zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Short Term Retention for Agricultural Workers Act of 2013 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to rename H-2A nonimmigrant temporary agricultural workers as STRAW workers.

Includes dairy or ranch workers in such category.

Eliminates the 50% rule requiring employers to agree to accept all qualified U.S. workers until 50% of the certified employment period has been completed.

Provides that an employer shall not be required to pay a wage rate greater than the greatest of the federal, state, and local minimum wage rates.

Prohibits the Legal Services Corporation from providing legal assistance for any alien and prohibits providing financial assistance to any person or entity that provides legal assistance for any alien, unless: (1) the alien is present in the United States when the legal assistance is provided, and (2) the parties to the dispute have attempted mediation or other non-binding dispute resolution of all issues.

Sets forth STRAW worker provisions regarding housing and length of U.S. stay.

Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide each nonimmigrant agricultural worker with an identification card that contains: (1) an encrypted, machine-readable, electronic identification strip that is unique to such alien; (2) biometric identifiers, including fingerprints and a digital photograph; and (3) physical security features designed to prevent tampering, counterfeiting, or duplication.

Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a trust fund to pay for: (1) program administration and enforcement, (2) identification card costs, (3) monetary incentives for nonimmigrant agricultural workers to return to their country of origin, and (4) emergency medical services furnished to such workers.

Provides for the payment of specified funds into the trust fund from employers and worker wage deductions.

Date: 2013-02-14
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Startup Act 3.0 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to adjust to conditional permanent resident status up to 50,000 aliens who have earned a master's or doctorate degree in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics field (STEM field) and permit such an alien to remain in the United States: (1) for up to one year after the expiration of the alien's student visa, if the alien is searching for STEM field employment; and (2) indefinitely if the alien remains actively engaged in a STEM field.

Removes a STEM alien's conditional status after five years of maintaining eligibility during the entire five-year period.

Authorizes the Secretary to issue conditional immigrant visas to up to 75,000 qualified alien entrepreneurs. Removes such conditional basis after four years of maintaining qualified entrepreneur status.

Eliminates the per-country numerical limitation for employment-based visas.

Increases the per country numerical limitation for family based immigrants from 7% to 15% of the total number of family-sponsored visas.

Amends the Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 to eliminate the provision requiring the reduction of annual People's Republic of China immigrant visas to offset status adjustments under such Act.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) provide a permanent full tax exclusion on gain from the sale or exchange of qualified small business stock held for more than five years, (2) repeal the minimum tax preference and the 28% capital gains rate on such stock, and (3) provide a limited tax credit for certain startup small businesses.

Directs the Secretary of Commerce to use certain federal agency extramural budget funds to award grants to institutions of higher education for initiatives to improve commercialization and transfer of technology.

 Requires the head of any federal or independent regulatory agency, before issuing a notice of rule making in connection with the issuance of a proposed major rule, to complete a review that, among other things, analyzes the problem that the rule intends to address, and identifies and analyzes the rule's expected impact on state, local, and tribal governments, as well as on the ability of new businesses to form and expand. Requires a cost-benefit analysis before rule issuance.

Directs the Secretary of Commerce to regularly compile: (1) information from each of the states and the District of Columbia on laws that affect the formation and growth of new businesses, and (2) quantitative and qualitative information on U.S. businesses that are not more than one year old.

Date: 2013-02-14
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Secure America Through Verification and Enforcement Act of 2013 or SAVE Act of 2013 - Sets forth border security and enforcement provisions, including provisions respecting: (1) increases in Border Patrol and investigative personnel, (2) recruitment of former military personnel, (3) use of Department of Defense (DOD) equipment, (4) infrastructure improvements, (5) aerial and other surveillance, (5) a national strategy to secure the borders, (6) accountable financing under the Secure Border Initiative, (7) emergency deployment of Border Patrol agents, and (8) expansion of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism along the northern and southern borders.

Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to check against terrorist watchlists those persons suspected of alien smuggling and smuggled individuals who are interdicted at U.S. borders.

Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act and specified maritime law sections to revise alien smuggling provisions.

