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

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 Expands Asylum Restrictions; Harris Takes Tough Stance During Border Visit

On September 30, the Biden administration announced that it was revising its existing asylum restrictions from June to make them more difficult to lift, likely guaranteeing that asylum seekers will continue to face long odds at requesting protection in the United States.

The Biden administration’s "Securing the Border" policies from last summer are triggered based on the number of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization and have not reached the threshold of migrant encounters necessary to restore normal processing. Now, the updated proclamation and accompanying final rule increase the required period of time for irregular crossings to drop below a 7-consecutive-day average of 1,500 from one week to 28 consecutive days. This likely ensures that the current restrictions on asylum eligibility and access won’t relax any time soon.

As part of the revisions, all unaccompanied migrant children will now be included in the count toward 1,500 daily encounters as well, an addition that will make it harder to lift the restrictions and resume more regular asylum processes.

At the same time, according to CNN, Border Patrol documented around 54,000 migrant encounters at the U.S.'s southern border in September, as the region falls relatively quiet amid heightened Mexican enforcement and the rule’s implementation. But this calm belies a troubling trend, activists say: migrants may feel they have no choice but to take more dangerous paths with smugglers in sweltering heat to avoid being caught and deported without a chance to make their protection claims, with sometimes deadly consequences.

"It was very unfortunate to see that number [of migrant deaths] go up in the summer, especially after the new asylum proclamation was announced in June," Aimee Santillan, policy analyst for Hope Border Institute, told Border Report. "And we saw a huge increase in the number of people that are coming through the desert, trying not to be detected by Border Patrol."

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris continued to talk about border security during a campaign visit to Arizona last week. "If someone does not make an asylum request at a legal point of entry and instead crosses our border unlawfully, they will be barred from receiving asylum," she said, without noting any exceptions.

"While we understand that many people are desperate to migrate to the United States," Harris said, "our system must be orderly and secure. And that is my goal."

She also promised changes to the U.S.’s larger immigration system, including policies that would honor the dignity of Dreamers, agricultural workers, and other long-time residents.

"I reject the false choice that suggests we must either choose between securing our border or creating a system of immigration that is safe, orderly, and humane," she said. "We can and we must do both."

Report: No Re-Parole for Venezuelans Who Entered Through Biden Administration Program

On October 3, CBS News reported that the Biden administration would not be offering re-parole for Venezuelans who entered the U.S. legally through a private-sponsorship program meant to curb irregular migration at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Since October 2022, the program has allowed Venezuelans — and later, Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Haitians — to live and work legally in the U.S. for two years, with the help of a U.S.-based sponsor. But unlike parole programs for Ukrainians and Afghans, Venezuelans will not be able to extend their protections. Instead, they will receive notices telling them to apply for another form of relief, such as Temporary Protected Status (TPS), or depart the country, according to CBS News.

Many of the earliest Venezuelans who came to the U.S. through the program should qualify for TPS, which will also allow them to live and work legally stateside.

Vance, Walz Meet Onstage for Vice Presidential Debate

On October 1, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minnesota) took to the stage for potentially the final debate of the election season, where among other topics, both candidates presented differing views on immigration.

Moderators asked Vance about former President Donald Trump’s plans to carry out mass deportations and whether the policy would separate U.S. citizen children from their noncitizen parents. Vance did not directly answer the question and instead said a second Trump administration would start its mass deportation program with "criminal migrants," arguing that "[a]bout a million of those people have committed some form of crime in addition to crossing the border illegally."

Immigration authorities already prioritize individuals with a criminal record for removal. In addition, data do not support the assertion that there are one million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. with a criminal record. And, of those who are sentenced for a federal crime, 76% were sentenced due to an immigration-related offense in recent years.

Vance returned to immigration many times throughout the evening, arguing that migrants have undercut the wages of U.S. citizen workers — a claim that most labor economists refute — and strained the U.S. housing supply. Analysts agree that the housing crisis predates current migration trends, though migration could intensify the problem.

In response to Vance’s claims, Walz referred to a bipartisan border security bill that Trump encouraged Senate Republicans to reject earlier this year, accusing Trump of deliberately blocking progress on border security. He also highlighted Vice President Kamala Harris’s previous experience prosecuting transnational gangs for drug and human trafficking as California’s attorney general and called out Trump for failing to build a significant portion of the border wall he promised to erect in his last administration.

On a rhetorical note, Walz criticized negative yet increasingly popular rhetoric on immigration, saying that "when it becomes a talking point like this, we dehumanize and villainize other human beings."

Biden Administration Keeps Refugee Ceiling at 125,000 for FY 2025

On September 30, President Joe Biden announced that he would maintain the refugee ceiling for resettlement in the U.S. at 125,000 people for fiscal year 2025 — an ambitious goal that has remained elusive for the administration thus far, even as refugee processing has ramped up considerably during Biden’s term in office after a significant drop under the former president, Donald Trump.

