Senate immigration bill, including a new “Z” visa & new “Y” visa, passes in committee.
A small group of senators, working with the White House, have come up with a 300+ page immigration “reform” bill that they say will tighten border security and will allow millions of undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States.
However, the bill may contain some unworkable and inhumane provisions and may not survive a full Senate vote intact. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid views the bill as a starting point.
Some provision so of the bill include:
A new “Z” visa granting work authorization for undocumented immigrants present in the US before January 1, 2007. This visa is supposed to include a path to residency but requires a return trip to their home country within 8 years with a right to return and includes a $5000.00 penalty.
A new “Y” visa is also created under this bill which allows 400000 temporary workers to enter the US a year.
It has also been reported that the bill would reshape the immigration laws into a point based system and would further restrict family based immigration.