Sets forth provisions respecting border security on certain federal lands under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) or the Secretary of the Interior.

Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to make the E-verify program permanent.

Sets forth conditions for the mandatory use of the E-verify system.

Requires: (1) employer/employee notification of social security number mismatches and multiple uses, and related information sharing with DHS; and (2) establishment of electronic birth and death registration systems.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) penalize specified employers for failure to correct information returns; and (2) prohibit employers from deducting from gross income wages paid to unauthorized aliens, with an exception for an employer participating in the basic employment eligibility confirmation program.

Increases criminal alien program (CAP) personnel.

Authorizes border relief grants for local law enforcement agencies within 25 miles of the southern U.S. border.

Establishes within DHS a rewards program to assist in the elimination of commercial operations to produce or sell fraudulent immigration-related documents and to assist in the investigation, prosecution, or disruption of commercial alien smuggling operations.

Provides for: (1) increased alien detention facilities, (2) additional immigration court judgeships, and (3) a media campaign to inform the public of changes made by this Act including a multilingual media campaign explaining noncompliance penalties.

Date: 2013-02-26
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Support and Defend Our Military Personnel and Their Families Act - States that any person who serves or has served under honorable conditions as a member of the U.S. Armed Forces in support of contingency operations shall be eligible for naturalization as if the person had served during a period of presidentially-designated military hostilities.

Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to extend the period for filing a naturalization application to one year after completion of eligible military service.

Exempts from worldwide immigrant visa numerical limitations an alien who is eligible for a family-sponsored immigrant visa and is either the spouse or child of a permanent resident alien who is serving in the Armed Forces.

Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to adjust to permanent resident status an alien who is a parent, spouse, child, son or daughter, or minor sibling of a person who is serving or has served in the Armed Forces under honorable conditions. Permits posthumous benefits under specified circumstances.

 States that with respect to a removal proceeding under INA: (1) a notice to appear shall not be issued against an alien who serves or has served under honorable conditions in the Armed Forces without the Secretary's prior approval; (2) the Secretary, in determining whether to issue a notice, shall consider the alien's eligibility for naturalization, military service record, grounds of deportability, and any hardship to the Armed Forces, the alien, and his or her family if the alien were to be placed in removal proceedings; and (3) an alien who serves or has served under honorable conditions in the Armed Forces shall not be removed from the United States under specified grounds.

Date: 2013-02-28
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Venezuelan Liberty Act - Provides for the adjustment to permanent resident status of a national of Venezuela who has maintained a required physical presence in the United States during the period beginning on February 2, 1999, and ending on March 4, 2013, and who, during such period, applied for asylum and was placed in exclusion, deportation, or removal proceedings.

Requires individuals to apply for adjustment before April 1, 2014.

Date: 2013-03-04
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act of 2013 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to exempt from worldwide or numerical limitations on immigrant visas the sons and daughters of Filipino World War II veterans who were naturalized under the Immigration Act of 1990 or other specified federal law.

Date: 2013-03-05
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Revises requirements with respect to the training of aliens and other individuals designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) in the operation of certain aircraft.

Authorizes a flight instructor, pilot school, or aviation training center to provide training to an individual in the operation of an aircraft with a takeoff weight of more than 12,500 pounds only if that individual has been checked against databases available to the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security (Transportation Security Administration [TSA]) that he or she is: (1) a U.S. citizen, (2) a U.S. national, (3) a permanent resident, or (4) an alien temporarily admitted to the United States as a nonimmigrant for the purpose of obtaining such training.

Directs the Secretary to require Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification of flight schools.

Date: 2013-03-06
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 2013 - Adjusts to permanent resident status a qualifying Liberian national who: (1) has been continuously present in the United States between January 1, 2013, through the date of status adjustment application; or (2) is the spouse, child, or unmarried son or daughter of such an alien.

Requires adjustment applications to be filed not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act.

Date: 2013-03-12
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Strengthening America's Public Schools Through Promoting Foreign Investment Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit a lawful alien who enters the United States on a nonimmigrant student visa (including Mexican and Canadian commuter students) to attend a U.S. public secondary school for longer than one year if such alien reimburses the local educational agency for the full, unsubsidized per capita cost of providing education at such school for the period of the alien's attendance.

