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**Legislative Bulletin**Hello y'all,

The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday, March
15, 2024, is now posted.

You can find the online version of the bulletin here:
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All the best,

Ally

**LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN - Friday, March 15, 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

**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

**Biden Administration Releases Immigration Requests for Fiscal Year
2025 Budget**On March 11, President Joe Biden announced his budget for
Fiscal Year 2025, including requests to shore up support for immigration
processing and enforcement. 

His administration touted having already "secured more resources for
border security than any President before him, ... deployed the most
agents and officers ever to address the situation at the southwest
border, seized record levels of illicit fentanyl at our ports of entry,
and brought together world leaders on a framework to deal with changing
migration patterns that are impacting the entire Western Hemisphere." 

In the Fiscal Year 2025 budget request, the Biden administration
continued to focus on channeling large flows of money and personnel into
the United States' admittedly antiquated immigration system.

According to the White House, President Biden hopes to increase the
budget for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by $1.9 billion compared to 2023. The
package includes $405 million for 1,300 additional Border Patrol agents
and $239 million for 1,000 additional CBP officers. The administration
also wants to fund 34,000 ICE detention beds. 

In addition, Biden wants to hire much-needed asylum officers and provide
resources to the immigration court system, with the aim of decreasing
the growing case backlog. 

Notably, President Biden has also included a request for $4.7 billion as
a "contingency fund" for DHS "for surge-related functions only."

**Biden Administration Expedites Issuance of Work Permits for
Refugees**On March 12, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS) announced

a streamlined process to provide Employment Authorization Documents
(EADs) to refugees within 30 days after they enter the United States.
Under the new process, USCIS will automatically fill out the employment
authorization application forms for refugees. In addition, the agency
will provide the Social Security Administration with the information
required to assign them a Social Security number and card.

Under current law, refugees areallowed

to work as soon as they enter the United States. However, obtaining EADs
and SSNs was a cumbersome bureaucratic process that could delay
refugees' ability to work in the country for several months. 

**Report: New Facial Recognition Requirement at Airports Causes
Confusion for Migrants, Advocates**On March 14, the Associated Press
reported

that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has implemented a
new mandatory screening through facial recognition technology for
migrants who do not have proper photo identification, such as a
passport. 

Before, migrants and asylum seekers could fly if they presented
documents from U.S. Border Patrol. But now, their likeness is being
cross-checked with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) information,
and "if TSA cannot match their identity to DHS records, they will also
be denied entry into the secure areas of the airport and will be denied
boarding," the agency told AP.

When migrants told advocates that they had been turned away at an
airport in South Texas, confusion ensued over the new policy. 

"It caused a tremendous amount of distress for people," Rev. Brian
Strassburger, the executive director of Del Camino Jesuit Border
Ministries, told AP. 

****Legal ****

**El Paso Judge Rejects Texas's Attack on Annunciation House, SCOTUS
Extends Temporary Halt on S.B. 4 Amid New Lawsuit and Protests**On March
11, a state judge effectively blocked Texas Attorney General Ken
Paxton's efforts to subpoena the El Paso migrant shelter network,
Annunciation House, in a case that has raised eyebrows nationwide for
its threat to religious freedom

and nonprofit services. 

The state gave

Annunciation House a single day to turn over records about its clients,
and when the shelter network asked a judge to provide clarity around
which documents it could legally turn over, Texas officials counter-sued
to shutter the operation.

"The Attorney General's efforts to run roughshod over Annunciation
House, without regard to due process or fair play, call into question
the true motivation for the Attorney General's attempt to prevent
Annunciation House from providing the humanitarian and social services
that it provides. There is a real and credible concern that the attempt
to prevent Annunciation House from conducting business in Texas was
predetermined," Judge Francisco X. Dominguez said.
 

Annunciation House's founder and director Ruben Garcia said

the state's attack on his organization "kind of sends a shiver through
all incorporated entities in the state of Texas, because people are
going to ask, does this mean that the attorney general feels that they
have the authority to arrive at any institution, any business, any
entity, and just walk up and say, we are submitting a request to
examine."

"We've had volunteers leave because they've been concerned that they
could somehow get caught up in this legal process," Garcia added
.
"I'm sure it's going to make other people who might consider
volunteering think twice about wanting to volunteer."

Meanwhile, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito extended

his temporary pause on Texas's Senate Bill 4 being implemented, with the
law now on hold until at least Monday, March 18. At the same time, S.B.
4 - which imposes new state criminal penalties for unauthorized border
crossings - is facing anotherlegal challenge

from an organization and several noncitizens who fear they could be
negatively affected.

Over the weekend, hundreds of people protested

the new law in front of the Texas Capitol, decrying it as "racist,
degrading, and aggressive."

