Will the Senate immigration reform bill put an end to deportations and grant amnesty to all the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are living in the United States? Many believe that the answer to this question is “Yes”. But that is not true and the Senate immigration reform bill would not grant amnesty to the undocumented immigrants. Likewise, undocumented immigrants would not be given a break soon after President Obama signs the Senate bill into law and they would be required to wait for several years to obtain US citizenship. Many fail to understand the fact that the undocumented immigrants who are ineligible for temporary legal status would be deported from the country, if the Senate bill is signed into law. Moreover, the immigration reform bill of the “Gang of Eight” aims at securing the border and would allocate funds to deport people who get into the country illegally, in future.
According to the Senate immigration reform bill, undocumented immigrants and DREAMers who had entered into America prior to 31st December, 2011 and who were present in the country on that day alone would be permitted to apply for temporary legal status. They could apply for legal status after the bill is passed and signed into law by the President. However, the lawmakers are still debating and the members of the House would introduce few smaller bills and only after the House and the Senate pass the immigration bill, the bill would be signed into law by President Obama. Until a comprehensive immigration bill is passed, the current immigration laws will be enforced and the authorities will continue to deport undocumented immigrants.
A pathway to US citizenship may not be created immediately and according to the Senate immigration reform bill, the Department of Homeland Security must first achieve the security triggers. Only after the making sure that the borders are secure, undocumented immigrants would be permitted to apply for temporary legal status. Undocumented immigrants would first be required to pass background checks and submit fingerprints. They must initially pay a $500 penalty and demonstrate that they entered the country before 31st December, 2011. Moreover, none of the undocumented immigrants would automatically be legalized and the Senate immigration reform bill would only grant them temporary legal status, if they are eligible.
Only after 10 years, immigrants who were granted temporary status would be granted authorization to apply for Green Cards. The temporary status may not be irrevocable and if the immigrants are found to be criminals or if they involve in criminal activities, they would be deported from the country. The Senate bill would focus on deporting undocumented immigrants who are criminals as the bill aims at securing the borders of the country. That is the reason why the Senate bill requires the undocumented immigrants to first come out and submit biometric information. The information provided by them would be used figure out what they have been doing all these days and to make sure that they do not have criminal records. This would help the country to help the innocent to come out of their shadows and to identify and deport criminals, human traffickers, terrorists and members of criminal organizations.