Legislative Bulletin
Hello y'all,
The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday, April 19, 2024, is now posted.
You can find the online version of the bulletin here: https://immigrationforum.org/article/legislative-bulletin-friday-april-19-2024/
All the best,
Ally
LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN - Friday, April 19, 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
Border Crossings See Unseasonal Decline in March
In March, Border Patrol documented 137,480 migrant encounters between ports of entry at the United States’ southern border — a modest decline from February’s numbers and the first time since 2017 that apprehensions dipped from February to
March.
Altogether, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) documented 189,372 encounters at the southern border last month, including those who came through an official port of entry — the vast majority of whom had pre-registered for an appointment via the federal government’s CBP One app.
The recent drop in encounters runs counter to historical seasonal trends, where irregular migration tends to tick upward amid warmer weather. Some officials have attributed the decrease in foot traffic to Mexico’s heightened enforcement efforts on the other side of the border since the end of December.
The U.S. has also ramped up its enforcement during the last year, with more than 660,000 people — including over 102,000 family members — removed or returned between May 12 and April 3.
"Encounters at our southern border are lower right now, but we remain prepared for changes, continually managing operations to respond to ever-shifting transnational criminal activities and migration patterns," said Acting CBP Commissioner Troy A. Miller.
Yet, despite border numbers remaining relatively stable, President Joe Biden is still reportedly planning to move forward with an executive action in the coming weeks that would further restrict asylum access, according to Axios. The policy — which would rely on the same federal authority, 212(f), as the former president Donald Trump used to justify his travel ban on people from Muslim-majority countries — could quickly get tied up in litigation.
"Some are suggesting that I should just go ahead and try it," Biden said in a Univision interview. "And if I get shut down by the court, I get shut down by the court."
Senate Quickly Dismisses Mayorkas Impeachment Trial
On April 17, the impeachment trial against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas concluded almost before it began as a majority of senators decided the articles advanced by the House were unconstitutional and dismissed the case within roughly three hours of convening.
The votes took place largely along party lines, with Democrats coming together to support dismissal and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) simply voting "present" on the first charge. Republicans expressed outrage over the quick process, although Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) had in fact offered time for debate and a Republican senator rejected it.
The Senate’s dismissal of the impeachment case concludes a monthslong spectacle that legal experts, national security leaders, and other key voices have decried as a distraction from real challenges at the U.S.-Mexico border and a clear
misuse of the constitutional punishment for high crimes and misdemeanors.
Still, Mayorkas faced residual blowback from Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill Thursday as he tried to advocate for adequate funding for his department, while Democrats in tight races are already enduring
criticism from their GOP opponents for voting to dismiss the case.
Human Rights Advocates Raise Concerns As U.S. Resumes Deportation Flights to Haiti
On April 18, the Biden administration stunned migrant advocates when it resumed deportation flights to Haiti despite what the United Nations human rights office has called a "cataclysmic situation" there, as gang violence has killed over 1,500 people already this year amid a power vacuum left by a collapsed government.
The U.S. repatriated around 50 Haitians to their embattled homeland, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a tactic seemingly meant to deter irregular migration from the island — even though sea interdictions have reportedly remained relatively low, and at the
U.S.-Mexico border, Haitians are generally entering lawfully through CBP One.
"This is not only morally wrong and in violation of U.S. and international law, it is simply bad foreign policy," said Guerline Jozef, who leads the Haitian Bridge Alliance.
The flight reportedly landed in Cap Haitien, hours from the capital of Port-au-Prince, after taking off from Louisiana and making a pitstop in Miami.
"My client was on that flight. He lived in the U.S. for over 20 years and has a 7-year-old U.S. citizen daughter," Philip Issa, an attorney at Americans for Immigrant Justice, said in a statement. "He applied for asylum 20 years ago but was ordered deported in 2005 because he didn’t have competent legal representation. It’s unbelievably heartless for our government to deport my client without granting him the opportunity to reopen his case, especially now when Haiti is effectively a war zone.
"He’s a beloved father, a fiancée, and a decades-long Florida resident. He’s made contributions to our state and country. What national interest is served by tearing apart our families and communities to deport our neighbors back to Haiti? It’s hugely disappointing for the Biden administration to behave so cynically."
DHS Announces Shelter and Services Awards Ahead of Competitive Grant Selection
On April 12, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it was allocating $300 million in grants to 55 recipients and creating a competitive process for another $340.9 million through the Shelter and Services Program (SSP), which provides financial support to localities and organizations welcoming arriving migrants.
The allocated funds will be disbursed in two tranches: an initial $275 million, with $25 million left over "to accommodate evolving operational requirements" later this year. Among the awardees so far, Catholic Charities in San Diego and San Diego County both received nearly $20 million, Maricopa county in Arizona got $11.6 million, and El Paso county got around $4.5 million, alongside other large grants to communities at or near the US.-Mexico border.
