Save America Comprehensive Immigration Act of 2009
Latest action · Feb 9, 2009 Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJan 7, 2009
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Save America Comprehensive Immigration Act of 2009 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to provide increased protections and eligibility for family-sponsored immigrants.
Directs the Secretary of State to establish a Board of Family-based Visa Appeals within the Department of State.
Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) to deny a family-based immigration petition by a U.S. petitioner for an alien spouse or child if: (1) the petitioner is on the national sex offender registry for a conviction that resulted in more than one year's imprisonment; (2) the petitioner has failed to rebut such information within 90 days; and (3) granting the petition would put a spouse or child beneficiary in danger of sexual abuse.
Directs the Secretary to establish the Task Force to Rescue Immigrant Victims of American Sex Offenders.
Authorizes the Secretary to adjust the status of aliens who would otherwise be inadmissible (due to unlawful presence, document fraud, or other specified grounds of inadmissibility) if such aliens have been in the United States for at least five years and meet other requirements.
Authorizes the emergency deployment of Border Patrol agents to a requesting border state.
Sets forth provisions for Border Patrol acquisition and use of specified equipment.
Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide for additional detention space for illegal aliens; (2) increase Border Patrol agents, airport and land border immigration inspectors, immigration enforcement officers, and fraud and document fraud investigators; (3) enhance Border Patrol training and operational facilities; (4) establish immigration, customs, and agriculture inspector occupations within the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection; (5) reestablish the Border Patrol anti-smuggling unit; (6) establish criminal investigator occupations within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); (7) increase Border Patrol agent and investigator pay; (8) require foreign language training for appropriate DHS employees; and (9) establish the Fraudulent Documents Task Force.
Redefines the term "law enforcement officer" under provisions of the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) and the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) to include: (1) federal employees not otherwise covered by such term whose duties include the investigation or apprehension of suspected or convicted individuals and who are authorized to carry a firearm; and (2) Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees whose duties are primarily the collection of delinquent taxes and the securing of delinquent returns.
Authorizes S (witness or informant) nonimmigrant status for aliens in possession of critical reliable information concerning commercial alien smuggling or trafficking in immigration documents.
Establishes a reward program to assist in eliminating immigration-related commercial document fraud operations.
Sets forth unfair immigration-related employment practices.
Requires petitioners for nonimmigrant labor to describe their efforts to recruit lawful permanent residents or U.S. citizens.
Makes permanent an INA provision allowing adjustment of status of certain aliens for whom family-sponsored or employment-based applications or petitions were filed by a specified date.
Lessens immigration consequences for minor criminal offenses. Eliminates retroactive changes in grounds of inadmissibility and removal.
Amends criminal offense removal-related provisions.
Increases the worldwide level of diversity immigrants.
Authorizes adjustment of status for certain nationals or citizens of Haiti.
Eliminates mandatory detention in expedited removal proceedings.
Amends the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 to: (1) waive document fraud as a ground of inadmissibility; and (2) address determinations with respect to children.
Eliminates the one-year filing requirement for asylum applicants. Includes gender persecution within the particular social group category of persecution.
Provides for the permanent resident status adjustment of certain temporary protected status persons.
Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to eliminate a provision prohibiting restrictions on the communication of immigration status information by a government entity.
Replaces the existing fashion model H-1B visa classification with an O-visa classification.
Cosponsors
Members who signed on, in the order they did.
Committees 3
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Jan 7, 2009 |
| Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee | Referred Feb 9, 2009 | |
| House | Homeland Security Committee | Referred Jan 7, 2009 |
| Border Security and Enforcement Subcommittee | Referred Feb 5, 2009 | |
| House | Oversight and Government Reform Committee | Referred Jan 7, 2009 |
Actions 7
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Feb 9, 2009Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law.
- Feb 5, 2009Referred to the Subcommittee on Border, Maritime, and Global Counterterrorism.
- Jan 7, 2009Introduced in House
- Jan 7, 2009Referred to House Judiciary
- Jan 7, 2009Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Homeland Security, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H4213 | Sheila Jackson Lee D-TX | Mar 31, 2009 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 111-4 | PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST: A WAY FORWARD FOR THE HOMELAND SECURITY WORKFORCE89 pages | Homeland Security Committee | Mar 5, 2009 |
CRS reports 2
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 2
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| RS21349 | U.S. Immigration Policy on Haitian Migrants Archived | Report | May 17, 2011 |
| R40507 | Haiti: Current Conditions and Congressional Concerns Archived | Report | Jun 17, 2009 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to comprehensively reform immigration law, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Save America Comprehensive Immigration Act of 2009
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Immigration.
- Administrative remedies
- Adoption and foster care
- Advisory bodies
- Border security and unlawful immigration
- Caribbean area
- Child safety and welfare
- Citizenship and naturalization
- Computers and information technology
- Crime victims
- Crimes against children
- Crimes against property
- Crimes against women
- Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
- Criminal justice information and records
- Department of Homeland Security
- Department of State
- Department of the Treasury
- Detention of persons
- Domestic violence and child abuse
- Drug trafficking and controlled substances
- Education programs funding
- Employment discrimination and employee rights
- Evidence and witnesses
- Executive agency funding and structure
- Family relationships
- Foreign labor
- Foreign language and bilingual programs
- Fraud offenses and financial crimes
- Gambling
- Government buildings, facilities, and property
- Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
- Government information and archives
- Government studies and investigations
- Haiti
- Higher education
- Human trafficking
- Immigration
- Immigration status and procedures
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- Latin America
- Law enforcement officers
- Lawyers and legal services
- Motor vehicles
- Public contracts and procurement
- Refugees, asylum, displaced persons
- Sex, gender, sexual orientation discrimination
- Smuggling and trafficking
- Student aid and college costs
- Tax administration and collection, taxpayers
- Telephone and wireless communication
- Violent crime
- Visas and passports
- Wages and earnings
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jan 7, 2009Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
