Public Description:
The bill would grant instant amnesty to virtually all illegal aliens currently in the United States
(i.e., those continuously, and unlawfully, present in the United States since January 1,
2007);
• Would grant illegal aliens apprehended between enactment and the closing of registration
for the mass amnesty the opportunity to establish prima facie eligibility for amnesty;
• Would establish criteria for ineligibility for this amnesty – for example, conviction of three
or more misdemeanors, participation in persecution, being subject to a final removal order,
illegal reentry following removal/voluntary departure – but would authorize DHS to waive
the last two in that list if the illegal alien demonstrates that “extreme hardship” to his
spouse, parent, or child would result from his removal;
• Would establish grounds for inadmissibility under this mass amnesty, but would authorize
DHS to waive application of most of them;
• Would establish guidelines for documentation of continuous physical presence,
employment, or education, which invite fraud by allowing aliens to “prove” employment
history with sworn affidavits from non‐relatives and remittance records, among other
easily counterfeited documents;
• Would require DHS to undertake a public education program to inform interested parties
about the availability of amnesty as provided by this bill;
• Would include an additional amnesty – for all intents and purposes, the oft‐proposed
DREAM Act amnesty – which would grant lawful permanent resident (LPR) status,
beginning three years following enactment, to illegal aliens who:
o upon enactment, are under 30 years of age, and were not yet 16 years of age upon
initial entry;
o have either a high school diploma or a GED certificate;
o have not been absent from the United States for more than a total of 365 days – save
active U.S. military service – during the period of “conditional” residence; NumbersUSA 2
o have acquired a degree from a U.S. institution of higher education or have either:
completed two years in a bachelor’s degree (or higher) program at such an
institution; or
served at least two years in the U.S. military;
o have provided a list of all of the secondary educational institutions he has attended
in the United States; and
o are eligible for, and admissible under, the mass amnesty provisions of the bill;
• Would require DHS to expedite the processing of DREAM Act amnesty applicants, but
would prohibit DHS from charging an extra fee to pay for the expedited processing;
• Would exempt those qualifying for the DREAM Act amnesty from payment of the mass
amnesty‐related “penalties” until the later of six‐and‐a‐half years after enactment and
turning 24 years of age, after which penalties are waived entirely for those granted the
mass amnesty who meet all DREAM Act amnesty requirements (failure to meet DREAM
Act amnesty requirements would result in termination of legal status unless the “penalties”
are paid within 90 days);
• Would include another amnesty – essentially, the two‐part (first, “Z‐A” status, then LPR
status) AgJOBS amnesty – for up to 1.5 million illegal aliens (and their dependents) who:
o worked (or, at least, claim they worked) in agriculture in the United States for the
equivalent of 21.6 full‐time weeks over the two‐year period ending December 31,
2006;
o pay a $100 “fine”;
o are otherwise admissible (with various waivers of inadmissibility available);
o have not been convicted of a serious crime; and
o go through security and law enforcement background checks;
• Would require DHS to adjust AgJOBS‐amnestied aliens to LPR status within eight years of
enactment if they:
o perform:
five years of U.S. agricultural employment, for at least 100 work days, or 575
hours – but in no case less than 575 hours per year – during the five‐year
period beginning upon enactment;
three years of U.S. agricultural employment, for at least 150 work days, or 863
hours – but in no case less than 575 hours per year – during the three‐year
period beginning upon enactment; or NumbersUSA 3
four years of U.S. agricultural employment, for at least 150 work days, or 863
hours, in three of the first four years following enactment and at least 100
work days, or 575 hours, during the other year;
o pay a $400 “fine”;
o apply for LPR status at a U.S. consulate in their home country (although consulates
may accept applications from aliens not native to that country);
o pay back income taxes, but only for years worked while in “Z‐A” status;
o pass the naturalization test, with exceptions made based on age, disability, and
length of time spent residing in the United States; and
o go to the “back of the line” for their immigrant visas (although this is a misnomer as
they are already in the United States);
• Would give illegal agricultural workers access to Legal Services Corporation counsel for
assistance with their applications for amnesty and for their adjustment to LPR status;
• Would require DHS to engage in a “public outreach” campaign to “broadly disseminate
information” about the availability of the AgJOBS amnesty; and
• Would condition implementation of these amnesties upon a certification by DHS to the
President and Congress that the following measures are funded, in place, and in operation:
o DHS has received and is processing and adjudicating in a timely manner the bill’s
mass amnesty applications, including conducting all necessary background and
security checks;
o the Border Patrol has hired 18,000 additional agents;
o at least 200 miles of vehicle barriers, 370 miles of fencing, and 70 ground‐based radar
and camera towers have been installed along the southern border and four
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and supporting systems have been deployed;
o DHS detains all removable aliens apprehended crossing the southern border, except
as specifically mandated by law or humanitarian circumstances, and Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has the resources to maintain this practice,
including resources to detain up to 27,500 aliens per day on an annual basis; and
o DHS has established and is using secure and effective identification tools to prevent
illegal aliens from obtaining jobs in the United States (e.g., strict identification
standards, mandatory workplace verification).
A bill to provide for comprehensive immigration reform and for other purposes.
