Detailed Summary

Establishes specified benchmarks which must be met before the guest worker and the legalization programs under this Act may be initiated respecting: (1) operational control of the the border with Mexico; (2) Border Patrol increases; (3) border barriers, including vehicle barriers, fencing, radar, and aerial vehicles; (4) detention capacity for illegal aliens apprehended crossing the U.S.-Mexico border; (5) workplace enforcement, including an electronic employment verification system; and (6) Z-visa (as established by this Act) alien processing.

Establishes in the Treasury the Immigration Security Account to assist the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) meet the benchmark requirements.

Sets forth border security and enforcement provisions, including provisions respecting: (1) personnel and asset increases and enhancements, including Shadow Wolves units; (2) a National Strategy for Border Security and a National Land Border Security Plan; (3) border security initiatives, including biometric data enhancements, document integrity, and additional ports of entry; (4) a biometric entry-exit system; (5) cooperation with Mexico; (6) forfeiture of conveyances; (7) border security on federal lands; (8) a border relief grant program for a tribal, state, or local law enforcement agency in a border-proximate or high-impact area county; and (9) increased federal detention space.

Northern Border Prosecution Initiative Reimbursement Act - Directs the Attorney General to carry out the Northern Border Prosecution Initiative to reimburse northern border entities for costs incurred for handling case dispositions of criminal cases that are federally initiated but federally declined-referred.

Secure and Safe Detention and Asylum Act - Sets forth detention procedures and standards. Establishes: (1) an Office of Detention Oversight; and (2) a detention alternatives program.

Sets forth interior enforcement provisions, including provisions respecting: (1) additional immigration personnel; (2) detention and removal; (3) alien sex offenders and protection of immigrants from convicted sex offenders; (4) alien street gang members; (5) illegal entry and reentry; (6) passport and immigration fraud; (7) criminal aliens, including continuation of the Institutional Removal Program (IRP); (8) voluntary departure; (9) detention and alternatives; (10) criminal penalties; (11) alien smuggling; (12) tribal lands security; (13) state and local enforcement of immigration laws; (14) expedited removal; and (15) the justice prisoner and alien transfer system.

Makes it unlawful to knowingly hire, recruit, or refer for a fee an unauthorized alien.

Sets forth employment eligibility verification system provisions.

Provides for: (1) disclosure of certain taxpayer identity information to DHS; (2) establishment of the state records improvement grant program which may be used to help states comply with REAL ID requirements; and (3) establishment of the voluntary advanced verification program to verify employee identity.

Sets forth Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Social Security Administration (SSA) immigration-related enforcement provisions.

Establishes a temporary Y-visa program for non-seasonal (Y-1) and seasonal workers (Y-2) (which replaces the H-2B category). Provides for: (1) a two-year Y-1 admission with two additional two-year extensions (must be outside the United States for 12 months after working in the United States for two years), and a 10-month Y-2 admission; (2) issuance of Y-3 nonimmigrant visas for accompanying or following spouse and children; (3) three-year Y-1 commuter workers; (4) establishment in the Treasury of a State Impact Assistance Account and a state impact assistance grant program; (5) U.S. worker protection; (6) employer requirements; (7) specified annual admissions caps; and (8) bilateral agreements with countries of Y-visa nonimmigrants as a condition of making such visas available.

Establishes the Standing Commission on Immigration and Labor Markets.

Requires the Department of Labor to establish a publically available electronic job registry link to state job registries.

Replaces the seasonal agricultural nonimmigrant temporary worker (H-2A visa) labor certification requirement with a labor condition application filing. Revises work condition provisions. Establishes the Commission on Agricultural Wage Standards. Provides for a 10-month period of admission, with an exception for dairy workers.

Revises student visa provisions respecting: (1) off campus work; (2) distance learning; (3) dual intent; and (4) graduate students in mathematics, engineerng, natural sciences, or information technology.

Revises H-1B visa (specialty occupation) provisions, including: (1) annual admissions cap increases; (2) employer requirements; (3) degree requirement; (4) merit-based extension of stay; and (5) government requirements.

