Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1983

(Measure passed House, amended, roll call #251 (216-211))

Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1983 - Title I: Control of Illegal Immigration-Part A: Employment - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make it unlawful for a person or other entity to: (1) hire, or recruit, or refer for a fee for U.S. employment any alien knowing that such person is unauthorized to work, or any person without verifying his or her work status (applies to employers of four or more employees); or (2) continue to hire an alien knowing of such person's unauthorized work status.

Makes verification compliance an affirmative defense to any violation in the hiring or referral of an alien, including the situation of a State employment agency referral.

Applies the sanctions under this Act to employers of four or more employees, except in the case of farm labor contractors.

Directs the Attorney General, within two years, to establish an electronic data or telephone method to validate the social security account numbers of employee-applicants.

Sets forth the verification process. Requires: (1) the employer to attest, on a form developed by the Attorney General, that the employee's work status has been verified by examination of a passport, birth certificate, social security card, alien documentation papers, or other proof; (2) the worker to similarly attest that he or she is a U.S. citizen or national, or authorized alien; and (3) the employer to keep such records for three years or one year after the employee leaves, whichever is longer.

States that nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize a national identity card or system.

Makes it unlawful for an employer to require an employee to provide any type of financial guarantee or indemnity against any potential employment liability. Subjects violators, after notice and hearing opportunity, to civil penalties.

Subjects employers to citations, graduated civil penalties, or injunctive remedies for hiring violations. Requires the Attorney General to provide notice and hearing opportunity. Permits judicial review of a final administrative penalty. Directs the Attorney General to file suit in U.S. district court to collect unpaid penalties.

States that such employer sanction provisions preempt State and local laws.

Directs the President to monitor and consult semiannually with Congress concerning implementation of such employment provisions and their impact on the U.S. economy and illegal entry of aliens.

Directs the Civil Rights Commission to: (1) monitor the implementation and enforcement of such provisions; (2) investigate allegations of discrimination; and (3) report to the appropriate congressional committees at 18, 36, and 54-month intervals.

Makes it an unfair immigration-related employment practice for an employer of four or more employees to discriminate against any individual (other than an unauthorized alien) with respect to hiring, or recruitment or referral for consideration, because of such individual's origin or alienage.

Vests authority to enforce employer sanction and non-discrimination provisions in the United States Immigration Board (created by this Act) through specially trained administrative law judges and a Special Counsel. Refers allegations of violations to the Special Counsel and requires the Special Counsel to: (1) notify the alleged violator of the complaint within ten days; and (2) investigate and determine whether to prosecute the complaint within 30 days. Authorizes the Special Counsel to independently investigate and prosecute violations. States that violation hearings shall be held before such administrative law judges, who shall submit recommended orders to the Board for final approval. Authorizes the Board to: (1) accept, modify, or otherwise dispose of such an order; (2) order a party to cease and desist from unlawful activity; or (3) seek judicial enforcement of the order.

Sets forth graduated civil penalties and equitable remedies. Permits a prevailing party to be awarded a reasonable attorney's fee.

Directs the Attorney General: (1) in cooperation with the Secretaries of Labor, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Treasury, and Commerce, and the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, to disseminate program information for the first year after enactment of this Act; and (2) to issue implementing regulations within seven months.

States that no penalties shall be imposed for the first seven months after enactment of this Act.

Amends the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act to subject farm labor contractors to the requirements of this Act, beginning seven months after enactment.

Makes it illegal to fraudently misuse or manufacture entry or work documents (up to $5,000 fine or two years' imprisonment or both).

Part B: Enforcement and Services - States that two essential elements of the immigration control and reform program established by this Act are increased enforcement and administrative activities of the Border Patrol, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and other appropriate Federal agencies.

Authorizes supplemental appropriations for INS service and enforcement activities for FY 1984, to be available for expenditure through FY 1985.

Directs the Attorney General to develop and transmit to Congress within two months an INS funding and personnel plan for FY 1984, including an in-service training program. Requires FY 1985 and FY 1986 plan revisions as appropriate.

Authorizes FY 1985 and 1986 INS appropriations.

Subjects a person to criminal penalties for unlawful transportation of aliens into the United States for commercial advantage or private profit.

Authorizes the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to impose maintenance fees on aliens for the use of INS facilities and services.

Requires INS to have an owner's consent or a warrant before entering a farm or outdoor operations to interrogate persons to determine if undocumented aliens are present.