Date: 2013-03-13
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Stopping Trained in America Ph.D.s From Leaving the Economy Act of 2013 or the STAPLE Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to exempt from: (1) direct numerical limitations aliens who have earned a Ph.D. degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) from a U.S. institution of higher education and who have an offer of employment from a U.S. employer in a field related to such degree; and (2) H-1B visa (specialty occupation) numerical limitations aliens who have a U.S. STEM Ph.D. and with respect to whom the petitioning employer requires such an education.

Date: 2013-03-15
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement Fairness Act of 2013 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include nationals of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) coming to the United States under a treaty of commerce to perform specialty occupation services in the nonimmigrant E-3 visa category.

Authorizes up to 10,500 of such visas to be issued each fiscal year.

Date: 2013-03-20
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
New IDEA Act or the New Illegal Deduction Elimination Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny a tax deduction for wages and benefits paid to or on behalf of an unauthorized alien. Extends to six years the period for assessing and collecting underpayments of tax due to deductions claimed for wages paid to unauthorized aliens.

Directs the Commissioner of Social Security and the Secretaries of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Treasury to jointly establish a program to share information that may lead to the identification of unauthorized aliens. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to provide taxpayer identity information to the Commissioner of Social Security and the DHS Secretary on employers who paid nondeductible wages to unauthorized aliens and on the aliens to whom such wages were paid.

Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to: (1) make permanent the E-Verify Program for verifying the employment eligibility of alien workers, (2) apply such program to current employees in addition to new hires, (3) establish a rebuttable presumption that employers who participate in the E-Verify Program and obtain confirmation of identity and employment eligibility have not violated hiring requirements under such Act, and (4) allow employers participating in the E-Verify Program to make a conditional offer of employment pending final verification of the identity and employment eligibility of the job applicant.

Date: 2013-03-20
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Taxation
H-2A Improvement Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include within the H-2A nonimmigrant visa category (temporary agricultural workers) an alien coming temporarily to the United States to work as a sheepherder, goat herder, or dairy worker.

Provides for a three-year initial period of admission with an additional three-year extension.

Date: 2013-04-09
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Senior Citizenship Act of 2013 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) exempt certain persons over the age of 75 from the U.S. history, government, and English language naturalization examination requirements; and (2) permit certain persons over the age of 65 to take such history and government examination in a language other than English.

Date: 2013-04-12
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Family Farm Relief Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a process for receiving H-2A nonimmigrant visas (temporary agricultural workers) which shall ensure that that petitioners may file such petitions over the Internet or in paper form. (Transfers administration of the H-2A program from the Department of Labor to USDA.)

Includes year-round livestock workers, including dairy workers, in the H-2A category with a maximum 12-month period of admissions which may be renewed three months after the end of each such period.

Revises H-2A certification provisions.

Date: 2013-04-15
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Stop Handouts to Unauthorized Taxpayers Act of 2013 or SHUT Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny the refundable portion of the child tax credit to individuals unless they include their social security number on their tax return or otherwise demonstrate that they are authorized to be employed in the United States.

Prohibits the Secretary of the Treasury or any delegate of the Secretary employed by the Department of the Treasury from issuing an individual taxpayer identification number unless supporting documentary evidence is submitted.

Date: 2013-04-23
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Taxation
Immigration and Naturalization Investment Ventures for Engineering, Science, and Technology in America Act of 2013 or INVEST in America Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide conditional permanent resident status for an alien entrepreneur (and spouse and children) who: (1) is in the process of completing, or has completed, a graduate level degree in science, technology, engineering, math or a related academic discipline from an accredited U.S. institute of higher education; (2) establishes a new commercial enterprise related to such study that meets specified employment and wage requirements; and (3) is admissible as an immigrant.

Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to terminate such alien's status for fraud or failure to meet status requirements during the 60-month period after obtaining such status.

Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Education to submit a recruitment, retainment, and investment strategic plan to Congress to attract skilled and talented foreign nationals to immigrate to the United States to create jobs and grow the economy.

