Legislative Bulletin

 

 

Hello all,

The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday,
November 6, 2020 is now posted.

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

All the best,

Danilo

[link removed]

**LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN - Friday, November 6, 2020**BILLS INTRODUCED AND
CONSIDERED

LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR

UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS

THEMES IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK

GOVERNMENT REPORTS

SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES

**BILLS INTRODUCED AND CONSIDERED****H.R. 8708**

**The American Families United Act**

The bill would provide the Department of Homeland Security and the
Attorney General with the discretion to stop the deportations of certain
family members of U.S. citizens. It would also provide the Attorney
General with discretion based on humanitarian purposes to preserve
family unity for U.S. citizen spouses or parents of U.S. citizen
children.

Sponsored by Representative Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) (2

Cosponsors - 1 Republican, 1 Democrat)

10/30/2020 Introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative
Escobar

10/30/2020 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

**LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR**The U.S. Senate will be in session the
week of Monday, November 9, 2020.

The U.S. House of Representatives will not be in session the week of
Monday, November 9, 2020.

**UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS**There are no immigration-related
hearings or markups currently scheduled in the U.S. Senate or the U.S.
House of Representatives.

**THEMES IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK**

**Federal**

****Immigrants Win Down Ballot Races as Nation Awaits Presidential
Election Results****With multiple outlets yet to make a final call on
the outcome of the November 3 presidential election, the results of
numerous down ballot races for seats in the House of Representatives -
including many featuring immigrant candidates - are more clear.

All 435 seats in the House were up for election, including 15 races
featuring immigrant candidates. Of these, 14 have thus far been called

in favor of the immigrant running for office. The 15th race, in
California's 39th district, remains too close to call
,
with immigrant candidate Young Kim (R) narrowly leading incumbent Gil
Cisneros (D). In Florida's 26th district, two immigrant candidates
were up for election, with mayor of Miami-Dade County Carlos Giménez
(R) declared the victor
.

At the time of publishing, most outlets' decision desks have not yet
called the presidential election for former Vice President Joe Biden or
President Donald Trump. The presidential race was fought over an
electorate that included a record number

of naturalized citizens, and both candidates hoped to include immigrants
and voters of color in their coalitions. While both campaigns focused on
a number of key issues throughout the race, the issue of immigration
represented a sharp distinction between the President and former Vice
President.

In the weeks leading up to election day on November 3, the Biden
campaign highlighted this distinction by criticizing

the current administration's family separation policies at the
Southwest border, pointing to a recent report

that 545 migrant children remain separated from their parents. The Trump
administration, meanwhile, accelerated construction of barriers

at the border and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) interior
enforcement operations

in the lead up to November 3. Despite toning down

its immigration rhetoric overall relative to past election cycles, the
Trump campaign touted the enforcement and border construction efforts
and claimed Biden's more welcoming immigration platform would be
harmful to the economy.

****Administration Improperly Deports Unaccompanied Children from Other
Countries into Mexico****According to a news report

on October 30, the Trump administration has been violating diplomatic
agreements by deporting unaccompanied migrant children from other
countries into Mexico. It is not immediately clear what is happening to
these children after being sent to a country where they may have no
family connections or designated caretakers.

The expulsions have been taking place as part of a broader,
pandemic-related effort to rapidly deport almost everyone who arrives at
the border, including asylum seekers and unaccompanied children. When
these summary deportations, known as "Title 42" expulsions, were first
implemented in March, the U.S. formalized a diplomatic agreement

with Mexican authorities that it would not return unaccompanied migrant
children from other countries into Mexico under the new policy. Many
unaccompanied children - particularly those from Central America -
were instead held secretively

in private hotels before being placed on deportation flights to their
home countries. However, immigration advocates and child welfare workers
have long suspected that some of these Guatemalan, Honduran and
Salvadoran children have been deported to Mexico as well, in violation
of the agreement between the two governments.

Those rumors were substantiated on October 30, when an internal email

from a senior U.S. Border Patrol official stated that, "recently, we
have identified several suspected instances where Single Minors (SM)
from countries other than Mexico have been expelled via ports of entry
rather than referred to [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] Air
Operations for expulsion flights." The email went on to state that if
these illicit expulsions were to continue, they would "place Title 42
operations in significant jeopardy."

