New Legislation Intended to Strengthen Integrity and Enforcement of Immigration Laws
Northbrook, Illinois, April 7, 2015 (Newswire.com) - Border control and border security are hot topics in Washington these days, but little attention has been paid to immigrants who are already within the country. As such, the House Committee on the Judiciary has scheduled a markup session on March 3rd and 4th to address this discrepancy.
During the markup, it is expected that four pieces of legislation will be debated. Among the most contentious is The Michael Davis, Jr. in Honor of State and Local Law Enforcement Act. Introduced by Representative Trey Gowdy (R-SC), the bill would prevent the President from shutting down immigration enforcement at the federal level by granting states and municipalities the authority to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration law.
"President Obama made waves in November when he announced his intention to change immigration policies via the executive pen. This has sparked a wave of legislation to counter these executive actions. Clearly, it's a tit for tat game that Congress and the White House are playing, and in the crosshairs are millions of immigrants," said Ronald Shapiro, an immigration attorney in Chicago.
Another piece of legislation being considered by the committee is the Legal Workforce Act which would expand the E-verify system to ensure that those individuals working within the United States meet all state and federal requirements for legal employment. Ostensibly, the legislation would ensure that any immigrants seeking employment within the country would have to pass a streamlined check of their immigration documents before they could commence working.
The final two pieces of legislation being considered by the House Judiciary Committee are the Protection of Children Act and the Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act. These bills would make it more difficult to seek asylum within the US, and help ensure that any unaccompanied alien minors who make the way to the US are safely returned to their home country.
"As an immigration attorney in Chicago, I can say from experience that our immigration system needs real reform; however, I don't believe these bills provide the reforms our nation needs. In fact, what we really need is for both parties in Congress to come together to create viable immigration reform instead of creating further restrictions and burdens on immigrants," remarked Ronald Shapiro.