Revises L-visa (intracompany transfer) provisions, including start-up company petition approval limitations .

Provides L-visa and H-1B visa whistle blower protections.

Makes the Conrad J-1 visa (foreign physicians in medically underserved areas) waiver program permanent.

Increases family-sponsored immigrant visas until backlogs are adjudicated.

Establishes a merit-based immigrant evaluation system.

Redefines "immediate relative." Eliminates specified family categories. Creates a new: (1) preference category for parents of U.S. citizens who are at least 21 years old; and (2) hardship category for persons who would have met eliminated categories.

Eliminates the diversity visa program.

Creates a new special visitor visa for parents of U.S. citizens and for spouses and minor children of Y-1 visa holders.

Increases per-country-limits for family-based and employment -based immigrants.

Establishes a nonimmgrant Z-visa category for illegal aliens who have been continuously physically present in the United States since Jan. 1, 2007: (1) are employed and seek to continue working or studying (Z-1); (2) spouses, ex-spouses who were victims of domestic abuse, and parents over 65 years old of such workers (Z-2); and (3) children under 18 years old on the date of application who are the natural born or legally adopted child of the working Z visa holder.

Prohibits nonimmigrant status adjustment. Permits permanent resident status adjustment under a specified earned adjustment process, including: (1) a probationary period; (2) filing at a U.S. consulate abroad; and (3) payment of penalty.

Sets forth provisions respecting: (1) ineligibility grounds; (2) fees and penalties; (3) security and law enforcement checks; (4) tax liability; (5) four-year admission and four-year extensions; (6) termination of benefits; (7) employment; (8) administrative and judicial review; and (9) information disclosure.

Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2007 or DREAM Act of 2007 - Authorizes adjustment to permanent resident status for certain Z-visa long-term U.S. residents who entered the United States before reaching 16 years old.

Exempts Z-visa aliens from the provision denying an unlawful alien's eligibility for higher education benefits based on state residence unless a U.S. national is similarly eleigible without regard to such state residence.

Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2007, or AgJOBS Act of 2007 - Establishes a nonimmigrant Z-A visa category for agricultural workers and their dependents.

Establishes a pilot program (Blue Card program) for adjustment to permanent resident status of qualifying agricultural workers who have worked in the United States during the two-year period ending December 31, 2005, and have been employed for specified periods of time subsequent to enactment of this Act.

Provides that fingerprints provided by a qualifying individual at the time of military enlistment shall satisfy naturalization fingerprint requirements.

S.I. Hayakawa National Language Amendment Act of 2007 - Makes English the national language of the U.S. government. Directs the U.S. government to preserve and enhance the role of English as the U.S. national language.

Expands the S-visa (witness/informant) classification.

Expands the visas waiver program to include on a probationary basis a European Union (EU) country that is assisting the United States in Afghanistan or Iraq and whose participation does not compromise U.S. law enforcement interests.

Fairness in Immigration Litigation Act of 2007 - Sets forth provisions respecting remedies for immigration legislation.

Sets forth backlog reduction provisions respecting: (1) family-sponsored and employment-based immigrant levels; (2) country limits; (3) immigrant visa allocations; (4) minor children; (5) shortage occupations; (6) student and advanced degree visas; (7) children of Filipino World War II veterans; (8) powerline workers; (9) aliens of extraordinary artistic ability; and (10) Haitian children.

Securing Knowledge, Innovation, and Leadership Act of 2007 or the SKIL Act of 2007 - Exempts from the annual H-1B (specialty occupation) visa cap an alien who has: (1) earned a master's or higher degree from an accredited U.S. university; or (2) been awarded a medical specialty certification based on post-doctoral training and experience in the United States.

Revises certain: (1) student visa provisions; and (2) labor certification provisions.

Prohibits immigration application approval until background and security checks have been completed and any fraud allegations have been resolved.

Hurricane Katrina Victims Immigration Benefits Preservation Act - Authorizes special immigration status, and related benefits, for qualifying aliens who died, were disabled, or lost employment as a direct result of Hurricanes Katrina or Rita, and for certain of their family members.

