Possible Immigration Reform

Possible Immigration Reform

This is a flow chart of a proposed immigration reform bill to assist illegal immigrants in becoming US citizens.  This link details the following: a standard path (Registered Provisional Immigrant), Green Card + applying for citizenship, and a Blue Card.  Yes, there are exceptions to all requirements.  After all, don’t all rules have exceptions?  Aren’t all  broad statutes often applied to specific cases?

I just thought this would be beneficial for those of you that hold an interest in immigration law.

Bill to Law

A bill is a proposed law (legislation).  It can originate in either the House or the Senate with the exception of a revenue raising bill; it must originate in the House.

• The person presenting the bill is called the bill sponsor.  
• It goes to a joint committee.  A joint committee has members from both the House and the Senate.  They work on hammering out the details.
• Then, it is presented to the originating body.  The originating body is the part of Congress the sponsor belongs to (Senate or House).
• During the presentation, the bill is debated and sometimes further refined.
• Then, a vote takes place in the originating body.  If passed, it goes to the other half of Congress.
• Rinse and repeat on the discussion and vote.
• If the vote is affirmative, it goes to the President.
• The President has ten days to do something with the bill.  If he signs it, the bill becomes law on the date chosen by Congress.  I’m sure you’ve seen statutes that say, “Effective (insert date here).”  If he does not sign it and Congress IS in session, it automatically becomes law.  If he does not sign it and Congress IS NOT in session, it becomes a pocket veto.
• If the President vetoes a bill out right, it is returned to Congress.  If Congress can overturn the veto with a majority vote, the bill still becomes law.

This differs a little bit from enacting a new Constitutional Amendment.  Not only would adding a new Amendment require a majority vote by our federal Congress, 3/4 of the state governments would also have to approve of the addition.

 

NC House Passes Bill for Background Checks

NC HousePasses Bill for Background Checks

This bill is now headed to the NC Senate.  Essentially, the bill requires that all social services workers who do intake for public assistance run background checks on those applying for benefits.  The premise is to not provide fleeing felons or those with active warrants with benefits.  It requires workers to call authorities.  Thoughts?

Kelsey’s Law

Kelsey’s Law

Do you believe cell phone providers should be more forthcoming in releasing information to law enforcement?  Consider the positive and negative aspect of this possibility.