS fails to meet 90 percent apprehension goal, the bill establishes a "Southern Border Security Commission" composed of border state governors and "border security experts" to advise DHS on how to reach the goal.

3.  Guest workers.

a.  Unskilled Labor: The G8 bill creates a new W guest worker program for unskilled workers on top of the existing guest worker programs.

i.  The W visa program admits up to 200,000 unskilled workers each year, and allows more under certain circumstances. ii. Workers can bring in spouses and children, not counted against cap.

b.  "Skilled" Labor: The G8 bill expands existing guest worker programs such as the H-1B program, increasing the base cap from 65,000 to 110,000. Over time the program can be increased to admit as many as 180,000 workers/year.

c.  Farm Workers: The G8 bill creates new ag guest worker program that admits up to 112,000 farm workers annually.

i.  Program expanded from seasonal to year-round.
ii. Eliminates current H-2A program.

4.  Legal immigration. The G8 bill dramatically expands legal immigration:

a.  The bill increases family-based immigration by expanding those who are exempt from the numerical ca ps on green cards.
b.  The bill increases employment-based immigration by eliminating the cap for the following categories: aliens of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics; outstanding professors and researchers; multi-national executives and managers; PhD holders in STEM fields; physicians completing certain requirements.

c.  The bill creates a new merit based visa system allowing 120,000 visas annually with the ability to increase up to 250,000 annually.

5.  Interior Enforcement. The G8 bill doesn't bolster or enforce current immigration law:

a.  Makes E-Verify mandatory for all employers 5 years after Administration implements regulations.

b.  Requires DHS to implement "electronic" exit system, but only at airports and sea ports (excludes land ports and no requirement system be biometric).