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
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
Senate Holds Vote on Border Bill, Which Is Again Defeated
On May 23, senators quickly killed an effort to revive an already once-defeated border bill, in a vote teed up by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) to shift the narrative on immigration and border security.
The bill largely mirrored legislation from February that had been crafted by a bipartisan team of negotiators — Sens. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Arizona). But although Murphy introduced the version voted on Thursday, both Sinema and Lankford voted against moving the effort forward.
"Today is not a bill, today is a prop," Lankford said.
"To use this failure as a political punching bag only punishes those who were courageous enough to do the hard work in the first place," said Sinema.
Only 43 senators voted to advance the measure, including a sole Republican, Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). That margin was far fewer than the 60 votes needed to propel the legislation forward, and it represented a decline in support from February, when 49 senators had backed the proposal in a test vote.
The measure was always expected to fail, and Republicans framed the vote as an unserious messaging exercise. But it did provide an opportunity for Democrats facing difficult re-elections to look tough on the United States-Mexico border, by endorsing a bill focused largely on resources and new authorities for aggressive enforcement.
Biden Administration Imposes Sanctions, Visa Restrictions on Nicaraguans
On May 15, the Department of State announced new visa restrictions on over 250 Nicaraguan officials, citing the foreign government’s dismal human rights record and exploitation of migrants.
The restrictions could affect a broad swathe of government workers, police, paramilitary personnel, penitentiary officials, prosecutors, judges, and higher education professionals. Some individuals who are not officially part of the government will also be impacted because they have allegedly helped Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s autocratic regime harm others.
At the same time, the Biden administration will impose sanctions on several entities, including a Russian training center in the country.
Nicaragua’s lax attitude toward migrant smuggling ranked among the justifications for these new policies, as Ortega’s government sells people visas that allow them to stay in the country for just 96 hours before continuing their journey north.
"They are profiting quite substantially off facilitation of irregular migrants who ultimately, in many cases, make their way up towards our southwest border," a U.S. official told CBS News.
The administration also sent an alert to airlines and travel agents, describing how smuggling networks are using their services for irregular migration.
Legal
DOJ Sues Oklahoma Over New Anti-Immigrant Law
On May 21, the Department of Justice sued Oklahoma over its new law, House Bill 4156, which would criminalize noncitizens who entered, re-entered, or were present in the state without legal immigration status.
The law is one in a series of copycat legislation across the United States, modeled after a law in Texas, Senate Bill 4, that creates illegal entry and re-entry penalties at the state level. But, far from the U.S.-Mexico border, Oklahoma’s policy goes a step further, imposing crimes on unauthorized immigrants for mere presence in the state.
Like Texas’s S.B. 4, H.B. 4156 also challenges the federal government’s authority over immigration enforcement.
"Oklahoma cannot disregard the U.S. Constitution and settled Supreme Court precedent," Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton said in a statement. "We have brought this action to ensure that Oklahoma adheres to the Constitution and the framework adopted by Congress for regulation of immigration."
Judge Wavers on Decision Around Florida’s Anti-Immigrant Law
On May 22, U.S. District Judge Roy Altman temporarily blocked part of Florida’s anti-immigrant law, S.B. 1718 — but just a day later, he seemingly walked back his ruling, causing confusion and whiplash in the state.
Altman, a Trump appointee, initially decided that state lawmakers’ attempt to impose a felony offense for people who bring unauthorized migrants into Florida was likely unlawful under federal preemption.
"By making it a felony to transport into Florida someone who ‘has not been inspected by the federal government since his or her unlawful entry,’ [the law] extends beyond the state’s authority to make arrests for violations of federal immigration law and, in so doing, intrudes into territory that’s preempted," he wrote.
On Thursday, Altman
issued a supplemental order, trying to make clear why a statewide injunction was the right course of action. But soon after, he published another order saying that "on further reflection," he needed a briefing to determine "the proper scope of the injunction."
State and Local
New York Implements Stricter Rules Around Shelter Stays for Migrant Adults
On May 22, New York began enforcing a new set of stricter rules around its shelter system with a judge’s approval — and with the intention to eventually extend the policy to all 15,000 adult migrants and asylum seekers in the city’s care.
Under the new arrangement, most adults without children will generally only be able to stay in shelters for up to 30 days. Youths 18 to 23 years old could stay twice that amount of time before they’re forced to leave, and some adults may qualify for extensions based on personal circumstances.
For example, a migrant may be moving into another apartment within 30 days, intend to leave New York within 30 days, or undergo a serious medical procedure in the next 30 days. Some other ways to qualify for an extension: apply for asylum with the help of a legal provider or case worker, look for or get a job (a tough ask for the many
migrants who lack permission to work legally), or pursue education or job training.
Still, advocates have raised concerns that the 30-day timeline for often impoverished adults to become independent is far too quick and could force people onto the streets. "It seems extremely likely that we will see an increase in street homelessness," Deborah Berkman, a project director at the New York Legal Assistance Group, told the New York Times.
The new rules will not affect families with children.
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 will not be in session the week of Monday, May 27, 2024.
UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS
Here, we round up congressional hearings and markups happening in the field or in Washington.
The Biden Border Crisis: North Dakota Perspectives
Date: Wednesday, May 29, 2024, at 10:00 am E.T. (House Judiciary Committee)
Location: Alerus Center, Ballroom 3; 1200 S 42nd St, Grand Forks, ND
Witnesses:
Drew H. Wrigley, North Dakota Attorney General
Jesse Jahner, Sheriff, Cass County, North Dakota
Rebecca Davis, Executive Director, Wahalla Area Chamber of Commerce
Roger Hutchinson, Sheriff, Renville County, North Dakota
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 Services (CRS); Department of Homeland Security Appropriations: FY2024 State of Play; Published May 15, 2024
This CRS report highlights the status of DHS appropriations for FY 2024 from the end of the August 2023 district work period onward.
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:
The Biden Administration’s Proposed Rule on Asylum Bars & Other Measures: Explainer
This explainer provides an overview of the proposed rule. In essence, it would give asylum officers the discretion to make decisions on bars to humanitarian relief around public safety and national security concerns during initial screenings, which take place usually days or weeks after an asylum seeker enters the country.
Annual Funding From Congress Needed To Tackle USCIS Backlogs
This paper highlights that in order to address USCIS’s vulnerabilities, prevent detrimental consequences, and assure efficient and timely services, Congress must provide the agency with adequate funding to process its caseload, address backlogs, and modernize outdated processes.
The Myths and Truths of Noncitizen Voting in the United States
This analysis covers the truths around immigrants voting in the U.S., which include that noncitizens have been barred from voting in federal elections since 1924.
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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.