"It has always been, you know, celebrated and cherished that we share a
border with Mexico, that we're vital to the community,"said

Sarah Cruz, a policy and advocacy strategist for the ACLU of Texas.
"This is us, you know, showing what our communities really are about,
what we look like."

**Parole Programs for Four Countries Get Legal Green Light from Texas
Federal Judge**On March 11, District Judge Drew Tipton - a Trump

appointee - let the Biden administration proceed

with its private sponsorship parole programs for Cubans, Haitians,
Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans in a huge victory for the White House and
ordinary Americans hoping to welcome vulnerable migrants to safety.

Tipton ruled against Texas and other states, whose leadership had tried
to jeopardize the future of the parole processes. "The Court finds that
Plaintiffs have not proven that Texas has suffered an injury and
therefore do not have standing to maintain this suit," he wrote.
 

Nan Langowitz, who sponsored two Venezuelan families and provided a
declaration supporting the programs to the court, responded to the
decision with enthusiasm. "I look forward to continuing to welcome other
newcomers who can contribute their energy to our country," she said.

**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, March 19
through Friday, March 22, 2024.

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

**An Assessment of the Biden Administration's Withdrawal from
Afghanistan by America's Generals**

**Date:**Tuesday, March 19, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. EDT (House Foreign
Affairs) 

**Location:**Rayburn 2172, Washington, D.C.

**Witnesses: **

**General Mark A. Milley (Retired),**Fmr. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, U.S. Department of Defense

**General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. (Retired),**Fmr. Commander of United
States Central Command, U.S. Department of Defense

**Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request for the Department of Health and Human
Services**

**Date:**Wednesday, March 20, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. EDT (House
Appropriations)

**Location:**2358-C Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

**Witnesses: **

**The Honorable Xavier Becerra,**Secretary, Department of Health and
Human Services

**Hearing with Health and Human Services Secretary Becerra**

**Date:**Wednesday, March 20, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. EDT (House Ways and
Means)

**Location:**1100 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

**Witnesses:**TBA (presumably Secretary Becerra) 

**Strengthening International Cooperation to Stop the Flow of Fentanyl
into the United States**

**Date:**Wednesday, March 20, 2024 at 2:45 p.m. EDT (Senate Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs) 

**Location:**Senate Dirksen Building, SD-342, Washington, D.C.

**Witnesses:**TBA

**Hearing on the President's Fiscal Year 2025 Budget**

**Date:**Thursday, March 21, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. EDT (Senate Finance)

**Location:**215 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.

**Witnesses: **

**The Honorable Janet L. Yellen,**Secretary, United States Department of
the Treasury

**President Biden's Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request and Economic
Outlook**

**Date:**Thursday, March 21, 2024 at 2:30 p.m. EDT (House
Appropriations) 

**Location:**2359 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

**Witnesses: **

**The Honorable Janet Yellen,**Secretary, Department of the Treasury

**The Honorable Shalanda Young,**Director, Office of Management and
Budget

**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)****; DHS Border Barrier Funding
Through FY2021;**

**Updated March 4, 2024**This report explores the legal history of
border barrier construction and looks into funding around such
installations through Fiscal Year 2021.

**Congressional Research Service (CRS);****Measuring Wages in the
Agricultural Sector for the H-2A Visa Program**

**; Updated March 5, 2024**This report cross-references data from a
variety of sources to demonstrate how wages in the agricultural sector
have gone up more quickly than private-sector incomes generally in the
United States.

**U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO);****Central America: USAID
Should Strengthen Staffing and Fraud Risk Management For Initiative
Addressing Migration to the U.S.**

**; Published March 14, 2024**This report looks at the U.S. Agency for
International Development's (USAID) Centroamérica Local (CL) program,
its relationship to the U.S. Strategy for Addressing the Root Causes of
Migration in Central America, its resource constraints, and its
potential for fraud risk.

**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: 

**Border Security and Asylum Reform in the Emergency National Security
Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024: Bill Explainer**
This
explainer breaks down the major immigration and border policy changes in
the bipartisan compromise that was defeated in the Senate.

**A Better Way Forward: 2024 Immigration Principles**
These
principles reflect our deeply rooted values as a nation. We believe
these are vital principles for any leader working for an orderly, secure
and humane immigration system - especially amid an election year. 

**Six Actionable Recommendations to Improve Safety and Wellbeing for
Asylum-Seeking Families in the Context of the Biden Administration's
Fast-Tracked Deportations**
This
position paper details realistic policy changes that the Biden
administration could make to help ensure asylum seekers enrolled in the
Family Expedited Removal Management (FERM) program have access to a
process that is as fair, efficient, and humane as possible in the
context of fast-tracked proceedings.

* * *

*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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