Date: 2013-04-25
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Mustafa Akarsu Local Guard Force Support Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide special immigrant status for the surviving spouse or child of a U.S. government employee killed abroad in the line of duty, provided that: (1) the employee had performed faithful service for at least 15 years; and (2) the principal officer of a Foreign Service establishment (or, in the case of the American Institute of Taiwan, the Director) recommends, and the Secretary of State approves, the granting of such status.

States that this Act shall be effective beginning on January 31, 2013, and shall have retroactive effect.

Date: 2013-04-26
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Domestic Refugee Resettlement Reform and Modernization Act of 2013 - Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to conduct a study regarding the effectiveness of the Office of Refugee Resettlement's domestic refugee resettlement programs.

Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish as head of the Office an Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Refugee and Asylee Resettlement. (Currently, the head of such Office is a Director.)

Revises the refugee grant and contract assistance allocation formula.

Directs the Assistant Secretary to: (1) report to Congress regarding states experiencing departures and arrivals due to secondary migration; and (2) expand the Office's data analysis, collection, and sharing activities to include data on mental and physical medical cases, housing needs, and refugee employment.

Directs the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide refugee resettlement guidance to appropriate national, state, and local entities.

Date: 2013-04-26
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Partner with Korea Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to create an E-4 treaty trader visa category for up to 15,000 nationals of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) each fiscal year who are coming to the United States solely to perform specialty occupation services and with respect to whom the Secretary of Labor has certified to the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Secretary of State that the intending employer has filed an attestation concerning U.S. worker protections with the Secretary of Labor.

Date: 2013-04-26
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China (PRC) eligible for designation as a visa waiver program country.

Date: 2013-05-09
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Virgin Islands Visa Waiver Act of 2013 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a visa waiver program for the United States Virgin Islands for a national of a country that is a member or an associate member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) listed in regulations under this Act and who is applying for admission as a nonimmigrant business or pleasure visitor solely for entry into and stay in the United States Virgin Islands for not more than 30 days, if the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) determines that such waiver does not represent a threat to the welfare or security of the United States or its territories and commonwealths.

Directs the Secretary to suspend the admission of nationals of a country if such admissions have resulted in an unacceptable number of visitors remaining unlawfully in the United States Virgin Islands, unlawfully obtaining entry to other parts of the United States, or seeking withholding of removal or asylum, or that visitors from such country pose a risk to law enforcement or security interests of the United States Virgin Islands or of the United States.

Authorizes the Secretary to suspend the program at any time, on a country-by-country basis, for other good cause.

Provides for the addition of program countries.

Date: 2013-05-14
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Foster Children Opportunity Act - Amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require state plans for foster care and adoption assistance to have procedures to assist alien children in the child welfare system achieve special immigrant juvenile status and lawful permanent resident status before exiting foster care.

Requires case plans to include documentation of the steps the state child welfare agency is taking in assisting children obtain lawful immigrant status before exiting foster care.

Requires a permanency hearing to determine whether a petition for special immigrant juvenile status or lawful permanent resident status has been filed on behalf of an alien foster child and, if it has not been filed, whether it is in the child's best interest to have such a petition filed or to have immigration counsel appointed.

Authorizes the use of court improvement program grant funds to educate and train child welfare and court staff to assist alien children in achieving special immigrant juvenile status, lawful permanent resident status, and other forms of relief under immigration law.

Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), on the request of a child welfare agency, to provide technical assistance in carrying out this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to and contract with qualified non-profit or other community-based service providers to perform the assistance.

Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to make an exception to the five-year limited eligibility of qualified aliens for federal means-tested public benefits for individuals who have obtained special immigrant juvenile status.

Makes a similar exception for such individuals with respect to the limited eligibility of qualified aliens for certain Federal programs.

Date: 2013-05-16
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Families
Tibetan Refugee Assistance Act of 2013 - Makes 3,000 immigrant visas available in FY2014-FY2016 for individuals who were born in Tibet and have been continuously residing in India or Nepal prior to the date of the enactment of this Act.

Considers an individual to be a native of Tibet if such individual was born in Tibet or is the son, daughter, grandson, or granddaughter of an individual born in Tibet.

