Senate Bill 9’s stated purpose is to strengthen the U.S. economy, provide for additional border protection and security, add additional employment enforcement and reform and make clear existing avenues for legal immigration. It simply states that legislation should be enacted to achieve these purposes. This bill does not set forth the details as to how these tasks will be accomplished. The bill does acknowledge the heritage of the United States as a nation of immigrants.
Senate Bill 9 was placed on the Senate’s calendar on January 7, 2009 and will be referred to a Senate Committee for review. This bill simply seems to be an attempt to set a pace and outline basic goals for upcoming immigration legislation. It appears to support the ongoing enforcement efforts, but is not only an enforcement-only approach. We will keep you posted on this and other up coming bills.