Legislative Bulletin

 

 

Hello all,

The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday, June
23, 2023, is now posted.

You can find the online version of the bulletin
here: [link removed]
<[link removed]>

All the best,

Alexandra 

**LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN - Friday, June 23, 2023**Welcome to the National
Immigration Forum's weekly bulletin! Every Friday, our policy team
rounds up key developments around immigration policy in Washington and
across the country. The bulletin includes items on the legislative,
executive, and judicial branches, as well as some coverage at the state
and local levels. 

Here's a breakdown of the bulletin's sections:

DEVELOPMENTS IN IMMIGRATION THIS WEEK <#Themes-In-Washington-This-week>

BILLS INTRODUCED AND CONSIDERED <#bills-introduced-and-considered>

LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR <#legislative-floor-calendar>

UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS <#upcoming-hearings-and-markups>

GOVERNMENT REPORTS <#government-reports>

SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES
<#spotlight-on-national-immigration-forum-resources>

**DEVELOPMENTS IN IMMIGRATION THIS WEEK**Immigration policy is a dynamic
field subject to constant change. Here, we summarize some of the most
important recent developments in immigration policy on the federal,
legal, state, and local levels. 

Content warning: This section sometimes includes events and information
that can prove disturbing. 

****Legal****

**U.S. Supreme Court Allows Biden Administration to Prioritize Certain
Immigration Enforcement Efforts**On June 23, the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled 8-1
<[link removed]>
that the Biden administration has the authority to instruct U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to follow
immigration enforcement guidelines. 

The case, United States v. Texas
<[link removed]>, stems from
a 2021 lawsuit that Texas and Louisiana filed against the federal
government's enforcement guidelines
<[link removed]>,
which had prioritized using immigration enforcement resources on those
who were deemed national security threats, those who recently crossed
the border without authorization, and those who have been convicted of
aggravated felonies or other violent crimes.

Because ICE does not have the capacity to target, detain, and deport all
11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., immigration
officials - like other federal, state, and local law enforcement
agencies - have long used prosecutorial discretion to direct limited
resources toward effective enforcement.

**Canadian Supreme Court Upholds Safe Third Country Agreement With the
U.S. **On June 16, Canada's Supreme Courtunanimously
<[link removed]>
decided that the third country agreement between the United States and
Canada was constitutional, dashing refugee advocates' hopes of putting
an end to the controversial practice that forcibly returns asylum
seekers across the U.S.-Canada border. 

For nearly two decades
<[link removed]>,
Canada and the U.S. have enforced an agreement requiring asylum seekers
to ask for protection in the first of the two "safe" countries where
they arrive, with limited exceptions. This policy allows U.S. officials
to turn away asylum seekers crossing south from Canada and vice versa,
and although originally
<[link removed]>
it only applied to official ports of entry, the two countries expanded
its parameters earlier this year to encompass the entire length of their
shared border.

Meanwhile, back in2020
<[link removed]>,
the Canadian federal court found the agreement unconstitutional for
violating refugees' rights to life, liberty, and security - because
those returned to the U.S. might be detained or deported to danger.
Then, in an attempt to uphold the border policy, Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau's government appealed. 

Now, amid the Supreme Court's decision in support of Trudeau's
position, Gauri
<[link removed]>
Sreenivasan, a Canadian Council for Refugees leader, warned that the
agreement endangers the "lives of people seeking protection and
tarnishes Canada's identity as a compassionate and welcoming
nation."  

Canada's Supreme Court has still left open the possibility of future
challenges, referring the case to a lower court to examine people's
constitutional right to equality in Canada. 

**U.S. Supreme Court Rules Against Noncitizens in Case Involving
Deportation Proceedings** On June 22, the U.S. Supreme Courtruled 6-3
<[link removed]> that
dissuading a witness from reporting a crime constitutes an aggravated
felony "relating to obstruction of justice" under the Immigration and
Nationality Act, even if the offense does not require that an
investigation or proceeding be pending. 

The case,Pugin v. Garland
<[link removed]>, stems
from two immigration proceedings where noncitizens Fernando
Cordero-Garcia and Jean Francois Pugin were determined removable from
the United States on the ground that they had convictions for aggravated
felonies related to obstruction of justice. 