Directs the Attorney General to: (1) develop, in consultation with State and local officials, an immigration emergency contingency plan; and (2) submit such plan to the appropriate congressional committees within four months of enactment of this Act. Authorizes permanent appropriations.

Directs the Attorney General to: (1) provide in-service training to familiarize the personnel who deal with the public with the rights and varied cultural backgrounds of aliens and citizens; and (2) enhance the responsibilities of INS's community outreach program.

Directs the Attorney General: (1) jointly with the Secretary of State, to initiate discussions with Mexico and Canada on a program to prevent the smuggling of illegal aliens into the United States; and (2) report to Congress within one year.

Permits the owner or operator of an international bridge or toll road to request the Attorney General to inspect and approve measures taken to prevent aliens from illegally crossing into the United States. States that such approved measures shall be prima facie evidence of compliance with obligations under such Act to prevent illegal entries.

Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) U.S. immigration laws should be enforced vigorously and uniformly; and (2) the Attorney General, in so doing, shall safeguard the constitutional rights, personal safety, and human dignity of citizens and aliens.

Part C: Adjudication Procedures and Asylum - Directs immigration officers to exclude without hearing or further inquiry aliens without proper documents or without any reasonable basis for legal entry or asylum. Directs the Attorney General, after consulting with the congressional judiciary committees, to establish procedures to assure that aliens are not excluded without an inquiry into their reasons for seeking U.S. entry.

States that if an alien claims asylum, the exclusion hearing shall be limited to the asylum issue.

Establishes in the Department of Justice a seven-member United States Immigration Board to hear appeals from final decisions of immigration judges. States that the Board's determination shall be binding on all immigration judges, immigration officers, and consular officers unless modified by a court. Requires deportation or exclusion appeals to the Board to be filed within 20 days.

Sets forth administrative and operating provisions, including provisions regarding the Special Counsel.

Replaces the existing special inquiry officer system with a system of immigration judges, to be appointed by the Chairman of the Immigration Board. Grants such judges responsibility for exclusion, deportation, asylum, and status rescission cases, as well as penalty assessments.

Provides for judicial review of exclusion cases and those asylum cases encompassed within deportation or exclusion orders. States that such final orders shall be reviewed in U. S. appeals courts. Reduces the period for filing such appeals from six months to 60 days.

Restricts judicial review of asylum determinations to questions of: (1) jurisdiction; (2) compliance with laws and regulations; (3) constitutionality; and (4) arbitrary decisionmaking.

Prohibits judicial review decisions from reopening: (1) exclusion, deportation, or asylum determinations; (2) denials of stays of exclusion or deportation; or (3) expedited exclusions.

States that such restrictions and prohibitions should not be construed as limiting habeas corpus.

Revises asylum provisions. Requires an alien under an exclusion or deportation order to apply for asylum within 14 days and to complete such application within 30 days after notice of such order unless changed circumstances in the alien's country cause a change in asylum eligibility. Prohibits an alien from reapplying for asylum after having been denied such status unless such changes have occurred. Requires asylum applications to be heard before administrative law judges having special training in international law. Permits legal counsel at asylum hearings. Requires an alien to be an admissible refugee in order to be granted asylum. Places the burden of proof on the applicant.

Prohibits the reopening of an application proceeding unless changed circumstances in the alien's country cause a change in asylum eligibility. Requires application determinations to be made within 30 days after the hearing (which shall be held within 45 days of the application's filing). Makes asylum hearings open to the public unless the alien requests otherwise.

Requires an alien detained during asylum proceedings to be released on parole if: (1) the Board has not rendered a decision on such person's appeal of a denied asylum application within 60 days of filing; or (2) a reviewing court has not rendered a decision on the petition for review of such claim within 30 days of filing.

Requires annual asylum reports to Congress.

Exempts asylum and refugee records from disclosure, except that: (1) asylum applicants may obtain such records if the information is not otherwise exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act; and (2) the Attorney General or the Secretary of State may get such records if needed in court.

Requires the President to nominate Board members within 45 days. Sets forth other administrative and operating provisions for the transfer of asylum proceedings from the existing special inquiry system to the administrative law judge system. Provides that during the two-year transition period special inquiry officers shall be considered as meeting the minimum requirements for the administrative law judge examination.

Part D: Adjustment of Status - Prohibits adjustment of status to permanent resident for violators of (nonimmigrant) visa terms.

Part E: Presidential Study of a Collaborative People-to-People Program Between the United States and Mexico - Directs the President to study the advisability and practicality of proposing to Mexico the establishment of a collaborative people-to-people program between Mexico and the United States. Requires that such study consider the possibility of the two countries forming a Mixed Commission to review such program. Directs the President to report to Congress within one year regarding such program.