A November 3 news report

provided additional information about some of the unaccompanied children
from other countries who had been sent to Mexico, noting their families
were "anxious and confused after their children and young relatives were
sent without any adult to accompany them into a country that is not
their own."

Immigration advocates say

that they still "have no idea" how many children there are that have
been returned to Mexico in violation of the agreement, and have
expressed particular concern at the seeming haphazard nature of the
government's treatment of unaccompanied minors. The reports come just
weeks after a court filing

revealed that that the government has not reunited, and in many cases
has not located, the parents of 545 children after it separated them as
part of a pilot program in 2017.

****Trump Advisor Lays Out Immigration Priorities for Potential Second
Term****Stephen Miller, Senior Advisor to President Trump, has released

the administration's immigration policy plans should the President win
re-election. Each of the priorities outlined would continue the Trump
administration's crackdown on undocumented immigrants and the asylum
system and further restrict legal pathways for immigrants and
nonimmigrants.

The plan centers on four major priorities
:
limiting asylum grants, aggressive action against "sanctuary cities,"
the expansion of travel bans and restrictions, and further restrictions
to immigrant work visas. According to Miller, the administration would
push for legislation punishing "sanctuary" jurisdictions for limiting
state and local officials' involvement in federal immigration
enforcement functions. In a potential second term, the Trump
administration would also continue its efforts to restrict guest worker
programs such as H-1B visas, in order to prioritize only those foreign
workers who are offered the highest wages.

Miller also said that the Trump administration would seek to amend the
Flores settlement agreement, which protects the rights of migrant
children. The settlement currently requires children to be released
after 20 days in immigration detention, and Miller suggested the
administration would work to alter the agreement so that children could
be detained indefinitely.

With the President's re-election increasingly unlikely, it is possible
the administration may act on Miller's list of priorities during the
remainder of the term.

****Temporary Protected Status Extended for South Sudan****On November
3, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf extended

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for South Sudan for 18 additional
months. There are currently approximately 98 South Sudanese
beneficiaries of TPS, who now may re-register for protected status
through May 2, 2022. While status was extended for current South
Sudanese TPS holders, it was not redesignated
,
meaning those who arrived in the U.S. after January 2016 remain
vulnerable to deportation.

TPS is granted by the Secretary of DHS to eligible foreign-born
individuals who are unable to return home safely due to violence or
other circumstances in their home country.

****Department of Labor Publishes New Rule Adjusting Wages for Temporary
Farmworkers****On November 5, the U.S. Department of Labor published

a final rule that adjusts the minimum wage requirements for H-2A
temporary farmworkers. Therule
,
which goes into effect on December 20, updates the methodology for
determining the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR), which is meant to
ensure that growers do not use temporary immigration programs to
adversely affect the wages or opportunities provided to U.S.-born
workers. The rule freezes the AEWR for two years, and starting in 2023,
moves to adjust the wage rate based on Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
data, rather than the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Labor
Survey.

Growers have criticized

the current AEWR calculation for resulting in large swings

in required wages from year to year and from state to state. They have
noted that without a more stable required wage rate, it is impossible to
effectively plan and budget for workforce needs. Workers' groups,
meanwhile, have expressed concern

that the wage freeze and methodology adjustment will allow growers to
underpay their workers.

Use of the BLS data would likely result

in H-2A worker wages rising approximately 2.5-3.0% annually.

****Legal****

****Federal Court Rejects Public Charge Rule, But Rule Still in Place
During Appeal****On November 3, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
put

a hold on a decision from the day before regarding the Trump
administration's public charge rule, allowing the rule to go back into
effect while the court considers the case. On November 2, a federal
judge in Chicago had ordered

the Trump administration to vacate the rule on the grounds that it
exceeded the executive branch's authority. The two decisions are the
latest in the ongoing legal battle over the policy since its
introduction in September 2018, which has seen the rule repeatedly go
into and out of effect in individual states and across the country.

The public charge rule allows officials to deny admission, visa
renewals, or permanent residency to certain noncitizens based on their
use of certain public benefits. During the ongoing coronavirus pandemic,
health experts and immigration advocates have warned that implementing
the public charge rule has discouraged immigrants from seeking out vital
healthcare and other services.