Pugin and Cordero-Garciaargued
<[link removed]> that their removal was
improper because their actions did not constitute an aggravated felony.
They argued that at the time Congress adopted the term "obstruction of
justice," there was an understanding that it required a pending
proceeding. The majority of the court, however,held
<[link removed]> that
Pugin's and Cordero-Garcia's arguments lacked merit. 

****Federal ****

**U.S. Rejects High Rates of Asylum Seekers at U.S.-Mexico Border Amid
New Restrictions**Screen-in rates for single adults who express a fear
of persecution have plummeted in recent weeks amid new restrictions at
the United States-Mexico border, including the Biden administration's
"Circumvention of Lawful Pathways" rule that renders people ineligible
for asylum based on how they entered the U.S. 

In a June 16 court filing
<[link removed]>,
Blas Nuñez-Neto, the assistant secretary for border and immigration
policy at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said that only 46%
of single adults who made a credible fear claim and were processed under
the new federal regulation during its first month received a positive
determination. That marks a dramatic decline from roughly 83% who passed
this initial hurdle in the years immediately pre-pandemic.  

Credible fear interviews are a first screening that asylum seekers
undergo if they are placed in a rapid form of deportation called
expedited removal. In order to avoid a relatively quick repatriation,
humanitarian migrants have historically needed to prove that they have a
credible fear of persecution or torture back home and that there's a
significant possibility they will ultimately qualify for protection. 

But because of the new "Circumvention of Lawful Pathways" rule, many of
those seeking refuge in the U.S. now face a presumption of asylum
ineligibility, with a limited number of exceptions. Those who are
presumed ineligible for asylum in turn must meet a much tougher standard
to be screened into the U.S. based on other, lesser forms of
humanitarian relief, like withholding of removal or protections under
the Convention Against Torture. 

Out of nearly 8,200 asylum seekers who were subject to the
"Circumvention of Lawful Pathways" rule and interviewed by U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) between May 12 and June
13,  88% were determined to be ineligible for asylum. Only about 3%
were able to establish an exception, while roughly 8% could rebut the
presumption of asylum ineligibility.

"This newly released data confirms that the new asylum restrictions are
as harsh as advocates warned," Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director
at the American Immigration Council, told the Los Angeles Times
<[link removed]>.
"The data contradicts conservative attacks on the rule for being too
lenient. Less than 1 in 10 people subject to the rule have been able to
rebut its presumption against asylum eligibility."

At the same time, the conditions that migrants and asylum seekers are
experiencing in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody are
raising serious concerns, both in terms of adequate medical care and
access to counsel. 

A memo
<[link removed]>
from DHS Acting Chief Medical Officer Herbert O. Wolfe warned that -
in the aftermath of an 8-year-old girl's death
<[link removed]>
while she was held at a Texas Border Patrol station last month - the
agency needs to revamp its system of care for better communication,
accountability, and treatment.

Meanwhile, in a newreport
<[link removed]>,
the National Immigrant Justice Center explains that asylum seekers lack
any meaningful legal process during credible fear interviews in CBP
custody, citing barriers to representation such as restricted phone
access and bureaucratic difficulties for securing an attorney-client
relationship.

**Report: Biden Administration to Debut Pilot Program for Workers to
Renew Visas Within the U.S.**On June 22, Reuters reported
<[link removed].>
that the Biden administration will make it easier for some workers to
renew their H-1B and L-1 visas by allowing them to do so from within the
United States, instead of having to travel abroad. 

The program was first announced
<[link removed]>
in February of this year. The administration reiterated the plans of the
pilot program during the state visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, whose citizens account for 73% of the roughly 442,000 H-1B workers
in the U.S. as of 2022. These high-skilled Indian professionals often
bear the brunt of the U.S.'s visa backlogs and bureaucratic failures,
leading to frustration over a broken system. 

So, for Indian workers hoping to continue living and working in the
U.S., the new renewal process could spell much-needed relief. 

"The pilot would begin with a small number of cases with the intention
to scale the initiative over the following one to two years," a State
Department spokesperson said. 