Date: 2013-05-21
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal Act of 2013 or the CLEAR Act of 2013 - States that: (1) state and local law enforcement personnel, in the course of their routine duties, have the inherent authority to investigate, apprehend, or transfer to federal custody aliens in the United States (including interstate transportation of such aliens to detention centers) in order to assist in the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws; and (2) effective two years after enactment of this Act, a state that has in effect a statute, policy, or practice prohibiting such law enforcement assistance shall not receive certain federal incarceration assistance.

Provides for the listing of immigration violators in the National Crime Information Center database.

Directs states and localities to provide the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) with specified information about apprehended aliens who are believed to be in violation of U.S. immigration laws. Provides federal reimbursement for related state and local costs. (States that such provision shall not require state or local enforcement officials to provide DHS with information related to a victim of a crime or witness to a criminal offense.)

Directs the Secretary to make grants to states and political subdivisions that enforce immigration laws in the course of their routine law enforcement duties for special equipment and facilities related to arresting, detaining, or transporting illegal aliens.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) construct or acquire 20 additional detention facilities for aliens detained pending removal (or a decision on removal); and (2) consider the transfer of military installations under base closure laws for such purposes.

Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act regarding illegal aliens apprehended by state or local authorities to provide for: (1) federal custody upon state or local request; and (2) state or local compensation for related incarceration and transportation costs.

Directs the Attorney General (DOJ) or the Secretary to ensure that the detention of an alien subject to removal is in an adequate state or local prison, detention center, or other comparable facility prior to his or her removal examination.

Directs the Secretary to establish immigration-related training for state and local personnel.

Provides: (1) personal liability immunity to the same extent as corresponding federal immunity for state or local personnel enforcing immigration laws within the scope of their duties under this Act; and (2) civil rights money damage immunity for state or local agencies enforcing immigration laws unless their personnel violated criminal law in such enforcement.

Continues the institutional removal program (IRP), which shall be expanded to all states.

Authorizes state or local detention of an illegal alien after completion of such alien's prison sentence for: (1) up to 14 days to facilitate federal transfer; or (2) until transfer to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Authorizes appropriations for FY2014 and subsequent fiscal years for the state criminal alien assistance program (SCAAP).

Date: 2013-06-05
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Prohibits the Secretary of the Treasury from requiring a payor of interest to file an information return on interest that is not effectively connected with a trade or business within the United States and that is paid to a nonresident alien on a deposit maintained at an office within the United States.

Date: 2013-06-06
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Encourage New Legalized Immigrants to Start Training Act or the ENLIST Act - Authorizes the enlistment in the armed forces of aliens unlawfully present in the United States on December 31, 2011, who: (1) have been continuously present in the United States since such date; (2) were younger than 15 years of age when they initially entered the United States; and (3) are otherwise eligible for original enlistment in a regular component of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard.

Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to adjust the status of an alien enlisted under such authority to the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence under provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act applicable to aliens who entered the United States prior to January 1, 1972.

Rescinds such lawful permanent resident status if the alien is separated from the armed forces under other than honorable conditions before serving the term of enlistment.

Date: 2013-06-14
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Child Trafficking Victims Protection Act - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to: (1) require the appropriate training of all personnel who come into contact with unaccompanied alien children, and (2) hire child welfare professionals.

Sets forth related protections for such children regarding: (1) prompt placement with the Office of Refugee Resettlement, (2) qualified resources and child welfare professionals at appropriate ports of entry and stations, (3) confidentiality, (4) notice of rights and access to counsel, and (5) the presence of female officers during the transfer and transport of female detainees.

Directs the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to implement a best practices program in the United States and within the country of return to ensure the safe and sustainable repatriation and reintegration of unaccompanied alien children into their country of nationality or of last habitual residence.

