The TRUE Enforcement Act of 2005
Highlights

Title I - Federal State, and Local Law Enforcement

• Adds 10,000 new border patrol officers, 1,250 immigration investigators, 500 adjudicators, 2,000 worksite investigators and provides anti-fraud training

• Creates a new Assistant Attorney General for Immigration Enforcement and adds 250 litigators, 250 U.S. attorneys, 250 Immigration judges over five years to facilitate litigation in courts, removal/deportation processes, employer sanctions enforcement, alien smuggling/trafficking enforcement, etc.

Maintaining Accurate Enforcement Data on Aliens

• Prevents overstaying of visas by requiring completion of entry-exit system - Barrett

• Prevents overstaying of visas by strengthening alien registration - Barrett

• Requires that aliens ordered deported are listed in NCIC - Cornyn/Kyl, Sessions

• Affirms inherent authority of state/local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws - Cornyn/Kyl, Sessions

• Withholds SCAAP funding from states/localities with sanctuary laws - Cornyn/Kyl, Sessions

Detention of Aliens and Reimbursement of Costs

• Halts current "catch and release" policy by increasing federal detention space - Sessions

• Requires DHS to take timely custody of illegal aliens detained by state/local authorities - Cornyn/Kyl, essions

• Mandates reimbursement of statel/local agencies for costs of immigration enforcement cooperation - Barrett

• Makes Institutional Removal Program routine, i.e. identifies illegal aliens in prisons so they can be removed following sentences - Sessions

State/Local and Tribal Enforcement

• Provides training for state/local enforcement officials in immigration enforcement - Sessions

• Grants state/local officials enforcing immigration laws the same immunity as federal officials - Cornyn/Kyl

• Provides incentives for Indian reservation police to cooperate in immigration enforcement - Cornyn/Kyl

Other Provisions

• Clarifies federal bar to in-state tuition for illegal aliens and denies federal funding to colleges and universities that provide this benefit in violation of this provision. - FAIR

Title II Reform and Alien Status

• Denies visas to countries with worst records in accepting deported nationals - Barrett

• Eliminates judicial review of visa revocation for aliens who improperly received visas - Cornyn/Kyl

• Suspends Visa Waiver Program until entry-exit system is fully operational - Tancredo

• Adopts Jordan Commission recommendation to eliminate preferences for adult brothers/sisters and adult sons/daughters - FAIR

• Increases income requirement for sponsorship of new immigrants to 225% federal poverty level

• Eliminates Visa Lottery Program - FAIR

Visa Term Compliance Bonds - Barrett

• Combats visa overstays by allowing consular officials to require posting of bonds to ensure departure

• Provides that overstays will result in arrest warrants

• Provides that aliens in removal proceedings can be required to post bonds for release and authorizes bail bondsman to apprehend absconders

Adjustment of Status

• Makes illegal immigration less attractive by barring adjustment of status for illegal aliens who have worked illegally more than six months - Barrett

• Makes illegal immigration less attractive by withholding U.S. citizenship from individuals born to illegal aliens - Deal

• Restores meaning of "temporary" to Temporary Protected Status by requiring Congressional concurrence with Executive branch extensions - Barrett

• Gives DHS discretion to suspend immigration procedures and benefits relating to criminal aliens and terrorists - Cornyn/Kyl

• Repeals Section 245(i) - Barrett

Title III - Workplace Enforcement and Identification Integrity

• 12 months following enactment:
  • The current Basic Pilot Verification Program is renamed the Interim Worker Eligibility Verification Program (IWEVP) and becomes mandatory for all employers.

  • The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration (SSA) must:
    • Develop regulations for implementation of a permanent Work Eligibility Verification System (WEVS) for use by all employers.

    • Develop an application and distribution process for issuance of new Work Authorization Documents (WAD) and begin accepting applications from all foreign nationals.
      • For non-citizens a WAD is a social security card that must be machine-readable, tamper-resistant and biometric

      • For citizens a WAD is either a REAL ID drivers license or a social security card that meets REAL ID standards (machine-readable, tamper-resistant, but NOT biometric)

• 24 months following enactment, DHS and BSA must:
  • Implement the permanent Work Eligibility Verification System
    • WEVS makes available to employers at affordable cost a system for work eligibility verification using telephonic, online computer, and/or machine readers.

