On May 5, the House of Representatives voted 368-58 to approve
the final version of an emergency supplemental appropriations
bill, which includes a series of anti-immigrant measures
originally introduced as the REAL ID Act [see INB 2/12/05,
4/3/05, 4/24/05]. The appropriations bill assigns about $76
billion for military operations, $656 million for tsunami relief,
$4.2 billion for foreign aid and $635 million for the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) bureaus of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). About
$455 million goes for ICE to hire 50 criminal investigators and
168 immigration enforcement agents and deportation officers, and
to obtain 1,950 additional detention beds. About $177 million
goes to CBP to allow that agency to hire, train, equip and
support 500 Border Patrol agents.

Although the Senate voted 99-0 on Apr. 21 for a version of the
appropriations bill which excluded REAL ID, Senate leaders agreed
in negotiations on May 3 to accept most of the REAL ID Act
provisions in the final bill, supposedly in exchange for support
of future immigration reform measures. The Senate is expected to
approve the final version of the appropriations bill when it
resumes sessions during the week of May 9.

The final bill requires applicants for state driver's licenses to
show proof of citizenship or legal residency, document a home
address and provide a photo ID. State motor vehicle departments
would have to verify the documents using federal databases.
States would have three years to comply with these requirements.
If a state didn't comply, its licenses couldn't be used for
federal identification purposes, such as boarding planes or
entering federal buildings. [Associated Press 5/6/05; Los Angeles
Times 5/6/05; Investor's Business Daily 5/6/05; Miami Herald
5/6/05; GovExec.com 5/5/05]

Some of the bill's controversial asylum provisions were modified
in the final version. As passed, the Real ID Act will require
applicants for asylum to prove that their race, religion,
national origin, political opinion or membership in a particular
social group constituted "at least one central reason" for their
persecution. Current law requires applicants show that their
persecution was based "at least in part" on one of these factors;
the original version of REAL ID would have required applicants to
prove that one of these factors was "a central reason" for their
persecution.

Taken out of the final version of the bill were provisions
eliminating stays of removal (which would have allowed asylum
seekers to be deported while their cases are on appeal to federal
court), giving bail bondspeople unprecedented power to detain
immigrants in removal proceedings, and restricting judicial
review of credibility determinations by immigration authorities.
In a positive development, the Real ID Act removes the annual
cap--presently 10,000--on the number of asylees who can adjust
their status to permanent residency. [Immigration Equality
5/5/05; Latin America Working Group 5/6/05; ILW.com 5/6/05;
Congressional Quarterly 5/4/05]

REAL ID gives the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to
waive any legal regulation that would impede the construction of
border barriers, fences, or roads. It also limits legal
challenges to such projects to those brought on constitutional
grounds. The original version of REAL ID would have required the
Secretary of Homeland Security to waive all laws that would
impede barrier construction, and would have barred all court
challenges. [LAWG 5/6/05]

The final bill includes an amendment from Sen. Barbara Mikulski
(D-MD)--approved in the Senate's version of the bill--for a two-
year waiver of the 66,000 annual cap on H-2B visas for returning
low-skill seasonal workers. Maryland's seafood processing
industry, which relies on foreign workers, lobbied heavily for
that amendment. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) inserted
a line in the final bill giving 10,500 visas to Australian guest
workers in high-skill jobs. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
added a provision to provide up to 50,000 visas for foreign
nurses and physical therapists and their family members, by
reassigning visas which were left unused between 2001 and 2004--
though apparently drafting errors have left that provision in
doubt. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) added a measure eliminating an
annual cap of 1,000 on asylum grants for people (primarily from
China) who claim persecution based on forced population control
policies. [Investor's Business Daily 5/6/05; AP 5/4/05]

On May 7 hundreds of immigrants and supporters protested the
passage of REAL ID in Rockville, Maryland. Maryland is one of 10
states that don't require driver's license applicants to prove
they are in the US legally. [AP 5/7/05]

Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) plan to
unveil a bipartisan immigration reform plan during the week of
May 9. The plan is likely to include provisions for allowing some
undocumented immigrants to apply for permanent residency, while
also including measures tightening immigration and border
enforcement and penalizing employers for hiring undocumented
workers. [Arizona Republic (Phoenix) 5/6/05]

"REAL ID" APPROVED

On May 5, the House of Representatives voted 368-58 to approve
the final version of an emergency supplemental appropriations
bill, which includes a series of anti-immigrant measures
originally introduced as the REAL ID Act [see INB 2/12/05,
4/3/05, 4/24/05]. The appropriations bill assigns about $76
billion for military operations, $656 million for tsunami relief,
$4.2 billion for foreign aid and $635 million for the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) bureaus of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). About
$455 million goes for ICE to hire 50 criminal investigators and
168 immigration enforcement agents and deportation officers, and
to obtain 1,950 additional detention beds. About $177 million
goes to CBP to allow that agency to hire, train, equip and
support 500 Border Patrol agents.

