Comprehensive immigration reform was the subject of much discussion at the start of the 110 th Congress. In the 109 th Congress, both the House and the Senate passed major immigration bills, but they were never reconciled. During the first session of the 110 th Congress, a bipartisan group of Senators developed broad immigration reform legislation with the active involvement of the Bush Administration. Aimed at addressing a host of perceived problems with the U.S. immigration system, this legislation combined border security and interior enforcement provisions with provisions on temporary workers, permanent admissions, and unauthorized aliens. The Senate considered several immigration reform measures ( S. 1348 , S.Amdt. 1150 to S.1348, S. 1639 ) in May and June of 2007. On June 28, 2007, the Senate voted on a motion to invoke cloture on S. 1639, which, if approved, would have ultimately brought the bill to a vote. The cloture motion failed, however, on a vote of 46 to 53, and the Senate Majority Leader pulled the bill from the Senate floor. The 110 th Congress has not again taken up comprehensive immigration reform. In October 2007, however, the Senate considered, as a stand-alone bill, a proposal on unauthorized alien students, which has been included in various comprehensive reform bills. The proposal, known as the DREAM Act, would enable certain unauthorized students to obtain legal status. The Senate failed to invoke cloture on this bill. The 110 th Congress has also considered various other immigration measures, and has enacted a number of immigration-related provisions. Among the enactments are provisions on the Visa Waiver Program in a law implementing recommendations of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States ( P.L. 110-53 ); on border security in P.L. 110-53 and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 ( P.L. 110-161 ); and on military service-based immigration benefits in the Kendell Frederick Citizenship Assistance Act ( P.L. 110-251 ) and the Military Personnel Citizenship Processing Act ( P.L. 110-382 ). Other enactments include provisions on alien inadmissibility in a bill concerning the African National Congress ( P.L. 110-257 ) and the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 ( P.L. 110-293 ); on alien eligibility for benefits in the SSI Extension for Elderly and Disabled Refugees Act ( P.L. 110-328 ); and on employment eligibility verification in P.L. 110-161 and the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 (P.L..110-329). Refugee-related provisions are included in the FY2007 Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution ( P.L. 110-5 ); the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act ( P.L. 110-28 ); a measure to increase the number of Iraqi and Afghani translators and interpreters who may be admitted to the United States as special immigrants ( P.L. 110-36 ); and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 ( P.L. 110-181 ), as amended by P.L. 110-242 . This report discusses these and other immigration-related issues that have seen legislative action or are of significant congressional interest. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations are addressed in a separate report and, for the most part, are not covered here. The final section of this report lists enacted legislation and selected bills receiving action. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides for the temporary admission to the United States of various categories of foreign workers and business personnel. It also provides for the temporary admission of foreign students. Temporary visitors, including workers, business personnel, and students, enter as nonimmigrants. As such, they are admitted for a temporary period of time and a specific purpose. The main nonimmigrant category for temporary workers is the H visa. In addition, certain temporary workers and business personnel enter under other visa categories, as discussed below. Issuances of temporary employment-based visas have risen steadily over the past decade. The nonimmigrant visa categories used by foreign students are the F visa for academic study, the M visa for vocational study, and the J visa for cultural exchange. The number of nonimmigrants admitted under these three categories has more than doubled over the past two decades. The INA also provides for the permanent admission, as legal permanent residents (LPRs), of certain categories of foreign workers and business personnel. There are five employment-based preference categories. Most employment-based LPRs enter under the first three categories, which, as detailed below, encompass aliens of extraordinary ability as well as unskilled workers. These three categories have been the focus of recent efforts to reform the permanent employment-based immigration system. The smaller fourth and fifth preference categories, which respectively cover special immigrants and immigrant investors, are discussed separately in other sections of this report (Iraqi special immigrants are discussed in the " Iraqi Refugees " section; religious workers—the largest special immigrant subcategory—and immigrant investors are covered in the " Other Issues and Legislation "section). The current annual limitation on employment-based LPR admissions is 140,000 (plus any unused family preference visas from the prior year). The H-2A nonimmigrant visa, a subcategory of the H temporary worker visa, allows for the temporary admission of foreign workers to the United States to perform agricultural work of a seasonal or temporary nature, provided that U.S. workers are not available. Employers who want to import H-2A workers must first apply to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for a certification that there are not sufficient U.S. workers who are qualified and available to perform the work, and that the employment of foreign workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers who are similarly employed. Employers must pay their H-2A workers and similarly employed U.S. workers the highest of the federal or applicable state minimum wage, the prevailing wage rate, or the adverse effect wage rate (AEWR). They also must provide workers with housing, transportation, and other benefits, including workers' compensation insurance. Various bills have been introduced in the 110 th Congress that address foreign temporary agricultural workers. Some of these bills, including H.R. 371 / S. 237 / S. 340 (all identical and known as AgJOBS) and H.R. 1792 , propose a complete overhaul of the H-2A program. Both AgJOBS and H.R. 1792 would streamline the process of importing H-2A workers and would make changes to existing H-2A requirements regarding minimum benefits, wages, and working conditions. The streamlining and other changes proposed by the measures are different, however. For example, both AgJOBS and H.R. 1792 would make changes to existing H-2A wage requirements. AgJOBS would freeze the AEWR at the January 2003 level for three years after the date of enactment, while, under H.R. 1792, H-2A employers would no longer be subject to the AEWR. S. 1639 , which was considered in the Senate, and H.R. 1645 (STRIVE Act), which was the subject of a hearing by the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law, include H-2A reform provisions like those in AgJOBS. H.R. 2954 contains H-2A reform provisions similar to those in H.R. 1792. A modified version of the AgJOBS Act of 2007 was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee in May 2008 as an amendment to its version of the supplemental appropriations bill. This language, however, was subsequently dropped from the Senate version of the supplemental bill ( H.R. 2642 ) and is not included in the law, as enacted ( P.L. 110-252 ). Instead of reforming the H-2A program, some measures before the 110 th Congress would establish new agricultural worker programs. H.R. 2413 would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a new W seasonal agricultural worker program. Unlike the H-2A program, which is not subject to a numerical cap, the new program would include monthly and annual numerical limitations. S. 330 also proposes a new W temporary worker program, but it would cover both agricultural and nonagricultural work. In addition to its H-2A reform provisions, AgJOBS proposes a legalization program for agricultural workers. Under the program, the Secretary of DHS would grant a temporary resident status (termed "blue card status") to an alien worker who had performed a requisite amount of agricultural employment in the United States during the 24-month period ending on December 31, 2006, and who meets other requirements. No more than 1.5 million blue cards could be issued during the five-year period beginning on the date of enactment. To be eligible to adjust to LPR status, the alien in blue card status would have to meet additional work and other requirements. Existing numerical limits under the INA would not apply to adjustments of status under the bill. Similar provisions are included in H.R. 1645 . By contrast, neither H.R. 1792 nor H.R. 2413 would establish a legalization program for unauthorized agricultural workers. For its part, S. 330 would provide for unauthorized workers who meet specified requirements to participate in its new temporary worker program, but would not provide a mechanism for them to obtain LPR status.