Title II: Reform of Legal Immigration-Part A: Immigrants - Provides, beginning with FY 1984, for: (1) an increase in the colonial quota from 600 to 3,000; and (2) for additional immigrant visas for Canada and Mexico (20,000 each plus each other's unused visas from the previous fiscal year).

Requires the President to report to Congress every three years (the first report due by January 1, 1987) on the overall impact of immigration admissions for such period, including the number and classifications of admitted aliens. Requires the House and Senate Judiciary Committees to hold public hearings on such reports.

Includes within the definition of "special immigrant" unmarried sons and daughters and surviving spouses of employees of certain international organizations ("I" status).

Grants nonimmigrant status to: (1) parents of children receiving "I" status while they are minors; and (2) other children of such parents or a surviving "I" status spouse.

Includes the relationship between an illegitimate child and its natural father within the definition of "child" for purposes of status, benefit, or privilege under such Act.

Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1981 to: (1) extend the numerical limitation waiver to certain self-supporting retirees; and (2) permit certain aliens already in the United States with labor certificates and priority dates up to October 1, 1984, to work at their jobs until their visas are available.

Permits university researchers to be treated as faculty for certification purposes.

States that for suspension of deportation purposes, an alien shall not be considered to have failed to maintain continuous physical presence in the United States if the absence did not meaningfully interrupt the continuous physical presence.

Part B: Nonimmigrants - Separates temporary agricultural labor from other temporary labor for purposes of nonimmigrant (H-2 visas) worker provisions.

States that such agricultural workers' stay shall be determined by the Attorney General. Prohibits entry to temporary workers who have violated entry conditions within the previous five years.

Requires the Attorney General to provide for necessary entry and exit documents.

Requires an employer H-2 visa petition to certify that: (1) there are not enough local U.S. workers for the job; and (2) similarly employed U.S. workers' wages and working conditions will not be adversely affected.

Directs the Secretary to establish applicable H-2 agricultural worker employment standards. Authorizes the Secretary to charge application fees.

Prohibits the Secretary from approving such petition if: (1) the job is open because of a strike or lock-out; (2) the employer violated temporary worker admissions terms; or (3) in a case where such workers are not covered by State workers' compensation laws, the employer has not provided equivalent protection at no cost to such workers. Directs the Secretary to establish expedited review of such denied certificates.

Provides with regard to agricultural worker applications that: (1) the Secretary may not require such an application to be filed more than 50 days before needed; (2) the employer shall be notified in writing within seven days if such an application requires perfecting; and (3) the Secretary shall approve an acceptable application not later than 20 days before needed. Authorizes producer associations to file such petitions.

Requires the Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of Agriculture, to report to Congress annually regarding such certification program.

Authorizes appropriations beginning with FY 1984 to: (1) recruit domestic workers; (2) monitor the nonimmigrant work program; and (3) make determinations and certifications.

Authorizes permanent appropriations for the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out duties under such Act.

Directs the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretaries of Labor and Agriculture, to establish a three-year transitional agricultural labor program to implement the H-2 temporary agricultural worker program under this Act. Requires employer registration during the first year of the program. Provides that the number of undocumented agricultural workers be reduced by one-third for each of the three years. Provides such transitional workers with the same benefits and protections as H-2 workers. Sets forth employer participation requirements. Authorizes registration fees. Requires a report to Congress within 18 months regarding temporary alien worker program improvements.

Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should establish an advisory commission to consult with Mexico and other appropriate countries and advise the Attorney General regarding the temporary worker and transitional worker programs.

Requires foreign students to return to their home country for two years before being eligible for U.S. permanent residence. Permits waiver of such requirement where a student: (1) is an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen; (2) has an advanced U.S. degree and a university job offer in such field of study; (3) has a U.S. degree in natural science, mathematics, computer science, or engineering and a related research or technical job offer; or (4) has an advanced U.S. degree and exceptional ability in business or economics and has a job offer requiring such exceptional ability.

Permits foreign students to change to "trainee" (H-3) classification.

Prohibits non-waiver students, transitional program workers, and visitors admitted under the visa waiver program from adjusting to permanent resident status.

States that time spent in student or trainee status shall not count for purposes of eligibility for suspension of deportation.

Authorizes the Attorney General and the Secretary of State to establish a three-year pilot visa waiver program for up to eight countries providing a similar benefit to the United States. Sets forth program provisions.

Authorizes a visa waiver program for Guam.