Although the Senate voted 99-0 on Apr. 21 for a version of the
appropriations bill which excluded REAL ID, Senate leaders agreed
in negotiations on May 3 to accept most of the REAL ID Act
provisions in the final bill, supposedly in exchange for support
of future immigration reform measures. The Senate is expected to
approve the final version of the appropriations bill when it
resumes sessions during the week of May 9.

The final bill requires applicants for state driver's licenses to
show proof of citizenship or legal residency, document a home
address and provide a photo ID. State motor vehicle departments
would have to verify the documents using federal databases.
States would have three years to comply with these requirements.
If a state didn't comply, its licenses couldn't be used for
federal identification purposes, such as boarding planes or
entering federal buildings. [Associated Press 5/6/05; Los Angeles
Times 5/6/05; Investor's Business Daily 5/6/05; Miami Herald
5/6/05; GovExec.com 5/5/05]

Some of the bill's controversial asylum provisions were modified
in the final version. As passed, the Real ID Act will require
applicants for asylum to prove that their race, religion,
national origin, political opinion or membership in a particular
social group constituted "at least one central reason" for their
persecution. Current law requires applicants show that their
persecution was based "at least in part" on one of these factors;
the original version of REAL ID would have required applicants to
prove that one of these factors was "a central reason" for their
persecution.

Taken out of the final version of the bill were provisions
eliminating stays of removal (which would have allowed asylum
seekers to be deported while their cases are on appeal to federal
court), giving bail bondspeople unprecedented power to detain
immigrants in removal proceedings, and restricting judicial
review of credibility determinations by immigration authorities.
In a positive development, the Real ID Act removes the annual
cap--presently 10,000--on the number of asylees who can adjust
their status to permanent residency. [Immigration Equality
5/5/05; Latin America Working Group 5/6/05; ILW.com 5/6/05;
Congressional Quarterly 5/4/05]

REAL ID gives the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to
waive any legal regulation that would impede the construction of
border barriers, fences, or roads. It also limits legal
challenges to such projects to those brought on constitutional
grounds. The original version of REAL ID would have required the
Secretary of Homeland Security to waive all laws that would
impede barrier construction, and would have barred all court
challenges. [LAWG 5/6/05]

The final bill includes an amendment from Sen. Barbara Mikulski
(D-MD)--approved in the Senate's version of the bill--for a two-
year waiver of the 66,000 annual cap on H-2B visas for returning
low-skill seasonal workers. Maryland's seafood processing
industry, which relies on foreign workers, lobbied heavily for
that amendment. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) inserted
a line in the final bill giving 10,500 visas to Australian guest
workers in high-skill jobs. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
added a provision to provide up to 50,000 visas for foreign
nurses and physical therapists and their family members, by
reassigning visas which were left unused between 2001 and 2004--
though apparently drafting errors have left that provision in
doubt. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) added a measure eliminating an
annual cap of 1,000 on asylum grants for people (primarily from
China) who claim persecution based on forced population control
policies. [Investor's Business Daily 5/6/05; AP 5/4/05]

On May 7 hundreds of immigrants and supporters protested the
passage of REAL ID in Rockville, Maryland. Maryland is one of 10
states that don't require driver's license applicants to prove
they are in the US legally. [AP 5/7/05]

Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) plan to
unveil a bipartisan immigration reform plan during the week of
May 9. The plan is likely to include provisions for allowing some
undocumented immigrants to apply for permanent residency, while
also including measures tightening immigration and border
enforcement and penalizing employers for hiring undocumented
workers. [Arizona Republic (Phoenix) 5/6/05]

Immigration News Briefs (INB), a weekly English-language summary of US
immigration news, is forwarded out to the email list of the Coalition
for
the Human Rights of Immigrants (CHRI). e-mail: nicajg@panix.com