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On July 19, 2005, Senator John Cornyn and Senator John Kyl announced their intention to introduce their version of an immigration reform bill.
Obligations of Participating Countries
- Requires countries to enter into bilateral agreement with U.S. government before the nationals of the country are allowed to participate in a temporary worker visa program or Mandatory Departure status
- Requires aliens to have a minimum level of health coverage, which can be provided by the participating country, the alien or the employer
- Encourages countries to provide housing incentives for returning workers
- Requires participating country to:
- Cooperate in efforts to control illegal immigration
- Immediately accept return of nationals who are ordered removed from the U.S.
- Work with U.S. to reduce gang violence, human trafficking and smuggling
- Provide access to databases and information on criminal aliens and terrorists
Temporary Worker Program
- Establishes new visa category that allows aliens to enter the U.S. to work temporarily when there are no available U.S. workers
- Limits the period of visa to two years, after which the alien must return home for one year. Alien may participate up to three times (for a total of 6 years of employment in the U.S.)
- Requires completion of background checks, health screening and issuance of biometric documentation to participating aliens
- Establishes a Temporary Worker Task Force to prepare a report on the effect of the temporary worker program on wages and employment of U.S. workers, which would then form basis of cap
- Family members may visit principal worker in the U.S. for no longer than 30 days within a given year
Mandatory Departure and Reentry in Legal Status
- Allows aliens who are present in the U.S. illegally to apply for Mandatory Departure, which enables them time to depart the United States voluntarily and reenter the country through normal legal channels (e.g. as temporary worker)
- Aliens granted Mandatory Departure status are ineligible to obtain permanent resident status (i.e. green card) while in the U.S. – they must depart and reenter through normal legal channels
- Aliens are registered, fingerprinted, and checked against all available criminal/terrorist lists
- Aliens are issued secure, biometric identity documentation. The documents will function as identity documents and employers will use document readers to verify identity and employment authorization
- Provides incentives for aliens to depart the United States immediately, but all aliens are required to depart prior to five years
- Aliens who return to home country within a short period of time may quickly reenter through legal channels as a temporary worker and are not required to spend up to 10 years outside of the country
- Aliens who fail to depart are ineligible for any other immigration benefit for a period of ten years
Circular Migration and Visa Backlog Reduction
- Creates temporary worker investment funds to encourage aliens to return home
- Reduces visa backlog waiting times by allowing the recapture of unused visa numbers and terminating the Diversity Visa Program
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