The current commander-in-chief directed his staff to focus on refugees of special humanitarian concern to the U.S., with spaces further subdivided and allocated based on region. Notably, the allocation numbers for Latin America and the Caribbean stayed relatively high at 35,000-50,000, indicating that people fleeing persecution from within the Western Hemisphere are still a priority for resettlement in the U.S.

Legal

Judge Denies Immigrant-Serving Organization a Restraining Order Against Texas Attorney General’s Office

On September 27, Senior U.S. District Judge David C. Guaderrama denied a request from Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center to block Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s demand for documents in an investigation against the nonprofit. Guaderrama ruled that Las Americas did not file the request in time.

Paxton is investigating the nonprofit for allegedly deceitful and fraudulent practices regarding Biden’s parole programs for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.

Las Americas is arguing that Paxton’s inquiry targets their legal assistance program, which focuses on helping low-income immigrants and has been in operation for over 30 years. The organization believes this is a violation of its First Amendment rights.

It’s unclear whether Las Americas will hand over the documents, which they say contain confidential client information, but if they do not comply, the nonprofit's personnel could face a misdemeanor charge, fines, and possible county jail time.

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 not expected to be in session from Monday, October 7 through Friday, October 11, 2024.

UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS

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

No relevant hearings or markups have been announced for the week of Monday, October 7, 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.

DHS Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG); CBP Needs to Improve Its Management of the Facility Condition Assessment Program; Published September 24, 2024

This report considers whether U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has followed policies around assessing the conditions at its owned or leased facilities. The investigators found a lack of controls and sometimes contradictory guidance that may result in "deteriorated facilities, higher repair costs, and more extensive renovation or replacements."

DHS Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG); Summary of Unannounced Inspections of ICE Facilities Conducted in Fiscal Years 2020-2023; Published September 24, 2024

This report summarizes findings from 17 unannounced inspections at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities between fiscal years 2020 and 2023 and identifies patterns amid noncompliance with detention standards. Specifically, the report finds that "regardless of time, location, detainee population, and facility type, ICE and facility staff have struggled to comply with aspects of detention standards," while the agency has "paid approximately $160 million for unused bed space under guaranteed minimum contracts."

DHS Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG); ICE Did Not Always Manage and Secure Mobile Devices to Prevent Unauthorized Access to Sensitive Information; Published September 26, 2024

This report finds that "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not effectively manage and secure its mobile devices or the infrastructure supporting the devices," which may place ICE's sensitive information "at a higher risk of unauthorized access," including by cyberattack.

DHS Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG); Results of an Unannounced Inspection of Baker County Sheriff's Office in Macclenny, Florida; Published September 27, 2024

This report describes findings from an unannounced inspection of ICE’s Baker County Sheriff's Office in Macclenny, Florida, from January 23-25, 2024, to evaluate its compliance with detention standards. The inspection identified flags around noncompliance with standards regarding voluntary work, staff-detainee communication, and the use of force.

DHS Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG); CBP, ICE, and TSA Did Not Fully Assess Risks Associated with Releasing Noncitizens without Identification into the United States and Allowing Them to Travel on Domestic Flights (REDACTED); Published September 30, 2024

This report warns that under current practices, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) cannot be sure that some noncitizens entering the United States or flying through U.S. airports do not represent a risk to public safety.

DHS Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG); Oversight Reports Identify Recurring Challenges with DHS Strategic Planning; Published September 30, 2024

This report focuses on the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) ongoing reliance on expired or outdated strategic guidance documents, suggesting that "the absence of updated strategic guidance increases the risk that DHS and its components make operational and budgetary decisions based on outdated or expired information, which may reduce their ability to address the most current and critical challenges."

U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO); Noncitizens in the U.S.: Public Information on Federal Incarcerations; Publicly Released October 3, 2024

This report gives publicly reported data on the number of noncitizens incarcerated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and the number of noncitizens sentenced for federal crimes, both of which have markedly declined in recent years. The report shows noncitizens held by BOP dropped around 33% from the end of 2017 to the end of 2022, while the number of noncitizens sentenced for federal crimes also decreased 27% when comparing fiscal year 2018 to fiscal year 2023. For over three quarters of noncitizens sentenced for committing a federal crime between FYs 2018 and 2023, an immigration-related offense such as entering the U.S. unauthorized was their most serious penalty.

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:

Q&A: Birthright Citizenship

This Q&A explores the legal basis for birthright citizenship in the United States.

Bill Analysis: No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act

The No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act, or H.R. 5717, is a bill that would define the term "sanctuary jurisdictions" and prohibit those localities from receiving federal funds intended to be "use[d] for the benefit" of undocumented immigrants.

Operation Lone Star: Texas's Logistical and Political Fireball

This paper provides background on some of the most significant practices related to Operation Lone Star, unpacking its consequences for the federal government, Texas’s leadership, cities in the U.S. interior, Texas border communities, and migrants themselves.

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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.

Legislative Bulletin