Legislation to Assist Undocumented Students Introduced in Congress Two bills aimed at helping undocumented students who are long-term U.S. residents when introduced in Congress in 2003. The DREAM Act in the Senate (S.1545) and the Student Adjustment Act (H.R.1684) in the House would legalize the status of undocumented children who meet certain requirements. These bills also would let these deserving children realize their educational dreams by allowing states to offer them in-state tuition rates. That is accomplished by amending the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to again permit and states to determine residency for in-state tuition purposes. The practical effect of this amendment is that these deserving children will not be better able to afford college tuition. The House and Senate bills differ in their eligibility requirements. Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) introduced S. 1545, the Bipartisan Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act of 2003 on July 31, 2003. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed S.1545 out of committee. The DREAM Act would grant conditional permanent resident status to young people who came to the U.S. before the age of 16, have good moral character, have lived in the U.S. at least five years at the time of enactment, and have graduated from high school. To have the conditional status lifted, individuals would have to satisfy one of the following two requirements within six years of their high-school graduation. (1) Graduate from a two-year college or be pursuing a BA or higher degree and be, in good standing for at least two years (graduation from certain one-year occupational programs administered by accredited non-profit or public schools would also satisfy this condition); or (2) Serve in the U.S. Armed Forces for at least two years and, if discharged, receive an honorable discharge. In the House, Representatives Chris Cannon (R-UT), Howard Berman (D-CA) and L. Allard (D-CA) introduced H.R. 1684, the Student Adjustment Act, on April 9, 2003. Adjustment Act would legalize the status of young people who have good moral character, have lived in the U.S. at least five years, are in school in 7th grade or above, and are under 21 years of age. Bipartisan Farm Worker Bill Introduced, Setting the Stage for Comprehensive Immigration Reform Senators Larry Craig (R-ID) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA), and Representatives Chris Cannon (R-UT) and Howard Berman (D-CA), are the chief sponsors of an agricultural worker reform bill, the Agricultural Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits, and Security (AgJobs) Act (S. 1645 / H.R. 3142). This measure reflects both an historic agreement between representatives of farm workers and the agricultural industry, and the pressing need, for humanitarian, economic, and security reasons to reform our immigration laws in this sector of our economy. Because this bill reflects difficult compromises made by both sides, neither side in this historic deal got everything it wanted. Nonetheless, all have agreed to work together to make sure that the AgJobs Act becomes law. This measure would create an earned adjustment program for undocumented farm workers who would be eligible to apply for temporary immigration status based on their past work experience and could become permanent residents upon satisfying prospective work requirements. The legislation also streamlines the existing H-2A foreign agricultural worker program while preserving and enhancing key labor protections. Once enacted, these provisions would create a stable labor force and a useable program through which future workers could legally enter. By encouraging people to come out of the shadows and be reviewed by our government, this measure also would enhance our security by helping us know who lives and works within our borders. The USCIS Proposes Fee Increase On February 3, 2004, the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a proposal in the Federal Register to change the fees charged for processing immigration applications. The reasons cited for increases in application fees include higher costs of processing these documents, the new procedures for national security efforts, as well as plans for new programs and enhancements to other existing programs. The proposal also includes a service fee of $70 for Many individual who is required to have biometric information captured in connection with an application or petition...and whose residence is in the United States.@ The proposed rule also addresses the need for future fee increases beyond those proposed at this time. It says that beginning in FY 2006, Application fees will be adjusted on October 1st of each year based upon the inflation level enacted by Congress. If Congress has not enacted the inflationary rate by the start of the fiscal year (USCIS) will use the anticipated inflation rates used in the President=s annual budget request.@ PERM Labor Certification Update The final regulation for PERM, a new, more-automated Labor Certification process, was sent to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on February 23, 2004. This is a milestone that has been long-anticipated. PERM is intended to automate the processing of labor certifications much in the same way they have accomplished it with Labor Condition Attestation (LCA) for the H-1B program. OMB now has up to 90 days to review the final regulation from the Department of Labor (DOL) and decide whether to send it back to DOL for further revisions or to send it to the Federal Register for publication (making it official, but not yet in effect).