[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 534 Placed on Calendar Senate (PCS)]

                                                        Calendar No. 22
114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 534

   To prohibit funds from being used to carry out certain Executive 
         actions related to immigration and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 23, 2015

  Ms. Collins introduced the following bill; which was read the first 
                                  time

                           February 24, 2015

            Read the second time and placed on the calendar

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To prohibit funds from being used to carry out certain Executive 
         actions related to immigration and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Immigration Rule of Law Act of 
2015''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON FUNDING FOR CERTAIN EXECUTIVE ACTIONS RELATED TO 
              IMMIGRATION.

    (a) Prohibition on Funding Certain Executive Actions.--No funds, 
resources, or fees made available to the Secretary of Homeland 
Security, or to any other official of a Federal agency, including any 
deposits into the ``Immigration Examinations Fee Account'' established 
under section 286(m) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1356(m)), may be used to implement, administer, enforce, or carry out 
(including through the issuance of any regulations) any of the policy 
changes set forth in the following memoranda (or any substantially 
similar policy changes issued or taken on or after January 9, 2015, 
whether set forth in memorandum, Executive order, regulation, 
directive, or by other action):
            (1) The memorandum from the Secretary of Homeland Security 
        entitled ``Southern Border and Approaches Campaign'' dated 
        November 20, 2014.
            (2) The memorandum from the Secretary of Homeland Security 
        entitled ``Policies for the Apprehension, Detention and Removal 
        of Undocumented Immigrants'' dated November 20, 2014.
            (3) The memorandum from the Secretary of Homeland Security 
        entitled ``Secure Communities'' dated November 20, 2014.
            (4) The memorandum from the Secretary of Homeland Security 
        entitled ``Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion with Respect to 
        Individuals Who Came to the United States as Children and with 
        Respect to Certain Individuals Who Are the Parents of U.S. 
        Citizens or Permanent Residents'' dated November 20, 2014.
            (5) The memorandum from the Secretary of Homeland Security 
        entitled ``Expansion of the Provisional Waiver Program'' dated 
        November 20, 2014.
            (6) The memorandum from the Secretary of Homeland Security 
        entitled ``Policies Supporting U.S. High-Skilled Businesses and 
        Workers'' dated November 20, 2014.
            (7) The memorandum from the Secretary of Homeland Security 
        entitled ``Families of U.S. Armed Forces Members and 
        Enlistees'' dated November 20, 2014.
            (8) The memorandum from the Secretary of Homeland Security 
        entitled ``Directive to Provide Consistency Regarding Advance 
        Parole'' dated November 20, 2014.
            (9) The memorandum from the Secretary of Homeland Security 
        entitled ``Policies to Promote and Increase Access to U.S. 
        Citizenship'' dated November 20, 2014.
            (10) The memorandum from the President entitled 
        ``Modernizing and Streamlining the U.S. Immigrant Visa System 
        for the 21st Century'' dated November 21, 2014.
            (11) The memorandum from the President entitled ``Creating 
        Welcoming Communities and Fully Integrating Immigrants and 
        Refugees'' dated November 21, 2014.
    (b) No Legal Effect of Executive Actions.--The memoranda referred 
to in subsection (a) (or any substantially similar policy changes 
issued or taken on or after January 9, 2015, whether set forth in 
memorandum, Executive order, regulation, directive, or by other action) 
have no statutory or constitutional basis and therefore have no legal 
effect.
    (c) Prohibition on Providing Immigration Benefits.--No funds or 
fees made available to the Secretary of Homeland Security, or to any 
other official of a Federal agency, including any deposits into the 
``Immigration Examinations Fee Account'' established under section 
286(m) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(m)), may 
be used to grant any Federal benefit to any alien pursuant to any of 
the policy changes set forth in the memoranda referred to in subsection 
(a) (or any substantially similar policy changes issued or taken on or 
after January 9, 2015, whether set forth in memorandum, Executive 
order, regulation, directive, or by other action).
    (d) Budgetary Effects.--The budgetary effects of this section shall 
not be entered on either PAYGO scorecard maintained pursuant to section 
4(d) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON FUNDING CERTAIN CIVIL IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT 
              PRIORITIES.

    No funds or fees made available to the Secretary of Homeland 
Security may be used to implement, administer, enforce, or carry out 
(including through the issuance of any regulations) any policy relating 
to the apprehension, detention, or removal of aliens that does not 
treat any alien convicted of any offense involving domestic violence, 
sexual abuse, child molestation, or child exploitation as within the 
categories of aliens subject to the Department of Homeland Security's 
highest civil immigration enforcement priorities.

SEC. 4. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS ON POLICIES THAT DISADVANTAGE 
              THE HIRING OF UNITED STATES CITIZENS AND LAWFULLY PRESENT 
              ALIENS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 
        (Public Law 111-148; 124 Stat. 119), many individuals and 
        businesses are required to purchase health insurance coverage 
        for themselves and their employees;
            (2) individuals who were unlawfully present in the United 
        States who have been granted deferred action under the Deferred 
        Action for Childhood Arrivals Program undertaken by the 
        Executive Branch and who then receive work authorization are 
        exempt from these requirements;
            (3) many United States employers hiring United States 
        citizens or individuals legally present in the United States 
        are required to either offer those persons affordable health 
        insurance or pay a penalty of approximately $3,000 per employee 
        per year; and
            (4) an employer does not have to provide insurance, or in 
        many instances pay a penalty, if they hire individuals who were 
        not lawfully present but who have been granted deferred action 
        under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program and 
        work authorization.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) this disparate treatment has the unacceptable effect of 
        discouraging the hiring of United States citizens and those in 
        a lawful immigration status in the United States; and
            (2) the Executive Branch should refrain from pursuing 
        policies, such as granting deferred action under the Deferred 
        Action for Childhood Arrivals Program and work authorization to 
        unlawfully present individuals, that disadvantage the hiring of 
        United States citizens and those in a lawful immigration status 
        in the United States.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON POLICIES THAT DISADVANTAGE LAWFULLY 
              PRESENT ALIENS.

    It is the sense of the Congress that the Director of United States 
Citizenship and Immigration Services should--
            (1) stop putting the interests of aliens who are unlawfully 
        present in the United States ahead of the interests of aliens 
        who are following proper immigration laws and procedures by 
        adjudicating petitions and applications for immigration 
        benefits submitted by aliens unlawfully present in the United 
        States because when adjudicators and resources of U.S. 
        Citizenship and Immigration Services are used to adjudicate 
        petitions and applications for aliens who are unlawfully 
        present, the time it takes to process petitions and 
        applications submitted by other aliens is significantly 
        increased and a backlog is created and it is unfair to use the 
        fees paid by other aliens to cover the costs of adjudicating 
        petitions and applications for aliens unlawfully present in the 
        United States; and
            (2) use the funds available under existing law to improve 
        services and increase the efficiency of the immigration 
        benefits application process for aliens abroad or who are 
        lawfully present in the United States.
                                                        Calendar No. 22

114th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                 S. 534

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   To prohibit funds from being used to carry out certain Executive 
         actions related to immigration and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                           February 24, 2015

            Read the second time and placed on the calendar