Adds to the classification of nonimmigrant aliens those foreign workers who have no intention of abandoning a foreign residence, but come to the United States for seasonal agricultural employment in the production of perishable commodities for a maximum of 11 consecutive months.

Prohibits the admission of an alien as a nonimmigrant during the five-year period following any violation of the terms or conditions of a previous nonimmigrant admission, or following any illegal entry after the nonimmigrant seasonal agricultural employment program first takes effect.

Directs the Attorney General to consult with the Secretaries of Agriculture and of Labor to establish an admissions program for nonimmigrant workers entering the United States for seasonal agricultural employment which does not exceed 11 consecutive months. Requires such program to impose monthly and annual quotas upon nonimmigrant visas by agricultural employment region. Subjects the availability of such visas to a specified preference system, based upon a certain allotment formula.

States that the availability of a nonimmigrant visa is not predicated upon petitions from prospective employers within the United States. Specifies exceptions. States that nonimmigrant visas shall neither limit the type of agricultural work, nor the geographical area within which aliens may be employed. Requires the Attorney General to designate up to ten U.S. agricultural employment regions.

Permits agricultural employers to submit petitions to the Attorney General which specify the month and agricultural employment region concerned, as well as a breakdown of the type of work needed and the total number and qualifications of agricultural workers required in the monthly production of perishable commodities. Requires the Attorney General to prescribe quotas for nonimmigrant visas based upon such petitions and other specified factors. Permits agricultural employers to apply for an increase in nonimmigration visa quotas if they can establish an emergency need based upon certain factors. Requires the Attorney General to decide such applications within 72 hours of the completion of such application.

Specifies conditions for the Attorney General's approval of employer applications. Imposes certain duties on employer applicants, including: (1) a good faith effort to recruit domestic agricultural workers until the date any nonimmigrants admitted to perform farm labor report to work; (2) provision of workers' compensation insurance with benefits equivalent to those provided under State law; and (3) a refraining from employing nonimmigrants if there is a strike or lockout during a labor dispute. Authorizes the Attorney General to disqualify an employer from program participation for up to three years if it is determined, after opportunity for a hearing, that such employer has violated such Act.

Authorizes the Attorney General to impose civil monetary penalties upon employers who have committed specified violations. Makes it unlawful to hire, recruit or refer for employment in the United States a nonimmigrant alien in the absence of an approved application for such employment. Details the penalties incurred for specified violations by employers and aliens.

Denies any Federal financial assistance based on financial need to aliens admitted as nonimmigrants for seasonal agricultural employment.

Requires the Attorney General to submit a semiannual program report to Congress.

States that this Act preempts any State or local law on the same subject.

Directs the Attorney General to establish a trust fund to provide: (1) for administration and enforcement of the nonimmigrant seasonal agricultural worker program; and (2) a monetary incentive for participating nonimmigrants to return to their countries of origin upon visa expiration. Specifies methods of contribution to the fund by employers and nonimmigrant employees. Prescribes payments from the fund to nonimmigrants who demonstrate compliance with the terms and conditions of the program.

Declares that it is the sense of Congress that the President should negotiate with governments of labor resource countries to establish bilateral commissions to advise the Attorney General on suitable regulations to carry out the program.

Prohibits the filing of petitions for preference status for aliens defined as seasonal agricultural foreign workers.

Excludes from admission into the United States any such alien workers who are not: (1) continuously employed; or (2) actively seeking employment in the agricultural labor market.

Precludes the time spent by aliens in a nonimmigrant status under this Act from being counted as part of the continuous residence requirement for suspended deportation. Bars such aliens from having their status adjusted to permanent resident.

Title III: Legalization - Authorizes the Attorney General to adjust to temporary resident status aliens who: (1) apply within 18 months; (2) establish that they entered the United States before January 1, 1982, and have resided here continuously in an unlawful status (including Cuban/Haitian entrants) since such date; and (3) are otherwise admissible.

Authorizes similar status adjustment for specified aliens who entered legally as nonimmigrants but whose period of authorized stay ended before January 1, 1982. (States that in the case of exchange visitors the two-year foreign residence requirements must have been met or waived.)

Prohibits the legalization of persons: (1) convicted of a felony or three or more misdemeanors in the United States; or (2) who have taken part in political, religious, or racial persecution. Requires an alien applying for temporary resident status to register under the Military Selective Service Act, if such Act so requires.

