July 26, 2001

Tentative Agreement Reached in Senate Committee on 245(i)

The Senate Judiciary Committee today passed by voice vote S. 778, the extension of Section 245(i), with an amendment introduced by Senators Kyl and Hatch. The bill now would extend the deadline for filing petitions and applications until April 30, 2002. In addition, applicants also must be able to demonstrate that the familial or employment relationship that is the basis for the application or petition existed on or before the date of enactment of S. 778, now cited as the Section 245(i) Extension Act of 2001.

During the mark-up, Senator Kyl criticized the Senate Appropriation Committee for including a permanent restoration of Section 245(i) in their bill. He criticized the Hagel/Kennedy bill, as introduced, as well as the permanent extension for not including any dates to limit eligibility, and thereby encouraging sham marriages. He has indicated as long as the permanent extension remains on the CSJ bill he will fight any extension of Section 245(i) including S. 778 which contains the compromise he helped craft.

Senator Kennedy defended his original bill, but agreed to the compromise.

We are hopeful that before the bill goes to the floor the retroactive application of the new requirement to labor certification applications will be eliminated.

We will keep you posted on next steps and the timing of these steps. The full Senate will need to vote on the bill and the House and Senate will need to work out the differences between their two bills.