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Legislative Bulletin

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Hello all,

The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday, September 6, 2024, is now posted.

You can find the online version of the bulletin here:??[link removed] [link removed] [link removed]

All the best,

Arturo??

**LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN - Friday, September 6, 2024**DEVELOPMENTS IN IMMIGRATION POLICY THIS WEEK # Developments-In-Immigration-Policy-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 POLICY 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.

****Legal****

****Federal Court Halts "Keeping Families Together" Program****On August 26, a federal court in Texas temporarily halted [link removed] the Biden administration's "Keeping Families Together [link removed]" parole-in-place program. The program, launched on August 19, allowed certain undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to live and work legally in the United States for up to three years and apply for a green card without having to leave the country.

The court's administrative stay stems from a complaint [link removed] filed by Texas and fifteen other Republican-led states challenging this program. On September 4, the court extended [link removed] the pause until at least September 23. During this period, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can still receive applications [link removed], but they cannot make any adjudications.

**Fifth Circuit Will Hear Arguments on DACA on October 10**??On August 29, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit announced [link removed] a date for oral arguments in the case challenging Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The hearing is scheduled for October 10 in New Orleans.

The case, Texas v. United States [link removed], arises from a lawsuit brought by Texas and nine other Republican-led states challenging the legality of DACA. In 2021, Judge Hanen had ruled [link removed] against the legality of an earlier version of DACA as it was set out under the Obama administration in 2012. In 2023, Hanen found that an updated 2022 version [link removed] of the program created through Biden administration rulemaking was similarly unlawful [link removed]. The decisions continued to bar new and pending applications to the program (which has largely been in place since 2017), but it stayed the rulings for the approximately 600,000 current DACA recipients, allowing them to temporarily continue receiving and renewing their existing protections. The current litigation before the Fifth Circuit concerns the legality of the updated 2022 DACA rule.

DACA was??created [link removed] the Obama administration in 2012 and allows undocumented individuals brought to the United States as children to apply for deferred action, protecting them from removal and affording them work authorization. DACA applicants are??required [link removed] pass background checks and prove that they arrived in the U.S. as minors under sixteen years of age before June 2007. Over 500,000 individuals currently benefit from DACA. However, DACA does not provide recipients with a path to permanent legalization. The 2022 version of DACA closely resembles the 2012 version of the program, but utilized formal rulemaking to help fortify the program against legal challenges.

****Federal****

****Biden Administration Restarts CHNV Program with Enhanced Sponsor Vetting****On August 29, the Biden Administration resumed [link removed] the program [link removed] that offers parole on a case-by-case basis to Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) who apply to temporarily live and work in the United States with the support of U.S.-based sponsors, who agree to financially support the parolees for the duration of their stay. The lawful temporary pathway is intended to serve as an alternative to irregular migration at the U.S.-Mexico border by nationals of these countries.

The CHNV program was temporarily suspended [link removed] in July after an internal DHS report raised flags around suspicious behavior by sponsors who are meant to support new arrivals financially.??The report identified multiple applications from single sponsors and other potential fraudulent or misleading conduct by sponsors. In response to the concerns in the report, DHS announced it will implement new security vetting [link removed] to ensure potential sponsors are not taking advantage of federal parole programs or the vulnerable people trying to access them.

****U.S. Refugee Program Arrivals Increased Significantly in August****The U.S. resettled [link removed] 9,520 refugees in August. That is the second-highest monthly arrival total for FY2024. The eleven-month total of refugee arrivals for FY2024 is 84,271 refugees.

While the U.S. is not on track to reach its target of 125,000 arrivals in FY2024, the increase in pace bodes well as the end of the fiscal year approaches on September 30. If the U.S. were to resettle 9,520 refugees again in September, it would resettle 93,791 refugees for FY2024. To resettle 100,000 refugees, the U.S. would need to resettle 15,729 refugees in September. It is fairly common to see the highest number of monthly arrivals in the last month of the fiscal year. Continuing this pace in September would mark the highest levels of resettlement in nearly three decades, with the U.S. last resettling 90,000 refugees in FY1995.

