The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (CIRA, S. 2611) was a United States Senate bill introduced in the 109th Congress (2005–2006) by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) on April 7, 2006.
Co-sponsors, who signed on the same day, were Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Sen. Mel Martínez (R-FL), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS).
[1] Further complicating the issue is the extreme poverty present in Mexico and other Latin American countries, the high demand for unskilled labor in the United States, the alleged inadequacy of current legal immigration routes, and the presence of drug and human smuggling on the border.
4437, which solely focused on US-Mexican border security and penalties for employers, smugglers, and those, such as churches and charity workers, providing assistance to illegal immigrants.
One of the most controversial aspects of the house bill aimed to change illegal presence in the United States from a civil offense to a felony.
The Senate legislation allowed illegal immigrants who have been in the country for more than five years, estimated to be 7 million in number, to apply for citizenship by paying fines and back taxes.
Sets forth provisions respecting: (1) noncitizen Armed Forces membership; (2) non-immigrant status for athletes; (3) extension of returning worker exemption; (4) surveillance programs, including aerial and unmanned aerial surveillance; (5) a Northern Border Prosecution Initiative; (6) reimbursement of Southern Border State and county prosecutors for prosecuting federally initiated drug cases; (7) conditional nonimmigrant worker-related grants; (8) border security on federal land; and (9) parole and status adjustment relief for qualifying widows and orphans.