Rather than an alternative to the President's plan, Senator Hagel's spokesman, Mike Buttry, described the legislation as "...more comprehensive. The President talked in vague terms about a temporary program, ours is a permanent program."

Senator Daschle is quoted as saying, "The Hagel-Daschle bill will keep out those who seek to harm Americans, while welcoming those who would strengthen our nation by pursuing the American dream for themselves and their families."

The proposed bill would provide funding to the Department of Homeland Security for the purposes of increasing border security, criminal and background checks on visa applicants, and identification of undocumented workers and foreign individuals living in the United States. The bill's authors state that it will "strengthen national security, fix the current system, and improve economic stability."

• Strengthen National Security: Track foreign workers, increase funding for security, identify undocumented immigrants, require criminal and national security background checks, penalize those who break immigration laws, and implement "counterfeit-resistant" work authorization cards.

• Fix the Current System: Reduce backlogs in visa processing for family members of U.S. citizens and permanent residents in order to reunify families.

• Improve Economic Stability: A 'Willing Worker Program' to bring foreign workers to the U.S. for jobs that would otherwise go unfilled. "Employers seeking to hire a foreign worker must first demonstrate that no qualified U.S. worker exists and that they will provide the same wage levels and working conditions as U.S. workers. Workers will be admitted for a limited period of time and will be allowed to change employers. Visa renewals would be available on a conditional basis. Qualified workers and their families would be provided an opportunity to adjust their immigration status."

Additionally, there is an element of the proposed legislation that pertains to undocumented workers and families currently living in the United States. The bill proposes that these individuals could be provided an opportunity to "become invested stakeholders in the country" if they can demonstrate they have met the following requirements.

• Passed national security and criminal background checks;
• Resided in the U.S. for at least 5 years preceding the date of introduction;
• Worked a minimum of 4 years in the U.S., (one of which must occur post-enactment);
• Paid all federal taxes;
• Demonstrated a knowledge of English language and American civics requirements; and
• Paid a $1,000 fine, in addition to required application fees.

Organizations who have posted Press Releases in support of the new legislation include the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the National Restaurant Association.

We will continue to bring you more information and further details about this proposed legislation as it is available to us. You can follow the progress of this, or any other, legislation at http://thomas.loc.gov/.