    • WEVS requires employers to check work eligibility of citizens by using WADS to confirm identity and social security number with existing SSA records

    • WEVS requires employers to check work eligibility of aliens through the Alien Work Eligibility Database

    • WEVS provides to employers a transaction code number for each employee verified as evidence of compliance

  • 36 months following enactment:
    • All foreign nationals must present new WADS to employers for verification purposes.

  • 48 months following enactment:
    • U.S. citizens applying for jobs at federal worksites and for all DC employers must present a WAD for work eligibility verification.

  • 60 months following enactment:
    • Employers nationwide may elect to require from U.S. citizens a WAD for work eligibility verification.

  • 120 months following enactment
    • With the exceptions listed below, all U.S citizens must present a WAD for work eligibility verification.

    • Exceptions for U.S. citizens include:
      • Teens under 18 years of age.

      • Seniors over 67 years of age

      • Individuals with religious objections.

      • Certain disabled workers.

Security and Good Faith Compliance - Dreier, FAIR

• Requires DHS and SSA to ensure the security of the verification system against error and protect all information from unauthorized disclosure subject to civil penalties.

• Provides that employers complying in good faith with the verification system are not liable for hiring unauthorized workers if the hiring was the result of error in the verification system.

No National Identification - Dreier, FAIR

• Prohibits any entity from requiring that a social security card be carried on one's person except for authorized purposes. Prohibits use of information in Alien Work Eligibility Database for any other purpose than set forth in this Act. Authorizes fines up to $10,000 per violation.

Enforcement by DHS - Dreier, FAIR

• Establishes steep civil and criminal penalties for noncompliant employers.

• Allows employers to dispute fines or orders issued by DHS by filing a complaint with the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (OCAHO) in the Department of Justice.

• Allows parties to appeal OCAHO rulings in the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.

Private Party Complaints - FAIR

• Allows individuals, employees, unions, or employers facing unfair competition who allege employment of 12 or more unauthorized workers within a one year to file a complaint with OCAHO.

• Authorizes OCAHO to award prevailing plaintiffs treble damages.

• Allows appeals of OCAHO rulings in the federal district courts.

Work Eligibility Verification Reform in the Social Security Administration - Barrett, Dreier,FAIR

• Requires limited information sharing between SSA and DHS in order to identify social security numbers used for employee social security withholdings that do not match social security records.

• Requires limited information sharing between SSA, DHS and IRS to prevent social security card fraud and identity theft in the employment and benefits contexts.

Work Eligibility Verification System Reform in the IRS - FAIR

• Closes costly loophole by barring illegal aliens from continuing to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit.

• Bars use of an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) for any purpose other than filing a tax return, enabling the IRS to share information on illegal employment without compromising its fundamental revenue collection missions (This provision is also intended to stop the growing practice of banks issuing "ITIN" mortgage loans to illegal aliens).

• Bars employers from the current practice of taking business deductions for payroll and benefits of illegal alien employees.

Identification Document Integrity - Barrett, Cornyn/Kyl

• Requires DHS to publicly list all federal documents acceptable for purposes of establishing identity and bars federal agencies, agents, contractors and non-profit organizations from accepting other documents unless otherwise required by law.

• Requires all immigration status documents to be machine readable, tamper-resistant and incorporate biometrics.

• Requires minimum security standards for federal recognition of state-issued birth certificates and regulates their release to non-family members.

Limitations on Illegal Alien Collection of Social Security - Rohrabacher

• Bars any quarter worked illegally from counting toward eligibility for Social Security benefits.

• Bars self-employed individuals who hire illegal aliens from deducting social security payments made on behalf of those workers.

Title IV - Penalties and Enforcement

• Adds/increases penalties for most immigration infractions such as illegal presence and illegal employment - Barrett, Dreier

• Provides for systematic identification and removal of criminal alien gang members - Forbes

Detention, Removal, and Departure

• Streamlines removal of aliens incarcerated for criminal offenses - Barrett

• Broadens the Expedited Exclusion statute to allow removal of illegal aliens in the U.S. less than five years - Barrett

• Broadens scope of offenses subject to expedited removal - Barrett

• Allows reinstatement of removal orders for illegal aliens reentering the U.S. illegally - Cornyn/Kyl

• Increases penalties for illegal reentry - Barrett

• Bars illegal aliens in the U.S. for more than 180 days from seeking cancellation of removal in court - Barrett