****Panama Expands U.S.-Funded Deportation Flights as Brazil Restricts Migrant Travel****On August 22, Panama announced new, extra-hemispheric destinations [link removed] for its U.S.-funded deportation flights, including China and India.??U.S. support for the flights was part of a July 2024 U.S.-Panama pact [link removed] seeking to reduce Panama's increasingly significant transit point for migrants attempting to reach the U.S. southern border.

Panamanian authorities planned to return 70 people to India in early September, as the Dari??n Gap jungle passage connecting Colombia to Panama as migrants from around the world have increasingly spught to travel through that arduous terrain on the way to the United States.

Panama's President Jose Mulino also said [link removed] he would continue repatriations to Colombia and add flights to Ecuador, whose citizens represent the second-largest migrant demographic in the area (the first is Venezuelans).

At the same time, Brazil is cracking down [link removed] on migrants transiting through the country on the way north, sending those from India and China who don't have required visas to their home countries or other destinations.

****State & Local****

****Texas AG Raids Homes of Latino Civil Rights Group Members and Political Activists****On August 20, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton authorized raids [link removed] of the homes of several Latino Democrats and civil rights leaders in South Texas. The raids specifically targeted the homes of a state House candidate, a mayor, members of the Tejano Democrats, and members of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the nation's oldest Latino civil rights group.

In response, LULAC sent a letter [link removed] to the Justice Department requesting to investigate Paxton's office for Voting Rights Act violations. It contended that the raids were an unlawful attempt to suppress Latino voters in Texas, explaining that the targets were engaged in lawful voter registration and voter engagement efforts. The organization is accusing [link removed] Paxton's office of carrying out illegal searches based on baseless allegations [link removed] of voter fraud. In addition, on August 26, civil rights leaders and state legislators protested [link removed] outside Paxton's San Antonio office. Paxton has characterized the raids as being part of an election integrity investigation.

**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.

**H.R. 9397** [link removed]

Sponsored by Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Florida) (0 [link removed] cosponsors)

08/23/2024 Introduced in the House by Rep. Kat Cammack

08/23/2024 Referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security

**LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR**

The U.S. Senate is expected to be in session from Monday, September 9 through Friday, September 13, 2024.

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to be in session from Monday, September 9 through Thursday, September 12, 2024.

**UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS**

Here, we round up congressional hearings and markups happening in the field or in Washington.

**The Biden-Harris Border Crisis: Victim Perspectives** [link removed]

**Date:** Tuesday, September 10, 2024, at 10:00 am E.T. (House Judiciary Committee)

**Location:** 2141 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

**Witnesses:**TBA

**The Biden-Harris Border Crisis: Noncitizen Voting** [link removed]

**Date:** Tuesday, September 10, 2024, at 2:00 pm E.T. (House Judiciary Committee)

**Location:** 2141 Rayburn 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.

**U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO);****Priority Open Recommendations: Department of Homeland Security** [link removed]

**; Publicly Released August 26, 2024**This report reviews the authors' priority recommendations, including those already implemented by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and 11 more made last month.

**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:

**Texas v. the Biden Administration: How Recent Lawsuits Have Redefined the Federal Immigration Agenda** [link removed] paper explores how Texas has used the courts to upend the Biden immigration agenda, with major ramifications for federal officials, human rights advocates, and immigrants themselves.

**The Myths and Truths of Noncitizen Voting in the United States** [link removed] have been barred from voting in federal elections since 1924. This blog post explains the history of restrictions on noncitizen voting in the United States.

**Explainer: The Biden Administration's "Securing the Border" Interim Final Rule and Implementation of Border Policies** [link removed] explainer describes the "Securing the Border" interim final rule and its most significant changes to the U.S. asylum system, while providing context on how the policies are being implemented on the ground.

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*This Bulletin is not intended to be comprehensive. Please contact Arturo Castellanos-Canales, Policy and Advocacy Manager at the National Immigration Forum, with comments and suggestions of additional items to be included. Arturo can be reached at [email protected]. Thank you.

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