Immigrant Accountability Act of 2007 - Provides permanent resident status adjustment for a qualifying illegal alien (and the spouse and children of such alien) who has been in the United States for five years and employed (with exceptions) for specified periods of time.

Authorizes mandatory departure and immigrant or nonimmigrant reentry for a qualifying illegal alien who has been present and employed in the United States since January 7, 2004. Establishes a three-year mandatory departure status, and sets forth immigration prohibitions and penalties for failure to depart or delayed departure.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a state impact assistance grant program to provide health and education services to noncitizens.

Strengthening American Citizenship Act of 2007 - Directs: (1) the Chief of the Office of Citizenship of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide grants to assist legal U.S. residents who declare an intent to apply for citizenship in the United States to meet naturalization requirements; and (2) the Secretary to establish an American citizenship grant program for qualified entities to provide civics, history, and English classes to promote the patriotic integration of prospective citizens.

Authorizes the Secretary of State to award a grant to a U.S. land grant university to establish a university-based Mexican rural poverty mitigation program.

Sets forth provisions respecting: (1) additional DHS and Department of Justice immigration personnel; and (2) the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Requires the Secretary to establish a toll-free naturalization assistance telephone number for Armed Forces members and their families.

State Court Interpreter Grant Program Act - Provides state courts grants to assist individuals with limited English proficiency to access and understand court proceedings, and allocates funds for a related court interpreter technical assistance program.

Border Infrastructure and Technology Modernization Act - Provides for: (1) a port of entry infrastructure assessment study; (2) a national land border security plan; (3) a port of entry technology demonstration program; and (4) expansion the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism programs along the northern and southern borders.

September 11 Family Humanitarian Relief and Patriotism Act - Provides permanent resident status adjustment or cancellation of removal and permanent resident status adjustment for a qualifying alien who was on September 10, 2001, the wife, child, or dependent son or daughter of a lawful nonimmigrant alien who died as a result of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States.

Sets forth provisions respecting: (1) noncitizen Armed Forces membership; (2) surveillance programs, including aerial and unmanned aerial surveillance; (3) a Northern Border Prosecution Initiative; (4) reimbursement of Southern Border State and county prosecutors for prosecuting federally initiated drug cases; (5) screening of municipal waste; (6) border security on federal land; and (7) parole and status adjustment relief for qualifying widows and orphans.

Initial Entry, Adjustment, and Citizenship Assistance Grant Act of 2007 - Authorizes the Secretary to award initial entry, status adjustment, and citizenship assistance grants to qualifying community-based organizations.

Amends the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to extend the travel document plan deadline.

States that English is the national language of the United States. Requires the government to preserve and enhance the role of English as the national language of the United States.

Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish the Office of Internal Corruption Investigation.

Directs the Secretary to adjust to permanent resident status specified asylee applicants who are members of a persecuted religious minority.

Intercountry Adoption Reform Act of 2007 or the ICARE Act - Establishes an Office of Intercountry Adoptions within the Department of State to be headed by the Ambassador at Large for Intercountry Adoptions.

Sets forth Office functions, including: (1) approval of family to adopt (divided into U.S. regions); (2) child adjudication; (3) family services; (4) international policy development; and (5) administration and enforcement.

Revises provisions for automatic citizenship for children born outside the United States, including adopted children.

Establishes a nonimmigrant W-visa for an adoptable child coming to the United States for adoption by a U.S. citizen and spouse jointly or by an unmarried U.S. citizen at least 25 years of age who has been approved by the Office of International Adoption of the Department of State.

Sets forth adoption-related enforcement and penalty provisions.

Wartime Treatment Study Act - Establishes: (1) the Commisson on Wartime Treatment of European Americans; and (2) the Commission on Wartime Treatment of Jewish Refugees.

Status of the Legislation

Latest Major Action: 6/28/2007: Senate floor actions. Status: Returned to the Calendar. Calendar No. 208.

Points in Favor

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Points Against

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