Comprehensive Immigration Fairness Act

Bill: 109-hr-257
Sponsor: Rep. Jackson-Lee, Sheila [D-TX-18]
Introduced: 2005-01-06 in the House
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Administrative fees
Administrative remedies
Admission of nonimmigrants
Adoption
Africa (Sub-Saharan)
Alien labor
Aliens
Arrest
Bail
Caribbean area
Citizenship
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Community centers
Computer software
Computers
Confidential communications
Congress
Crime and Law Enforcement
Criminal aliens
Criminal justice information
Delegation of powers
Department of Homeland Security
Department of Justice
Department of Labor
Deportation
Detention of persons
Disabled
Disciplining of employees
Discrimination in employment
Drug abuse
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Electronic government information
Elementary and secondary education
Employee rights
English language
Evidence (Law)
Executive reorganization
Families
Family violence
Federal-local relations
Federal-state relations
Fingerprints
Fraud
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government publicity
Governmental investigations
Haiti
Haitians
Health
Help-wanted advertising
Higher education
Hours of labor
Identification of criminals
Illegal aliens
Immigrants
Infrastructure
Injunctions
Labor and Employment
Latin America
Law
Law enforcement officers
Legislation
Liberia
Limitation of actions
Literacy programs
Local employees
Local laws
Marijuana
Marriage
Married people
Mass rapid transit
Minimum wages
Minorities
Minority employment
Minors
Naturalization
Newspapers
Occupational health and safety
Occupational retraining
Parents
Police
Public records
Reading
Recreation centers
Recruiting of employees
Refugees
Residence requirements
Right of asylum
Right of privacy
School buildings
Science, Technology, Communications
Senate rules and procedure
Sex discrimination
Social Welfare
Sports and Recreation
State employees
State laws
Students
Sunset legislation
Transportation and Public Works
Travel
Visas
Welfare eligibility
Whistle blowing
Widowers
Widows
Witnesses
Women

Summary:
action_date: 2005-01-06
text: 
Comprehensive Immigration Fairness Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to make permanently available the exception to the adjustment of status bar for beneficiaries of family petitions or labor certification applications. 
 
Adds grounds for discretionary waiver of inadmissibility.
 
Authorizes K nonimmigrant status for specified family members of lawful permanent residents (LPRs) and additional family members of U.S. citizens who are awaiting immigrant visas.
 
Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) to disregard as aggravated felonies (with immigration consequences) certain criminal convictions.
 
Provides that a person who is a child on the last day of the 90-day period after a pending application for INA benefits is filed shall be considered to be a child for all purposes related to such application.
 
Clarifies that the term &quot;child&quot; includes children for whom adoption proceedings were initiated prior to specified ages.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to waive certain bars to admission.
 
Establishes a program for earned access to legalization.
 
Authorizes the adjustment of status of certain undocumented children. 
 
Amends the registry provision. 
 
Expands the list of unfair immigration-related employment practices. 
 
Requires petitioners for nonimmigrant workers to file affidavits describing efforts to recruit U.S. citizens or LPRs.
 
Doubles the numerical cap on worldwide diversity immigrant visas. 
 
Provides for adjustment of status of certain Haitian nationals. Eliminates mandatory detention in asylum seekers' expedited removal proceedings. Amends the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 to remove document fraud as a ground of inadmissibility and to address child-related determinations. 
 
Provides for adjustment of status of certain Liberian nationals.
 
Modifies requirements applicable to asylum and refugee proceedings.
 
Authorizes adjustment of status for certain recipients of temporary protected status.
 
Repeals a provision in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 that bars Federal, State, and local governments from preventing the communication of immigration status information to the Department of Homeland Security.
 
Repeals a provision of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 concerning verification of eligibility for Federal public benefits.
 
Eliminates statutory authority permitting State personnel to carry out immigration officer functions.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-03-02
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims.
action_date: 2005-01-06
text: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2005-01-06
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2005-01-06
text: Introduced in House