FROM: U.S. SENATOR CARL LEVIN'S WEBSITE BORDER SECURITY
Levin floor statement on the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Mr. President, I will support the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act.
This comprehensive approach will bring order to the visa program for H-1B applications and H-2A agricultural guest workers, thereby enhancing their contributions to the U.S. economy.
The legislation protects our workforce by ensuring that employers who knowingly hire, recruit, refer, or continue to employ an unauthorized immigrant or fail to comply with E-Verify requirements are appropriately sanctioned.
I believe that it is imperative that those who followed the rules receive legal status before those who didn’t, and this bill does that. The bill also creates a tough but fair legalization process for undocumented immigrants to apply for Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI) status if they have been in the U.S. since December 31, 2011, have not been convicted of a felony or three or more misdemeanors, pay their assessed taxes, pass background checks, and pay penalty fees.
The bill recognizes those who came here as young children illegally, through no fault of their own, and provides them with an expedited pathway to legal permanent residence status.
The bill also includes provisions supported by both labor and business organizations that update the nonimmigrant visa processes to respond to workforce needs. It includes important provisions to help unify families and to support adoptions. And it corrects problems that we currently have in the immigration removal, detention, and court processes and increases penalties for those who engage in criminal activity.
It protects refugees, who come to our country seeking protection from persecution. The bill streamlines processing in refugee and asylum cases by eliminating the one-year asylum filing deadline, eliminating family reunification barriers for asylees and refugees, authorizing streamlined processing of certain high risk refugee groups, giving trained asylum officers initial jurisdiction over an asylum claim after credible fear is shown, and permits qualified stateless individuals to apply for lawful permanent resident status.
This legislation will help our economy grow. And according to the Congressional Budget Office, the legislation will decrease federal budget deficits by about $197 billion over the 2014–2023 period. It will increase federal revenues by $459 billion over the 2014–2023 period.
Mr. President, I congratulate and thank my colleagues for all of their hard work on this important legislation. The Senate worked in a bipartisan fashion on a nonpartisan issue. I am hopeful that the House of Representatives will do the same.