****Four States Sue to Allow New Applications to DACA****On November 2,
the states of California, Maine, Maryland, and Minnesota filed suit

against the administration for refusing to allow new applications to the
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program. The suit comes
after acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf issued a July 28 memorandum

limiting protections given to DACA recipients to one year and closing
DACA to new applicants. In the suit, the four states argue that Wolf was
unlawfully appointed to his position and was therefore "unlawfully
exercising the functions and duties of the secretary of Homeland
Security" when the memo was implemented.

In a separate case in September 2020, a federal judge in Maryland
blocked
a
DHS asylum regulation in part because she found the plaintiffs would
likely be able to show that Wolf had been improperly appointed and was
serving unlawfully at the time the regulation was issued.

Approximately 680,000 individuals are eligible

but are not protected by DACA.

**GOVERNMENT REPORTS**

**Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of the Inspector General
(OIG):****CBP Has Taken Steps to Limit Processing of Undocumented Aliens
at Ports of Entry**

**, October 27, 2020**This report outlines how, in May 2018, officials
from DHS and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) limited the processing
of asylum seekers who presented themselves at ports of entry (POEs)
along the Southwest border. During a surge of asylum seekers arriving at
designated POEs in 2018, then-DHS secretary Kirstjen Nielson approved
"queue management" policies which resulted in 650 asylum seekers unable
to enter every day. The report finds that amid growing queues, CBP also
illegally turned away asylum seekers that had already entered the United
States.

**DHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG):****ICE Needs to Address
Concerns about Detainee Care and Treatment at the Howard County
Detention Center**

**, October 28, 2020**This report describes OIG findings from a December
2019 unannounced inspection of the Howard County Detention Center (HCDC)
in Maryland. OIG found that the Howard County Detention Center was in
violation of several detention standards that threatened the health,
safety, and rights of detainees. The report reveals that HCDC officials
conducted excessive strip-searches of detainees, which violated the
center's own policy, and that officials failed to provide detainees
with two hot meals per day. Those placed in segregated confinement were
not consistently given three meals a day. According to the report, HCDC
also did not properly document detainee medical grievances or the
facility's handling of them.

**Congressional Research Service (CRS):****Immigration Relief for
Victims of Trafficking**

**, October 28, 2020**This report provides information on how noncitizen
victims of human trafficking can access protections from deportation.
Eligible persons could be offered protections under one of the following
categories: T nonimmigrant status, U nonimmigrant status, or continued
presence. T status is offered to noncitizens who are victims of severe
forms of human trafficking. U status is offered under the Violence
Against Women Act of 2000 to victims who have suffered physical or
mental abuse as a result of a qualifying crime (including human
trafficking) and are cooperating with law enforcement or government
officials investigating or prosecuting those crimes. Those with T or U
status can be offered a path to permanent residency. Finally, though
continued presence is not an immigration status, if can offer victims
protection from removal proceedings.

**Congressional Research Service (CRS):****Temporary Protected Status:
Overview and Current Issues**

**, Updated October 26, 2020**This report is an updated overview of
Temporary Protected Status (TPS). TPS allows foreign nationals to live
and work in the U.S. when they cannot be safely returned to their
country of origin. The U.S. currently provides TPS to approximately
411,000 foreign nationals from 10 countries: El Salvador, Haiti,
Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and
Yemen.

**SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES****Fact Sheet:
Unaccompanied Migrant Children (UACs)**
This
resource provides information on unaccompanied children arriving at the
border. It describes why these children come alone to the border, the
particular challenges they face, and the legal protections offered to
them.

**Fact Sheet: Temporary Protected Status**
This
fact sheet provides an explanation of what Temporary Protected Status is
and who is eligible to receive it and includes a summary of how many
immigrants living in the U.S. have TPS. The fact sheet also provides an
overview of current ongoing litigation and policy changes surrounding
TPS.

**Public Charge Regulation Summary**
This
summary provides an overview of the Trump administration's final rule
that would redefine the meaning of the legal term "public charge." Under
the new, broadened definition of "public charge," immigrants applying
for a green card, an immigrant visa, or a temporary visa may be rejected
if they have previously accessed or are deemed likely to rely on certain
forms of public assistance.

* * *

*This Bulletin is not intended to be comprehensive. Please contact
Danilo Zak, National Immigration Forum Policy and Advocacy Associate,
with comments and suggestions of additional items to be included. Danilo
can be reached at [email protected] .
Thank you.}

 

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