Authorizes the Attorney General to adjust the status of temporary resident aliens to permanent resident if the alien: (1) applies during the one-year period beginning with the 13th month following the grant of temporary resident status; (2) establishes continuous residence in the United States since the grant of temporary resident status; (3) is otherwise admissible and has not been convicted of a felony or three or more misdemeanors committed in the United States; (4) either meets the minimum requirements for an understanding of English and a knowledge of American history and a government, or demonstrates the satisfactory pursuit of a course of study in these subjects; and (5) demonstrates that any accompanying dependent child subject to State compulsory school attendance laws is enrolled or is arranging for enrollment in school or in another satisfactory course of instruction. States exceptions to such requirements.

Specifies circumstances in which the Attorney General may rescind an alien's temporary resident status. Provides additional guidelines for dealing with temporary resident aliens.

Requires the Attorney General to work with designated voluntary agencies to: (1) disseminate program information; and (2) process such aliens.

Provides criminal penalties for false application statements.

Waives numerical limitations, labor certification, and other specified entry violations for such aliens. Permits the Attorney General to waive other grounds for exclusion (except criminal, most drug-related, and security grounds) to assure family unity or when otherwise in the national interest.

Requires the Attorney General to: (1) issue implementing regulations within a specified time; and (2) provide an alien otherwise eligible but unregistered who is apprehended before the end of the application period, an opportunity to apply for the legalization program before deportation or exclusion proceedings are begun. States that such an alien shall be authorized to work in the United States pending disposition of his case. Declares that no alien shall be excludable if he or she demonstrates a history of employment evidencing self-support without reliance on public cash assistance.

Makes legalized aliens (other than Cuban/Haitian entrants) ineligible for Federal financial assistance, medicaid, or food stamps for five years following a grant of temporary resident status and for five years following a grant of permanent resident status (permits medical assistance, aid to the aged, blind, or disabled, and public health assistance). States that programs authorized under the National School Lunch Act, the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, the Vocational Education Act of 1963, chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981, the Headstart-Follow Through Act, the Job Training Partnership Act, and subparts 4 and 5 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 shall not be construed as prohibited assistance. Continues assistance to aliens under the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980 without regard to adjustment of status. Preempts certain State social security plan requirements to the extent necessary to carry out this Act.

Provides for a de novo hearing, upon timely request, for any alien whose application for adjustment of status has been denied.

Requires the President to report to Congress within 27 months on the impact of the legalization program.

Establishes procedures for the status adjustment to permanent resident of certain Cuban and Haitian entrants who arrived in the United States before January 1, 1982.

Updates the registry date for permanent entry admissions records from June 30, 1948, to January 1, 1973.

Authorizes appropriations for FY 1984 through 1987 for State legalization assistance. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, subject to available appropriations, to provide full reimbursement to States for costs incurred in providing specified services to aliens during the period they were ineligible for Federal assistance.

Requires the Secretary of Education, subject to available appropriations, to assist States in meeting such aliens' added educational costs.

Provides for a de novo hearing, upon timely request, for any alien whose application for adjustment of status has been denied.

Requires the President to report to Congress within 27 months on the impact of the legalization program.

Establishes procedures for the status adjustment to permanent resident of certain Cuban and Haitian entrants who arrived in the United States before January 1, 1982.

Updates the registry date for permanent entry admissions records from June 30, 1948, to January 1, 1973.

Authorizes appropriations for FY 1984 through 1987 for State legalization assistance. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, subject to available appropriations, to provide full reimbursement to States for costs ineligible for Federal assistance.

Requies the Secretary of Education, subject to available appropriations, to assist States in meeting such aliens' added educational costs.

Amends the Refugee Education Assistance Act to make authorizations permanent. States that funds shall be used to the maximum extent possible for adult English education.

Title IV: Extended Voluntary Departure for Salvadorans - Expresses the sense of Congress that voluntary departure dates for nationals of El Salvador should be extended until it is safe to return there.

Title V: National Commission on Immigration - Establishes a National Commission on Immigration to study unauthorized immigration into the United States. Specifies subtopics of such study, including development with Latin American countries of reciprocal trade and economic development programs of mutual benefit.

Requires a report to Congress three years after enactment of this Act. Terminates the Commission 30 days after submission of such report.

Title VI: Consultation in Implementation of Act - Directs the Attorney General, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to consult regularly on the implementation of this Act with regional and local advisory task forces established by State and local governments and composed of interested private and public sector organizations.

Authorizes such task forces to: (1) review and comment on proposed regulations and procedures; (2) monitor and evaluate implementation of this Act; and (3) recommend actions to improve implementation in their respective areas.