**World Commemorates Refugee Day Amid Record 110 Million Displaced
Globally **On June 20, as the world commemorated World Refugee Day, the
number of globally displaced people fleeing violence, instability,
persecution, and other dangers had risen to a staggering 110 million
<[link removed]>
- an all-time high. 

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees'
(UNHCR) Global Trends report
<[link removed]>, the number of
forcibly displaced people increased by 19 million last year, the largest
annual jump on record. More than one in every 74 people is now
displaced, a situation U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo
Grandi associated with "conflict, persecution, discrimination, violence,
and climate change." 

UNHCR's theme <[link removed]>
for this year's World Refugee Day, "Hope Away From Home," called for
collective action to support refugees in rebuilding their lives,
becoming self-reliant, and joining their new communities.

 In line with this theme, the Biden administration stressed the
importance of rebuilding and modernizing the U.S.'s refugee resettlement
program, including by welcoming 125,000
<[link removed]>
refugees next year - a perennial goal President Joe Biden has not yet
achieved. 

The administration also pointed to efforts in the last year to expand
refugee resettlement, including through its new Welcome Corps, a private
sponsorship opportunity that allows Americans to support refugees
arriving through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

On World Refugee Day, the first refugees
<[link removed]>
to be sponsored through the Welcome Corps arrived in Minnesota, per
State Department release.

"Welcoming refugees is part of who we are as Americans - our nation
was founded by those fleeing religious persecution. When we take action
to help refugees around the world, and include them, we honor this past
and are stronger for it. And together, we create a more hopeful and
better future - one that embodies our highest values," Biden said ina
statement
<[link removed].>. 

****State and Local ****

**Nevada Law to Grant In-State Tuition to DACA Recipients**Nevada has
enacted a bill granting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
recipients equal access to in-state tuition at the state's colleges
and universities. 

In a pivotal move, Nevada lawmakers unanimously passed thebill
<[link removed]>,
which was then approved by Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo (R-NV). The new law
is set to take effect in July. 

Now, DACA recipients will be eligible to attend Nevada institutions for
in-state tuition rates, as long as they establish one year of
residency. 

**BILLS INTRODUCED AND CONSIDERED**It can be challenging to keep up with
the constant barrage of proposed legislation in Congress. So, every
week, we round up new bills. This list includes federal legislative
proposals that have recently been introduced and that are relevant to
immigration policy. 

Please follow this link
<[link removed]>
to find new relevant bills, as well as proposed legislation from past
weeks.

**LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR**The U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of
Representatives will not be in session from Monday, June 26 through
Friday, June 30, 2023. 

**UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS**Here, we round up congressional
hearings and markups happening in the field or in Washington. 

There are no relevant hearings or markups announced for the week of June
26, 2023. 

**GOVERNMENT REPORTS**Reports by bodies such as the U.S. Government
Accountability Office, the Congressional Research Service, and the
Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General provide
invaluable information on immigration policy and practice. Here, we give
brief summaries of new immigration-related reports, with links to the
resources themselves in case you want to learn more. 

There are no new relevant reports this week. 

**SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES**The Forum is
constantly publishing new policy-focused resources that engage with some
of the most topical issues around immigration today. Here are a few that
are particularly relevant this week: 

**Explainer: DHS Immigration Enforcement Guidelines**
<[link removed]>This
is an explainer of the DHS immigration enforcement guidelines that the
Supreme Court approved in United States v. Texas. The guidelines provide
flexibility to DHS personnel, who are advised to balance aggravating and
mitigating factors when making enforcement determinations.

**Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act of 2023: Bill Summary**
<[link removed]>This
bill summary details provisions in the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization
Act, including key differences between the House and Senate versions. 

**This World Refugee Day, Here's How Everyday Americans Can Help**
<[link removed]>This
blog post offers a general overview of the private sponsorship
opportunities for individuals and groups across the United States to
support refugees and others fleeing unlivable situations around the
world. 

* * *

*This Bulletin is not intended to be comprehensive. Please contact
Alexandra Villarreal, Policy and Advocacy Associate at the National
Immigration Forum, with comments and suggestions of additional items to
be included. Alexandra can be reached at
[email protected]. Thank you.

 

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