Immigration Laws and Policies Since the (1980s) - Legislation Pending In The 109thcongress

In a January 11, 2005, interview with Joseph Curl of the Washington Times, President George W. Bush said he would spend political capital to push his proposal to grant temporary work visas to foreign workers as long as U.S. workers would not or did not want to fill the job ("Bush Vows Push on Immigration," January 12, 2005). Estimating the number of illegal aliens in the country at eight million, he said, "We've got people living in the shadows of our society, and we've got a border patrol that's overstressed because we've got people streaming across. The system has broken down. And I think that by legalizing workers, we take a lot of pressure off our borders."

The new Congress also appeared to place a priority on immigration reform. The first session of the 109th Congress convened on January 4, 2005. Seventy-six immigration-related bills were introduced within the first thirty days—forty-five in the House of Representatives and thirty-one in the Senate. The fastest-moving bill was the REAL ID Act of 2005 (H.R. 418). Introduced January 26, 2005, in the House of Representatives with 140 cosponsors, it passed by a 261-161 vote February 10, 2005, and was forwarded to the Senate February 14, 2005. In addition to focusing on security standards for state-issued driver's licenses, the bill included provisions for preventing terrorists from abusing U.S. asylum laws, unifying terrorism-related grounds for inadmissibility and removal, and ensuring expeditious construction of the San Diego border fence. Specific to the driver's license, the REAL ID Act required the expiration date of a license or ID card issued to a temporary foreign visitor to match the expiration date of the visa. If the visa had no expiration date, the license would expire in one year. It also strengthened requirements for proof of identification and lawful presence in the United States when applying for a driver's license.