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Hello y'all,
The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday, January 12, 2024, is now posted.
You can find the online version of the bulletin here: https://immigrationforum.org/article/legislative-bulletin-friday-january-12-2024/
All the best,
Ally
LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN - Friday, January 12, 2024
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
BILLS INTRODUCED AND CONSIDERED
LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR
UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS
GOVERNMENT REPORTS
SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES
A note: the bulletin will take a break next week for an organization-wide retreat and resume on Friday, January 26.
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
Migrant Encounters Drop at the Border Amid Winter Weather, Mexican Enforcement
Migrant encounters at the United States-Mexico border have dropped dramatically in recent days as Mexico ramps up its immigration enforcement against people headed north — including families who have waited for permission to enter the U.S. through the federal government’s CBP One app.
As migrants and asylum seekers in Mexico are being marched onto planes and flights south or even being repatriated, some are scrambling to reunite with their loved ones in time for their CBP One appointments, which often take months to secure.
Manuel Rodriguez spoke with the Associated Press at Casa del Migrante in Piedras Negras, where he said his family could not attend their appointment to ask for asylum because it was through their in-laws, who had already been deported to Venezuela. "It was all under her name and she lost everything," he said.
In return for this chaotic border crackdown, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has said he wants the U.S. to send $20 billion in support to Latin America and the Caribbean, end sanctions against Venezuela, pause a blockade on Cuba, and provide a legal pathway for millions of Latinos living stateside, NBC News reported.
Yet it’s unclear whether Mexico’s increased enforcement will have a long-term effect on U.S. border crossings, or even whether it’s the primary driver for a sudden decline in irregular migration this month. According to Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute, the number of migrants trudging through the treacherous Darién gap — likely on their way to the U.S. — had already plummeted in December, and seasonal migration patterns could also be at play.
Meanwhile, a relatively new Biden administration initiative to allow people to apply for humanitarian relief and other pathways to the U.S. from closer to home is starting to show some success. Already, 3,000 refugees have come to the U.S. through the "Safe Mobility Offices" located in Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Ecuador, and around 9,000 applicants have been approved through the program, according to the Associated Press.
Senate Border-Ukraine Deal Remains Elusive as Parole Authority Becomes Sticking Point
On January 11, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) — one of the lead negotiators on a potential compromise to exchange border security policy changes for aid to Ukraine — said he "can see the finish line" for a deal after months of bipartisan talks.
Yet despite optimistic remarks from the head GOP negotiator earlier this week, no legislative text has been released, and critical disagreements remain over reforms to the executive branch's parole authority, which has been used under the Biden administration to bring Afghan allies, war-torn Ukrainians, Venezuelans, Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Haitians to safety in the U.S.
Some lawmakers are floating a cap on the number of noncitizens who can be paroled into the country, with a caveat that would allow for congressional permission to exceed that ceiling. At the same time, negotiators are reportedly considering an expansion of non-custodial fast-tracked deportations, which are already taking place on a smaller scale through the Biden administration's Family Expedited Removal Management (FERM) program.
Lawmakers are also discussing whether to include several narrow but positive reforms, including a pathway to legal status for Afghan evacuees, safeguards for "Documented Dreamers" who risk losing legal status when they turn 21, and quicker work authorization eligibility for asylum seekers.
The Senate negotiations — which have relied on technical expertise and involvement from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — come even as the House of Representatives begins an impeachment push against the beleaguered cabinet official. They also coincide with looming deadlines to avert a potential government shutdown, as House Speaker Mike Johnson faces pressure from the right to back out of a funding deal and instead mount a battle over the U.S.-Mexico border.
Three Months In and U.S. Refugee Arrivals Remain High for Fiscal Year 2024
The U.S. resettled 6,964 refugees in December, a decrease of 500 from the 7,464 who were resettled in November. It should be noted, however, that due to the holidays there is often a week or so when refugee arrivals are put on hold in December.
The first three-month total for refugee arrivals in FY 2024 is 21,790 refugees. If the U.S. were to resettle the same number of refugees for the next three quarters of the 2024 fiscal year, it would resettle 87,160 people. To reach the 125,000-refugee target for FY 2024, the U.S. would need to resettle approximately 11,468 people for the next nine months.
State and Local
New York Begins Evicting Migrant Families from Shelters Despite Widespread Outcry
On January 9, migrant families relying on the city of New York for shelter were forced to pack up and leave the midtown Manhattan hotel where they were staying after reaching their 60-day limit there.
Forty families at The Row hotel were the first to be evicted, with a total of 4,400 families under notice that they too will have to leave their housing in the coming weeks, the New York Times reported.
The migrants can reapply for new placements, but advocates have warned that these disruptions will still likely affect children’s educations as they’re potentially sent to different locations far from their schools.
"Tonight, I don’t know where we’ll go," Venezuelan Joana Rivas said outside a migrant center after being forced from The Row. "I came here just to see what they would tell me, with the hope that my daughter has somewhere to stay tonight."
Yet even as the evictions leave migrant families out in the cold, new polling suggests almost 80% of New York City residents support the long-standing right to shelter for their unhoused neighbors.
"The idea that we could, as New York City, be so immoral as to say there is a child in front of me right now who needs help and I am going to put them out on the street in the winter in January, knowing that they have nowhere to go and nothing to eat," Liza Schwartzwald, director of economic justice and family empowerment at the New York Immigration Coalition, told Gothamist. "That to me is just a staggering injustice."
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 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 are expected to be in session from Tuesday, January 16 through Friday, January 19, 2024.
UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS
Here, we round up congressional hearings and markups happening in the field or in Washington.
Date: Tuesday, January 16, 2024 at 4:00 p.m. EST (House Rules)
Location: H-313, Capitol, Washington, D.C.
Relevant Items: H.Res. 957
Date: Wednesday, January 17, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. (Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs)
Location: Senate Dirksen Building, SD-562, Washington, D.C.
Relevant Items: PN1232 — Jeff Rezmovic — Department of Homeland Security
Date: Wednesday, January 17, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. EST (House Oversight and Accountability)
Location: 2154 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.
Witnesses: TBA
Date: Thursday, January 18, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. EST (House Homeland Security)
Location: 310 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C.
Witnesses: TBA
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.
This report considers U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) policies and processes to preempt and respond to potential instances of discrimination against travelers arriving in the United States.
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:
First, this statement provides a brief overview of immigrants’ access to federal public benefits — or lack thereof — with a focus on unauthorized immigrants and noncitizens in legal limbo. Then, it discusses how state and local governments — alongside good Samaritans and direct service providers — have carried much of the responsibility for supporting newcomers in their communities. Next, it looks at how unauthorized immigrants contribute to the U.S., in return for the chance to live and work here. Finally, it ends with policy recommendations that lawmakers can implement to more proactively respond to both the U.S.’s needs and the needs of migrants today.
This paper explores parole in place as a potential tool to provide undocumented people with access to temporary protections in the United States.
Read this explainer for information about what we know so far on how SMOs are being implemented in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Colombia, and who may qualify to participate.
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*This Bulletin is not intended to be comprehensive. Please contact Alexandra Villarreal, Senior 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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