Date: 2013-07-08
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
1986 Amnesty Transparency Act - Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to submit a report to Congress on the implementation of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 that includes information regarding: (1) implemented employer requirements; (2) federal enforcement of laws prohibiting hiring unlawful or unauthorized aliens; (3) the number of individuals denied employment; (4) sanctioned employers; (5) border enforcement mechanisms that were enhanced to prevent illegal immigration; (6) visa overstays; (7) added costs through social benefits provided to unlawfully present aliens; (8) the Act's impact on U.S. workers, including wages and unemployment; (9) the Act's implementation costs; and (10) fraud rates, including fraudulent amnesty claims.

Date: 2013-07-09
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Visa Overstay Enforcement Act of 2013 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make it a felony for any alien to be unlawfully present in the United States for a period of 30 consecutive days, except because of illness or any other extenuating circumstance. Requires such an alien to be punished: (1) in the case of a first offense, with a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both; and (2) in the case of a subsequent offense, with a fine of not more than $15,000 or by imprisonment for not more than five years, or both.

Declares that an alien convicted: (1) of a first offense may not be admitted to the United States for 5 years, and may not be granted a visa for 10 years; and (2) of a subsequent offense may not be admitted to the United States, and may not be granted a visa.

Directs the the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to: (1) submit to Congress within 90 days a plan to implement a biometric exit capability using a person's fingerprints at all land, sea, and air ports of entry under the US-VISIT program; and (2) establish the biometric entry and exit data system required by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 within one year at each airport that is a U.S. port of entry, and within two years at all U.S. ports of entry.

Date: 2013-07-09
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act of 2013 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to exclude from creditable wages and self-employment income any wages earned for services by aliens performed in the United States, and self-employment income derived from a trade or business conducted in the United States, while the alien was not authorized to be so employed or to perform a function or service in such a trade or business.

Date: 2013-07-18
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Social welfare
Save Our Seasons Act of 2013 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to require that wages paid to H-2B visa temporary nonagricultural workers shall be the greater of: (1) the actual wage level paid by the employer to other employees with similar experience and qualifications for such position, or (2) the prevailing wage level for the occupational classification of the position in the geographic area of the employment.

Date: 2013-07-19
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Protecting Immigrants From Legal Exploitation Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to subject a person to fine, imprisonment, or both, who: (1) knowingly or recklessly executes a scheme in connection with any federal immigration law-related matter to defraud a person, or to obtain money or anything else of value from a person by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises; or (2) knowingly and falsely represents that such person is an attorney or an accredited representative in any federal immigration law-related matter.

Directs the Attorney General (DOJ) and the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), to promulgate regulations, forms, and procedures defining the circumstances in which: (1) persons submitting immigration-related applications, petitions, motions, or other written materials must identify who (other than immediate family members) assisted them in preparing or translating such submissions; and (2) any person who received compensation (other than a normal fee for copying, mailing, or similar services) in connection with the preparation or submission of such materials must sign the form as a preparer and provide identifying information.

Authorizes the Attorney General to bring a civil injunction against an immigration service provider engaging in fraudulent conduct that substantially interferes with the administration of the immigration laws or who willfully misrepresents such provider's legal authority to provide representation before DOJ or DHS.

Authorizes an alien to withdraw an immigration-related application or other submission if the alien: (1) submits information indicating that the application or submission was prepared or submitted by an individual engaged in the unauthorized practice of law or immigration practitioner fraud, and (2) attests that he or she had no prior knowledge that the application or submission was prepared or submitted by such an individual.

Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to waive the bar on reentry for an alien who left the United States based on the erroneous advice of an individual engaged in the unauthorized practice of law or immigration practitioner fraud.

Directs the Secretary and the Attorney General, through the Director of the Office for Immigration Review, to carry out an outreach program to educate aliens regarding who may provide legal services and representation in immigration proceedings.

Directs the Secretary and the Attorney General to establish, within the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Executive Office for Immigration Review, programs to award grants to eligible nonprofit organizations for direct legal services to aliens.

Date: 2013-08-01
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Rural Economy Vital Investment Visa Encouragement Act of 2013 or REVIVE Act of 2013 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to obligate at least 3,000 employment creation immigrant visas each fiscal year for qualified immigrants who: (1) have treaty investor nonimmigrant status and have been present in the United States for two years continuously, and (2) invest in a commercial enterprise which will create full time rural employment for at least five U.S. citizens or lawful permanent resident aliens or other immigrants lawfully authorized to be employed in the United States.

