Senate Judiciary Committee's Immigration Bill - March 2006
Posted Mar 30, 2006
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During the last week of March 2006, the U.S. Senate began discussions about changing the U.S. immigration legal system. These changes could potentially alter current U.S. immigration policies and qualify more individuals to work legally. There may also be changes in how U.S. immigration law is enforced. There have been many news reports, in the U.S. as well as abroad, about the immigration debate and the proposed legislation. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee proposed a bill in late March 2006 that would make substantial changes to U.S. immigration. This recent proposal has many elements of the Kennedy / McCain Bill that contained favorable changes to U.S. immigration.
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IMPORTANT  We want to make it abundantly clear that, as of this writing, there have been NO changes in the law. If and when there are changes in the law, we will share that information with our readers on MurthyDotCom and in the MurthyBulletin.
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Stage of Discussions and Likelihood of Changes in the U.S. Senate
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Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and other senators, however, have a number of amendments that they will propose on the Senate floor when discussions on a specific bill begin. While some amendments will be positive, there is no guarantee that this will be the case with all amendments, or that any particular portion of an amendment will be included in the final version of the bill. Each amendment generally is voted on separately.
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Even if the Senate passes a bill, the House of Representatives will need to agree to convene a conference committee to discuss the provisions of a uniform bill. The House of Representatives has already passed an enforcement-only bill that contains no positive immigration provisions. It is likely, therefore, that a conference committee would have a long way to go to agree on what should and should not be in a final, uniform bill. Once a bill comes out of a conference committee, both the Senate and the House of Representatives will have to approve it before it can go to the President and be signed into law.
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It is important for readers to understand that there have been no changes to the immigration system yet. All of the above must still occur before proposed immigration reform becomes a reality.
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What Are the Specifics?
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We cannot report the details of this Bill because the likelihood of a voluminous number of amendments and changes in the conference committee is high and because it is still not clear that Congress will send any version of the Bill to the President for signature. For this reason, we at the Murthy Law Firm are not describing the specifics of any immigration reform bill until we know that something is poised to pass. We want our readers to clearly understand that, unless the President signs a bill into law, the immigration system remains business as usual, and individuals need to operate within the current system without confusion over any proposed changes that are being discussed in Congress. We are following this matter closely, however, and are involved in the legislative process in a variety of ways.
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The Murthy Law Firm Works Positively on Proposed Bills
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The Murthy Law Firm actively follows the proposed immigration-related legislation in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. We routinely contact our senators and representatives. We advise them as to which proposals are realistic and potentially effective, and which proposals will be detrimental to the U.S. economy and way of life. We encourage our clients and readers of MurthyDotCom and the MurthyBulletin to contact their elected officials, also. More information on how to do this is available on in our article, Contacting Congress.
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On March 23, 2006, several attorneys from our firm spent the day in Washington DC, participating in the American Immigration Lawyers Association's annual lobby day. They met with congressional staffers to discuss immigration matters and to promote positive immigration reform and policy, as we believe this will benefit the United States. We actively share our opinions on these important matters. We also share your hope, that, one day soon, we will provide welcome news on the actions of Congress and the President that will bring much-needed immigration relief to improve our U.S. immigration law system.