	Introduction

Immigration has not been a front-burner issue for the 112 th Congress. The 112 th Congress has, however, taken legislative action on some immigration-related measures. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 ( P.L. 112-74 ) contains provisions on border security, visa security, tourist visas, refugees, and other immigration issues. 112-176 extends the authorization for four immigration programs (EB-5 visa program, E-Verify, Conrad State program, and special immigrant religious worker program) for three years, until September 30, 2015. Legislation has also been enacted on military service-based immigration benefits ( P.L. 112-58 ), border tunnels ( P.L. 112-127 ), the Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) initiative ( P.L. 112-205 ), and E-2 treaty investor visas ( P.L. In addition, the House and Senate have each passed other immigration-related legislation. Both houses have passed different bills ( H.R. 4970 , S. 1925 ) to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The House has passed bills that would reform permanent employment-based and family-based admissions ( H.R. 6429 ); and reauthorize the H-1C temporary worker category for nurses ( H.R. It also has passed legislation on border security at and between ports of entry ( H.R. 1299 ) and student visa reform ( H.R. 2830 ), immigrant detention ( H.R. 1932 ), and diversity visas ( H.R. This report discusses these and other immigration-related issues that have received legislative action or are of significant congressional interest in the 112 th Congress. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations are addressed in a separate report and, for the most part, are not covered here. The Department of Homeland Security Authorization (DHSA) Act of 2011 ( S. 1546 ), as reported by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, would direct DHS to develop a workforce staffing model and to ensure that CBP has instituted an outbound inspections program at land, air, and maritime ports of entry. Department of Homeland Security Authorization bills, as ordered to be reported by the House Homeland Security Committee ( H.R. House and Senate FY2012 DHS authorization and appropriations bills include related provisions, as discussed below. 112-205 ), which provides statutory authority for the Border Enforcement Security Task Force. H.R. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Visas

Rather than change the per-country limits on permanent admissions to address the issue of oversubscribed countries in the employment-based system, as discussed in the preceding section, some policymakers have proposed creating a separate visa category for prospective LPRs with graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) fields. The House Committee on the Judiciary has reported H.R. P.L. H.R. 2830 ), has been ordered reported by the House Foreign Affairs Committee. A Senate reauthorization bill, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2011 ( S. 1301 ), has been reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee. In May 2012, the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement held a hearing on H.R. H.R. H.R. 110-229 made the INA applicable to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a U.S. territory in the Pacific. In addition, H.R.
Immigration has not been a front-burner issue for the 112th Congress. During the past two years, however, Congress has taken legislative action on some measures containing provisions on a range of immigration-related topics. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 (P.L. 112-74) contains provisions on border security, visa security, tourist visas, and refugees. It also includes limited language on other issues, such as employment eligibility verification and the H-2B temporary worker visa. P.L. 112-176 extends the authorization for four immigration programs (EB-5 visa program, E-Verify, Conrad State program, and special immigrant religious worker program) for three years, until September 30, 2015. P.L. 112-205 provides statutory authority for the Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) initiative. P.L. 112-58 concerns military service-based immigration benefits; P.L. 112-127 concerns border tunnels. P.L. 112-130 makes Israeli nationals eligible for E-2 treaty investor visas.
Both the House and the Senate have passed different bills (H.R. 4970, S. 1925) to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). In addition, the House has passed bills that would make changes to permanent employment-based and family-based admissions (H.R. 3012); create new visa categories for prospective LPRs with graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) fields (H.R. 6429); and reauthorize a temporary worker category for foreign nurses (H.R. 1933). It has also passed legislation with provisions on border security at and between ports of entry (H.R. 1299) and student visa reform (H.R. 3120).
In other action on immigration-related legislation, the House Judiciary Committee has reported or ordered reported bills on electronic employment eligibility verification (H.R. 2885), immigrant detention (H.R. 1932), visa security (H.R. 1741), and the diversity visa (H.R. 704). House and Senate Committees have considered different DHS authorization bills. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has reported S. 1546, and the House Homeland Security Committee has ordered reported H.R. 3116. Bills on victims of trafficking have been reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee (S. 1301) and ordered reported by the House Foreign Affairs Committee (H.R. 2830). The House Natural Resources Committee has reported bills addressing border enforcement activities on federal lands (H.R. 1505, which also was included as an amendment to H.R. 3116) and foreign residents of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a U.S. territory in the Pacific (H.R. 1466). In addition, House and Senate committees and subcommittees have held hearings on a number of immigration-related issues.
This report discusses immigration-related issues that have received legislative action or are of significant congressional interest in the 112th Congress. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations are addressed in CRS Report R41982, Homeland Security Department: FY2012 Appropriations, and, for the most part, are not covered here.