New Immigration-Related Amendments Added to War Supplemental Bill

16 May 2008

Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Committee added a range of amendments to the war supplemental bill. A number of these amendments were related to immigration. These amendments include a smaller-scale version of AgJobs, introduced by Senators Craig (R-ID) and Feinstein (D-CA); a three-year returning worker extension for the H-2B temporary worker, program, introduced by Senator Mikulski (D-MD); an amendment that proposes to recapture employment-based immigrants visas and provide for early adjustment filing, introduced by Senators Gregg (R-NH) and Murray (D-WA); reauthorization of the EB-5 investor visa program, introduced by Senator Leahy (D-VT); and a funding program for border security, introduced by Senator Hutchison (R-TX).

Pundits note that many of these introduced amendments may not make it past a full debate in the Senate. However, the introduction of these various measures shows the Appropriations Committee’s interest in reformulating a range of immigration legislations.