Date: 2013-08-02
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Protect Family Values at the Border Act - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to: (1) consider safety and family concerns in any action related to the repatriation or prosecution of individuals apprehended for immigration violations, and (2) provide related training for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and cooperating entity personnel.

Directs the Secretary, with certain exceptions, to submit to Congress every 180 days written certification that DHS has deported or otherwise removed an apprehended individual from the United States through an entry or exit point on the southern border only during daylight hours.

Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations establishing short-term custody standards providing for basic minimums of care at all CBP facilities holding individuals in CBP custody.

Date: 2013-09-18
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 to provide that the total number of aliens eligible for special immigrant status (Iraqis who were employed by or on behalf of the U.S. government in Iraq) during the first three months of FY2014 shall be the sum of: (1) the number of such aliens whose applications were pending on September 30, 2013, and (2) 2000. Imposes a deadline of December 15, 2013, for applications for special immigrant status.

Directs the Secretary of State to increase the fee or surcharge authorized under the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995 by $1 for processing machine-readable nonimmigrant visas and machine-readable combined border crossing identification cards and nonimmigrant visas. Requires amounts collected as a result of the fee increase to be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury.

Date: 2013-10-02
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
American Families United Act - States that nothing in this Act shall be construed to enable the Attorney General (DOJ) or the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to expand his or her discretionary authority beyond a case-by-case basis, or to provide legalization or nationalization of persons covered under this Act.

Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to revise waiver of inadmissibility requirements, among other things waiving inadmissibility for: (1) certain persons who entered the United States before age 16 who have earned a degree from a U.S. institution of higher education, (2) false claims of U.S. citizenship by persons under age 18 or lacking mental competence to knowingly misrepresent a claim, and (3) false claims of U.S. citizenship if inadmissibility would create family separation hardship for the alien (including a self-petitioner under the Violence Against Women Act) or for a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident family member.

Authorizes parents of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents to apply for a waiver of inadmissibility for unlawful presence. Places a three-year limit on immigration-related misrepresentations rendering aliens inadmissible. Revises the definition "conviction" for INA purposes.

Authorizes an immigration judge in specified circumstances, including family separation hardship, but with certain exceptions, to decline to order an alien removed, deported, or excluded and terminate related proceedings or grant permission to reapply for admission or for relief from removal.

Date: 2013-10-30
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
DHS Immigration Accountability and Transparency Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to submit to Congress an annual report on DHS immigration policy directives.

States that for specified purposes an immigration policy directive shall be treated as a rule.

Date: 2013-11-21
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Directs the United States to: (1) take all necessary and appropriate steps to ensure the safety of the residents of Camp Liberty/Hurriya in Iraq; (2) provide all necessary and appropriate assistance to the United Nations (U.N.) High Commissioner for Refugees to process refugee applications by the residents of Camp Liberty/Hurriya and to secure their safe resettlement outside of Iraq; and (3) admit the residents of Camp Liberty/Hurriya as refugees in the United States and not delay or bar such resettlement because any such resident is or has been a member of, or supports or has supported, organizations or groups that were subject to the Secretary of State's decision of September 21, 2012.

Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to report to Congress on U.S. efforts to guard the safety of Camp Liberty/Hurriya residents and secure their orderly resettlement.

Date: 2013-12-11
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: International affairs
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to a returning H-2B alien (temporary nonagricultural worker) who has already been counted toward the annual numerical limitation. Exempts such an alien from that limitation unless he or she leaves the United States for more than one year and has not been counted toward the limitation in any of the three years before his or her departure.

Sets forth H-2B employer requirements regarding: (1) petitions, (2) transportation costs, (3) displacement of U.S. workers, (4) wages, (5) housing, and (6) an incentive for an employer to report absconding H-2B workers.

Date: 2014-03-13
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Health Equity and Access under the Law for Immigrant Women and Families Act of 2014 or the HEAL Immigrant Women and Families Act of 2014 - Amends titles XIX (Medicaid) and XXI (Children's Health Insurance) (CHIP) of the Social Security Act to extend Medicaid and CHIP coverage to aliens lawfully present in the United States.