Cities and states far from the border also benefited, with Washington, D.C. garnering $8.7 million, Atlanta pulling in nearly $11 million, Chicago getting $9.6 million, Massachusetts receiving almost $7 million, and New York’s Office of Management and Budget nabbing a whopping $38.86 million.
Even so, the Biden administration is working with far less funding this fiscal year to help localities respond to newcomers in their jurisdictions, after Congress slashed those appropriations by 18% compared to last year.
DHS Expands TPS Eligibility for Ethiopians
On April 12, the Biden administration said it was extending and redesignating Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ethiopia amid ongoing armed conflict, human rights abuses, environmental disasters, and disease outbreaks that warrant continued humanitarian attention.
Through the announcement, around 2,300 current TPS holders from Ethiopia may be able to retain their status if they re-register, while roughly 12,800 more Ethiopians have become newly eligible for deportation protection and work authorization. To qualify, applicants must have resided in the U.S. since at least April 11.
Homeland Security Investigations Distances Itself From Immigration Enforcement, Parent Agency
On April 15, the Washington Post reported that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) was launching a rebranding effort to differentiate itself from its controversial parent agency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), after politics and perceptions affecting the investigative branch have allegedly gotten in the way of its mission.
HSI describes its mission as "to investigate, disrupt and dismantle terrorist, transnational and other criminal organizations that threaten or seek to exploit the customs and immigration laws of the United States."
Congress would have to act for HSI to become an independent agency, instead of a component of ICE. But absent legislative action, the rebrand is at least giving HSI its own website without ICE insignia, creating new email addresses for employees, and trying to portray HSI more as an entity within DHS than ICE.
The shift in depiction comes after ICE became an especially polarizing agency under the Trump administration, when its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) branch infamously targeted nearly anyone in the country without lawful status for deportation. Because of ICE’s reputation, HSI investigators have struggled to earn the trust of other law enforcement personnel, public officials, and even crime victims.
State and Local
Denver Debuts New Six-Month Program to Get Migrants on Their Feet
On April 10, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D) announced a plan to help migrants prepare to integrate into the Denver community while they wait for work authorization as asylum seekers. The plan phases out the city’s medium-term shelter and shifts funds to a more long-term solution. Recipients of available spots in a new program, which will prioritize the 800 migrants already in shelters, will receive legal aid in filing for asylum, food and housing subsidies, and job training over the course of six months.
But once the program reaches its capacity of around 1,000 participants, migrants will be left with few options. Denver officials will help connect them with family members in the area or provide them transportation to another part of the country, but if neither of those solutions works, migrants will only be able to stay in shelters for between 24 and 72 hours before they will be on their own.
The Johnston administration has touted the program as cutting in half the funds the city is spending on migrants, from roughly $180 million to just under $90 million. Its proponents cite these figures optimistically as a sign that the city will be able to begin to balance its budget.
However, as the Denverite reports, much of the plan, including an estimated 20 legal work hours per asylum case, purports to rely on local nonprofits to help provide legal services and other resettlement help without spelling out how the nonprofits and other partners will be paid for this work. Further, immigrant advocates fear that lowering capacity at emergency shelters will leave the city unprepared for potential future increases in migrant arrivals.
Still, Johnston is optimistic, saying, "We think we’ve now cracked the code on how to help people."
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
Neither the U.S. Senate nor the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to be in session the week of Monday, April 22, 2024.
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 Monday, April 22, 2024.
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 addresses concerns that the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) information sharing groups are more numerous and less effective than desired by studying nine DHS groups. GAO "found no evidence of unnecessary duplication" between the purpose and activities of those groups, even if there was the potential for some overlap.
This congressional testimony covers GAO’s previous work on "restrictive housing" — also known as solitary confinement — in Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.
This report documents conditions at the Krome North Service Processing Center in Miami during an unannounced inspection from June 13-15, including non-compliance with use of force standards, a lack of clarity around the medical grievances process, and issues with staff not providing the standard access to legal resources.
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:
This explainer provides a list and brief explanation of various visas available for U.S.-based employers to hire noncitizens in the country.
The Temporary Family Visitation Act (S. 3255 and H.R. 5155) would create a new nonimmigrant visa category for visiting relatives of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents (commonly referred to as green card holders) seeking to facilitate a temporary reunion with family members
residing in the United States. The bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Scott Peters (D-California) on August 4, 2023, and in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) on November 8, 2023.
In 2024, the United States continues to face significant demographic challenges. Propelled by falling birth rates, the U.S. population is rapidly aging and population growth is steadily declining. In turn, the country is experiencing economic and social pressures caused by labor shortages. This article provides a follow-up to
"Room to Grow," a 2021 white paper where the National Immigration Forum proposed a methodology that showed that the country needed a 37% increase in net immigration levels over those projected for fiscal year 2020 (approximately 370,000 additional immigrants a year) to prevent the U.S. from falling into demographic deficit and socioeconomic decline.
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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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