Legislative Bulletin

 

 

Hello all,

The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday, June
30, 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 30, 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. 

****Federal ****

**DeSantis Announces Controversial Immigration Platform Amid
Presidential Bid **On June 26, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) unveiled
his first detailed policy platform for his 2024 presidential bid
<[link removed]>. 

DeSantis's sweeping proposal
<[link removed]> includes a challenge
to birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants and
the resumption of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), where asylum
seekers were forced to wait in Mexico - often in dangerous situations
- between their U.S. immigration court hearings. Other major planks
include building a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border and a mass detention
and deportation regime. 

In addition, in remarks, DeSantis has recently proposed using lethal
force against suspected drug traffickers, raising concerns that in
practice
<[link removed]>
migrants or asylum seekers who have nothing to do with the drug trade
could also be negatively affected. 

"Of course you use deadly force," DeSantis said
<[link removed]>
from Eagle Pass, Texas. "If you drop a couple of these cartel operatives
trying to do that, you're not going to have to worry about that
anymore." 

**House Passes Resolution Condemning Use of Schools As Migrant
Shelters **On June 22, House lawmakers passed aresolution
<[link removed]>
condemning the use of elementary and secondary school grounds as migrant
shelters amid protracted battles over where migrants and asylum seekers
should be temporarily lodged when they arrive in crowded cities like New
York. 

The resolution does not change existing law, but it does give a platform
to criticism of both New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the Biden
administration for their immigration policies.

"Make no mistake, Democrats are making elementary, middle, and high
schools a battleground for chaotic border policies," said
<[link removed]>
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R -North Carolina). 

Opponents of the resolution, meanwhile, said it perpetuates harmful
stereotypes and targets asylum seekers with ongoing immigration court
cases. Given that public schools are often used
<[link removed]>
as shelters during emergencies, they also wondered why some lawmakers
were using the resolution to single out migrants staying there
specifically as a problem. 

"It's Republicans spending time - and taxpayer dollars - to trot
out stereotypes of migrants as dangerous and dirty and who knows what
else," said
<[link removed]>
Rep. Jesús "Chuy" García (D-Illinois).

Although the resolution is non-binding, a separate bill - the Schools
Not Shelters Act - similarly targets schools and colleges that shelter
migrants and is advancing
<[link removed]>
in the House.

****Legal****

**Supreme Court Reads Immigration Law Narrowly in Free Speech
Challenge **On June 23, theSupreme Court
<[link removed]>
upheld a narrow interpretation of the 1986 federal immigration law that
criminalizes encouraging or inducing unauthorized immigration to the
United States, overturning an earlier Ninth Circuit decision that had
struck down
<[link removed]>
those provisions for violating free speech. 

In United States v. Hansen
<[link removed]>,
the Supreme Court held in a 7-2 majority that the "encourage or induce"
law "forbids
<[link removed]>
only the intentional solicitation or facilitation of certain unlawful
acts" - a reading that assumes complicity in criminal conduct, not
general exercises of First Amendment rights. 

"The Supreme Court has drastically limited the encouragement provision
to apply only to intentional solicitation or facilitation of immigration
law violations," said
<[link removed]>
Esha Bhandari, deputy director of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy and
Technology Project. "As written by Congress, the law has left people
wondering what they can safely say on the subject of immigration. Now we
expect the government to respect free speech rights and only enforce the
law narrowly going forward."

Still, Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayordissented
<[link removed]>,
arguing that the court should have struck down the law because of the
potential limitations on the First Amendment. 

"Ordinary people confronted with the encouragement provision, for
instance, will see only its broad, speech-chilling language," Jackson
wrote
<[link removed]>. 

The Supreme Court's decision is a win for theBiden administration
<[link removed]>

**,**which had argued that the federal government relies on the 1986 law
to prosecute smugglers who encourage migrants to cross the U.S.-Mexico
border unlawfully. 

****State and Local****

**Immigrants Concerned As New Law Takes Effect in Florida**On July 1,
Florida's restrictive new immigration law, SB 1718
<[link removed]>,
takes effect, causing uncertainty and angst for undocumented communities
and key industries across the state.  

The new law sets aside an additional $12 million for Gov. Ron
DeSantis's controversial migrant relocation program, restricts the use
of driver's licenses for certain noncitizens from other states,
increases criminal penalties around transporting undocumented
immigrants, andrequires
<[link removed]>hospitals
that accept Medicaid
<[link removed]>
to ask patients about their immigration status. It also requires
businesses with 25 or more employees to use the E-Verify system
<[link removed]>.

Rick Roth, a Republican state legislator in Florida, has said that the
law is "purposely meant to scare people a little bit," and its passage
has made some immigrants feel they have little choice but to leave their
homes and move to differentstates
<[link removed]>,
including Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington. 

David Guerra and his family left behind their home, working equipment,
children's toys, and business because of the new law. They fled to
Maryland, where Guerra has struggled to find work but says he is at
least treated better. 

"It hurt, it hurt to have to throw everything out," he told Telemundo
News
<[link removed]>.
"It's a humiliation what they did, to take you out, like a rat."

Others in Florida's immigrant communities fear what will happen to
them and arestruggling
<[link removed]>
to decide their next move. Meanwhile, protesters
<[link removed]>
are participating in a weeklong work stoppage to show how the state
losing its immigrant workforce could have devastating impacts on its
economy. 

**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, July 3 through
Friday, July 7, 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 July
3, 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. 

**Congressional Research Service (CRS);****Increasing Numbers of
Unaccompanied Children at the Southwest Border**
<[link removed]>

**; Updated June 28, 2023**This report provides detailed analysis around
the record-high levels of encounters with unaccompanied migrant children
at the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years. It also explains which U.S.
agencies interact with these kids and in what capacity.

**Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General
(OIG);****Results of Unannounced Inspections of CBP Holding Facilities
in the Yuma and Tucson Areas**
<[link removed]>

**; Published June 23, 2023**This report documents the results of
unannounced inspections at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
facilities around Yuma and Tucson, including inconsistencies with the
management of detainee property that were at times out of line with
operating procedures. 

**Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman;****2023 Annual Report
to Congress**
<[link removed]>

**; Published June 30**The report outlines some of the most significant
issues that individuals and employers encountered this year when seeking
immigration benefits from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS). It also provides recommendations for how USCIS can address
these problems and improve its administrative processes.

**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: 

**Five Solutions to Reverse the Declining Popularity of the U.S. Among
International Students**
<[link removed]>This
paper delves into five policy solutions that would reverse declines in
U.S. popularity as a destination for international students and solidify
the leading position of the U.S. as a welcoming scholastic destination.

**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. 

**Florida's Immigration Enforcement Legislation: Five Key Concerns**
<[link removed]>This
resource provides key information about the legislative package
Republican lawmakers in Florida introduced on March 7, 2023.

* * *

*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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