Makes individuals granted deferred action under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals process eligible for: (1) health care exchanges and reduced cost sharing under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, (2) premium subsidies under the Internal Revenue Code, and (3) Medicaid and CHIP.

Date: 2014-03-13
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Health
Equal Protection for American Workers Act - Prohibits the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) from granting a work authorization to an alien who has been determined, in a valid immigration proceeding during which due process was afforded, to have been at any time unlawfully present in the United States.

Date: 2014-04-03
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make the special immigrant non-minister religious worker program permanent.

Date: 2014-04-10
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Best Return on America's Investment Now Act or BRAIN Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make up to 10% of the worldwide employment-based immigration level available to qualified immigrants who: (1) hold a doctorate degree in a field of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM degree) from a U.S. doctoral institution of higher education; and (2) have taken all doctoral courses in a STEM field, including all courses taken by correspondence or by distance education, while physically present in the United States.

Reduces the number of immigrant visas available to skilled workers, professionals, and other workers.

Revises the computation of the total number of immigrant visas that may be made available to natives of any single foreign state or dependent area in a fiscal year.

States that: (1) the permanent priority date for any employment-based petition shall be the date on which the petition is filed with Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) (or the Secretary of State, if applicable), unless such filing was preceded by the filing of a labor certification with the Secretary of Labor, in which case that date shall constitute the priority date; and (2) an alien who is the beneficiary of an employment-based petition that was approvable when filed shall retain that petition's priority date in the consideration of any subsequently filed employment-based petition.

Date: 2014-04-10
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
STEM Mentoring and Inspiration Act of 2014 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to add science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) engagement programs that incorporate self-directed student learning, inquiry-based learning, cooperative learning in small groups, collaboration with mentors in the field of study, and participation in related competitions to the National Science Foundation (NSF) competitive grant program for K-12 math, science, engineering, and technology education.

Date: 2014-04-10
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Afghan Allies Protection Extension Act - Amends the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009 to extend: (1) the Afghan special immigrant visa program through FY2015, and (2) unused visa carryover authority through December 31, 2016.

Expands the scope of a principal alien's qualifying employment to include employment by or on behalf of: (1) an organization associated with the U.S. mission in Afghanistan that has received U.S. funding through an official and documented contract, grant, or cooperative agreement; or (2) a media or nongovernmental organization headquartered in the United States.

Revises family member requirements.

Date: 2014-05-07
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Accountability in Immigration Detention Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to ensure that persons detained pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act are treated in compliance with specified requirements regarding: (1) humane treatment, (2) detention facility standards, (3) solitary confinement limitations, (4) telephone access, (5) facility location, (6) investigation of grievances, (7) transfers, (8) language and translation services, (9) recreational programs and voluntary work, (10) medical care, (11) vulnerable populations, and (12) legal access.

Directs the Secretary to establish nationwide alternatives to detention programs that incorporate case management services in each DHS field office to ensure appearances at immigration proceedings and public safety.

States that the number of detention beds maintained shall be determined by the Secretary and shall be based solely on detention needs.

Expresses the sense of Congress that appropriations Acts shall not mandate maintenance of a minimum number of detention beds.

Requires that all detention facilities be inspected by the Secretary on an annual basis and by an independent (third party) auditor on a biannual basis.

Directs the Secretary to impose meaningful financial penalties upon facilities that fail to comply with applicable detention standards.

Date: 2014-05-08
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
EB-5 Regional Center Extension Act of 2014 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate per-country limits on employment-based immigrant visas.

Makes the EB-5 Regional Center program permanent.

Reserves at least 3,000 visas per fiscal year for program applicants.

Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to give employment-creation visa priority to program applicants.

Date: 2014-05-13
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration
Vulnerable Immigrant Voice Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to require that counsel at the government's expense in a removal or related appeal proceeding shall be provided only for an alien who is: (1) an unaccompanied child, or (2) incompetent to represent himself or herself due to a serious mental disability.

Date: 2014-06-23
Topic: Immigration (Immigration)
Subject: Immigration