1. PattonBoggs.com Immigration Client Alert 1
APRIL 23, 2013
This Alert provides only general
information and should not be
relied upon as legal advice. This
Alert may be considered attorney
advertising under court and bar
rules in certain jurisdictions.
For more information, contact your
Patton Boggs LLP attorney or the
authors listed below.
SHAOUL ASLAN
saslan@pattonboggs.com
KRISTIN WELLS
kwells@pattonboggs.com
ABU DHABI
ANCHORAGE
DALLAS
DENVER
DOHA
DUBAI
NEW JERSEY
NEW YORK
RIYADH
WASHINGTON DC
IMMIGRATION CLIENT ALERT
SENATE GANG OF EIGHT INTRODUCE BIPARTISAN
IMMIGRATION BILL IN THE SHADOW OF THE BOSTON
MARATHON BOMBINGS AND GUN CONTROL VOTE
The bipartisan “Gang of Eight” Senators introduced their comprehensive
immigration reform bill, S. 744, the “Border Security, Economic
Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act” on Wednesday, April
17, 2013, with the support of President Obama. Senate Judiciary
Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) held the first hearing on the
bill Friday, April 19, another on Monday, April 22, and a final hearing, with
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, today in response to
Republican calls for “full and careful consideration of legislative language.”
The committee will host ongoing markup sessions in May. Depending on
how contentious the markup process is, the bill might not see floor action
until June.
As the most sweeping overhaul of immigration law in nearly three decades
or more, there are many significant changes in this bill. This Client Alert
focuses on key areas of the compromise that are relevant to corporate
interests: border security, high-skilled visas, agricultural workers, low-skilled
guest workers, E-verify and the pathway to citizenship for the
undocumented.
BORDER SECURITY
Border security has been a volatile issue in immigration negotiations for
years. Generally, Democrats seek a path to citizenship for undocumented
immigrants, including millions who crossed the southern border illegally,
and Republicans want assurances that the border is secure before
addressing legalization or citizenship of the undocumented.

2. PattonBoggs.com Immigration Client Alert 2
S. 744 requires extensive improvements in border security over the next decade. The bill creates a
Comprehensive Southern Border Security Strategy to achieve persistent surveillance of high risk sectors
along the southern border and effective apprehension of 90 percent of illegal entrants. It authorizes $3
billion for surveillance and detection capabilities, additional border patrol agents, and unmanned and fixed-
wing aircraft. The bill also creates a Southern Border Fencing Strategy and authorizes $1.5 billion to procure
and deploy additional levels of fencing in high risk areas.
With the exception of DREAM Act youth and agriculture workers, no undocumented immigrant may
achieve “Registered Provisional Immigrant” (“RPI”) status, a new legal classification that allows the
undocumented to stay and work legally for 10 years, until the Secretary of Homeland Security notifies
Congress that certain border security benchmarks have been met. The Secretary must certify that “the
Comprehensive Southern Border Security Strategy is deployed and operational, the Southern Border
Fencing Strategy has been implemented and completed, a mandatory employment verification system to be
used by all employers is operational, and DHS is using an electronic exit system at air and sea ports of entry
that operates by collecting machine-readable visa or passport information from air and vessel carriers,”
according to a Senate summary.
If the 90 percent effective apprehension rate is not achieved within five years, the bill would create a Border
Commission of border security experts, Members of Congress, and the four border state governors to
establish border security standards and achieve them.
HIGH-SKILLED VISAS
S. 744 allocates 40 percent of employment-based visas to two classes of employees: (1) those holding
advanced degrees hired by a U.S. employer in the sciences, arts, professions, or business; and (2) those
holding a master’s degree or higher in the science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (“STEM”) fields
of study from a U.S. institution holding an offer for employment in a related field. The bill also creates a
new startup visa for foreign entrepreneurs who seek to emigrate to the U.S. to start their own companies.
The current H1-B visa cap is raised under the bill from 65,000 to 110,000 per year. In future years, the cap
can be increased to as much as 180,000 per year, but the bill also would re-work the Department of Labor’s
H-1B “prevailing wage” determinations that will likely require employers to pay “significantly higher wages”
for H-1B visa holders to insure that H-1B visa holders do not undercut wages paid to American workers.

3. PattonBoggs.com Immigration Client Alert 3
AGRICULTURAL WORKERS
On the basis of an agreement negotiated with the United Farm Workers Union and the Agriculture
Workforce Coalition, the bill reforms the current agricultural visa system. S. 744 creates a “Blue Card”
program to allow current undocumented agricultural workers who meet certain conditions, including prior
employment in U.S. agriculture, an opportunity to legalize their status for eight years as Blue Card holders.
By meeting established standards of the program, they would then be eligible to apply for Lawful Permanent
Residency (a “green card”).
For prospective temporary agricultural workers, the current H-2A visa program would be phased out and
replaced by a contract-based W-2 visa and a portable, at-will employment-based W-3 visa, both of which
would allow for employment with a government - registered, “Dedicated Agricultural Employer.” The initial
cap on this program would be 112,333 total visas, each valid for three years and tied to the government-
established prevailing wage rate. Workers would no longer be required to remain with the employer who
sponsored their original contract, reducing potential employee exploitation under threat of dismissal or
deportation. In addition, the bill modifies existing rules on employer-provided housing and transportation.
LOW-SKILLED GUEST WORKERS
The bill creates a new, low-skilled guest worker program based on an agreement negotiated between the
AFL-CIO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In addition to creating a new temporary W visa for low-
skilled workers, the program would create a new federal bureau to study labor shortages and disseminate
more information about low-skilled jobs to native-born workers, especially disadvantaged populations.
The W visa would be incrementally introduced, with the number capped at 200,000 by the fifth year of the
program and a 20,000 annual floor. The number of visas would be determined by the new Bureau of
Immigration and Labor Market Conditions, which would use “real-world data about labor markets and
demographics” to determine whether there are labor shortages that could be filled by guest workers. The
Chamber also agreed that no more than 15,000 W visas could go to construction companies.
As part of the bill’s plan to strengthen internal enforcement of immigration laws, the legal status and work
authorization of all employees hired in the United States will have to be verified through the federal
government’s E-Verify system. The Chamber supported this, having once opposed making E-Verify
mandatory. The National Small Business Association continues to voice opposition, arguing that the system
is cumbersome and too prone to error.

4. PattonBoggs.com Immigration Client Alert 4
PATHWAY TO CITIZENSHIP
The bill provides a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the
United States. Individuals who arrived before 2012 and who have not committed a felony or three
misdemeanors may pay a $500 penalty, undergo a background check, and pay back taxes to qualify for RPI
status. After 10 years, the immigrant may adjust to Lawful Permanent Residence status if fines, fees and
taxes have been paid; the individual has learned working English; and other conditions, including those
related to border security, have been met.
The bill also aims to eliminate the backlog for lawful family-and-employment-based immigrants by adjusting
the caps for those visa categories, phasing out certain visa categories (including siblings and the Diversity
Visa Program), creating new visa categories, and enacting a merit-based visa that gives “points” to
individuals based on certain categories and then awards visas based on those points.
MORE INFORMATION
We would be pleased to share more information on how Patton Boggs LLP can help you stay on top of this
reform process and ensure your needs are represented in the final legislative language. Please contact
Kristin Wells (202-457-6422 kwells@pattonboggs.com) or Shaoul Aslan (202-457-6095
saslan@pattonboggs.com) for more information.