| Usually supports higher immigration, population growth, foreign labor. |
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Each symbol in the left-hand column below
signifies an action for HIGHER immigration. |
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Each symbol in the right-hand column
below signifies an action for LOWER immigration. |
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Sen. Edwards cosponsored S. 2252, the Save Summer Act of 2004. Introduced by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), S. 2252 would have raised the annual cap on H-2B visas for 2004 by 40,000, for a total of 106,000 H-2B visas. This would have allowed thousands of low skill foreign workers to enter the U.S. and compete with American workers.
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Sen.Edwards voted for S.2045, the Abraham foreign worker bill to nearly triple the number of foreign high-tech workers. On the heels of the release of a GAO report finding no proof of a high-tech worker shortage and evidence of abuse in the H-1B program, Sen. Edwards voted for this foreign worker bill that contained no worker protections or anti-fraud measures. The bill passed the Senate 96-1.
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Sen.Edwards cosponsored S.2045, the Abraham foreign worker bill to nearly triple the number of foreign high-tech workers. The bill passed the Senate 96-1.
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Sen. Edwards voted as part of the Judiciary Committee in favor of S. 1545, the so-called DREAM Act. S. 1545 would have granted in-state tuition and amnesty to illegal aliens under the age of 21 who have been physically present in the country for five years and are in 7th grade or above. Such a reward for illegal immigration serves as an incentive for more illegal immigration. S. 1545 passed the Judiciary Committee by a vote of 16-3.
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Sen. Edwards cosponsored S. 1545, the DREAM Act of 2003. S. 1545 would have granted in-state tuition and amnesty to illegal aliens under the age of 21 who had been physically present in the country for five years and are in 7th grade or above. Such a reward for illegal immigration serves as an incentive for more illegal immigration.
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Sen. Edwards cosponsored S. 2444, the Kennedy INS restructuring bill. This legislation contained both structural and policy problems that would encourage illegal immigration and potentially increase legal immigration. The most far reaching provision proposed in S. 2444 was the change in the definition of immigration law. S. 2444 would have redefined immigration law to include not only the Immigration and Nationality Act but also Executive Orders and international agreements. In so doing, the bill would have opened up massive possibilities for increased legal and illegal immigration. For example, the President could have agreed to amnesty all illegal aliens in a trade agreement or in an Executive Order. The President also could have created new categories of legal immigrants, increase refugee numbers, triple H-1B visas, etc. In addition, S. 2444 would have faciliated asylum fraud and add thousands of illegal aliens to the population each year by greatly reducing the detention of asylum applicants while their cases are pending, allowing them to disappear into the public. While the numeric impact of the Kennedy restructuring bill is almost impossible to determine, the policy changes outlined in S. 2444 would certainly have increased illegal immigration and very likely increased legal immigration, thus adding to the 8-9 million illegal migrants already residing in the U.S. as well as increasing legal immigration levels.
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Sen. Edwards voted in favor of H.R. 3525, the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2001. H.R. 3525 will significantly reduce future population growth from illegal immigration by making it much harder for temporary visa holders to stay in the country illegally after their visa expire. H.R. 3525 provides for an entry-exit system in which every visa holder is checked with a biometric identifier when heshe enters and leaves the country. This information is included in an integrated database that is shared by the appropriate law-enforcement officials. H.R. 3525 passed the Senate unanimously by a vote of 97-0 and is expected to be signed into law by President Bush.
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Sen. Edwards cosponsored S 1749, the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2001 introduced by Sen. Edward Kennedy. This legislation was drafted after September 11 to close many of the immigration loopholes that made us vulnerable to the terrorist attacks of 9-11. S. 1749 would have created a comprehensive alien tracking and identification system by implementing an entry-exit system and an integrated database of biometric identifiers for every visa holder. While S. 1749 did not pass, many of the main provisions of this bill were included in H.R. 3525, as signed into law in May 2002.
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Sen. Edwards cosponsored S. 1645, the Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2003, an amnesty for agricultural workers. Of the 1.2 million illegal aliens currently working in agriculture, an estimated 860,000 plus their spouses and children could have qualified for this amnesty, so the total could have reached three million or more. The potential recipients of the amnesty would have been required to prove 100 days of agricultural employment in the 18-month period that ended Aug. 31, 2003. Then, prior to receiving amnesty, workers would have had to show 360 days of additional farm work over the next six years.
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Sen. Edwards cosponsored S. 778 a one-year extension of Section 245(i), an immigration provision that allows certain illegal aliens to pay a fine and adjust their status to legal status. In addition, Section 245(i) removes the all-important security step that is performed by our embassies on potential immigrants in their home countries. Section 245(i) rewards illegal immigration, contributes significantly to the INS processing backlog, and poses a national security threat.
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Sen. Edwards voted to include an amnesty for illegal aliens from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti in the Senate H-1B bill (S.2045). The move to include the amnesty with the H-1B legislation failed43-55 in a procedural vote on the Senate floor.
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