Legislative Bulletin

 

 

Hello all,

The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday,
November 20, 2020 is now posted.

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

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All the best,

Danilo

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**S. 2174

**The Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act**

The bill would authorize the Attorney General to provide grants to
various entities to report, process, and identify missing persons and
unidentified remains. It would also provide for the implementation of up
to 170 self-powered "rescue beacons" in isolated border regions to
prevent migrant deaths.

Sponsored by Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) (3

cosponsors - 2 Democrats, 1 Republican)

07/18/2019 Introduced by Senator Cornyn in the U.S. Senate

07/18/2019 Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

11/17/2020 Discharged from the Committee on the Judiciary by Unanimous
Consent

11/17/2020 Passed the Senate by Unanimous Consent

**LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR**The U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of
Representatives will not be in session the week of November 23, 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****

****Trump Administration Plans Additional Immigration Restrictions for
End of Term****According to a CNN report

on November 19, the Trump administration is planning to push through a
number of additional immigration restrictions before the end of the term
on January 20. Plans that have been accelerated to meet the deadline
include further restrictions to the asylum system, the finalization of
regulations restricting international students, and a new rule that
proposes to deny work eligibility to those who have been released from
immigration detention because they cannot be safely deported.

Concerning the asylum system, the report states that DHS is moving to
carry out agreements

with El Salvador and Honduras to fly would-be asylum seekers arriving at
the U.S. border to have their cases heard in those countries. A similar
agreement was briefly in place with Guatemala but has been paused during
the COVID-19 pandemic. DHS is also rushing to finalize a proposed rule

published on September 25 that would make it more difficult and
expensive for many international students to transition from one
academic program to another or to take additional time to finish a
degree.

On November 17, the administration also announced
a
proposed rule that would prevent most individuals with final orders of
removal from accessing a work permit. The rule would affect the tens of
thousands of individuals who have been ordered removable but are unable
to be deported, including those who are allowed to remain in the U.S.
for humanitarian reasons. According to its text
, the intent of the proposed rule is to
encourage individuals in these circumstances to self-deport, or to
"obtain travel documents in a timely manner and depart the United
States."

President-elect Biden has said he plans to roll back many of the Trump
administration's immigration restrictions.

****White House Refused 2019 Deal to Provide Mental Health Services to
Migrant Families****According to an NBC News report
 on
November 19, in October 2019 the Trump administration blocked an $8
million settlement agreement negotiated by the Department of Justice
(DOJ) to provide mental health services to migrant families that were
separated at the border. The families set to receive assistance under
the agreement were those that had been separated as a result of the
administration's 2018 zero-tolerance policy to prosecute all
undocumented immigrants crossing the border. The policy resulted in the
separation of more than 3,000 children from their parents in the summer
of 2018.

In March 2020, six months after the White House refused the settlement,
a judge ordered the government to provide the assistance and the
nonprofit Seneca Family of Agencies was awarded a $14 million contract
to provide mental health services to the separated families.

According to the report, the decision to reject the settlement prevented
a number of families from receiving treatment, as they had been deported
during the six-month delay. Immigration advocates and mental health
professionals have said

the delay itself may have exacerbated the trauma that resulted from
separation. A lawyer representing the families said that, "the longer
the trauma goes unredressed, the more severe the consequences." The
executive director of Seneca noted that "when treatment is delayed, it
may exacerbate and compound the trauma of separation."

According to a November 9 report
,
666 children remain separated from their parents as a result of
administration policies at the border.

****Administration Makes Citizenship Test Longer, More Complicated****On
November 13, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced

it would be altering the U.S. citizenship test to add a number of
additional topics to study and requiring applicants to answer twice as
many questions to pass. Currently, applicants must correctly answer 6
out of 10 questions drawn from a pool of 100 possible questions. The new
test, which will be used for prospective citizens who apply after
December 1, will require applicants to correctly answer 12 of 20
questions drawn from an increased pool of 128. The geography section in
the previous test has been eliminated and technical questions about the
U.S. government have been added, among other changes.

Immigration advocates and analysts have raised concerns

that the new test will be more costly and time-consuming to implement
and is designed to be more difficult for immigrants to pass. Others have
noted

the political nature of some of the alterations, including concerning
the answer to the question: "Who does a U.S. Senator represent?" The
provided correct answer has been changed from "All people of the state"
to "Citizens from their state."

Elderly applicants who have been lawful permanent residents for over 20
years will be able to take the shorter version. The citizenship test was
last changed in 2008.

****Immigration Officials Told Not to Communicate with Biden Transition
Team****According to a November 16 Buzzfeed News report, nearly a week
after numerous news desks called the Presidential election for Joe
Biden, a top ranking U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services official
sent an email

to employees at the agency telling them not to communicate with the
President-elect's transition team. The email stated that before
officials can begin the transition process, an administrator for the
General Services Administration must write a letter ascertaining the
winner of the presidential election, which has not yet occurred.

The delay

in the transition process has caused concern among officials at USCIS,
in other agencies, and on the Biden transition team. It could hamper the
incoming administration in its efforts to ensure a smooth transition and
to implement its own priorities for the agency, including planned
actions to roll back some of the immigration restrictions instituted
during the Trump administration.

****Legal****

****Federal Judge Restores DACA, Rules DHS Secretary Served
Illegally****On November 14, a federal judge in New York ruled

that acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf was improperly appointed to his
position, invalidating new limitations Wolf placed on Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in a July 28 memorandum
.
Issued after the U.S. Supreme Court permitted DACA to survive
,
the Wolf memo prevented DHS from accepting new DACA applications and
only allowed existing DACA recipients to renew their protections for one
year, rather than two years. The ruling will restore the DACA program to
its status before September 2017, providing two years of protection to
recipients and permitting new applications.

The court's decision represents the fifth such ruling to invalidate a
DHS immigration policy implemented under Acting Secretary Wolf as a
result of his improper appointment. The rulings follow an August 14
Government Accountability Office report
which found that Wolf was
appointed unlawfully after former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen
improperly amended the designated order of succession upon resigning in
2019.

On November 14, DHS attempted to correct

the line of succession by having Pete Gaynor, the Senate-confirmed FEMA
administrator, temporarily assume authority over the agency and reissue
the order of succession.

According to the Migration Policy Institute
,
more than 1.3 million U.S. residents are eligible for DACA

****Judge Halts Summary Expulsions of Unaccompanied Children****On
November 18, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. blocked

the Trump administration from summarily deporting unaccompanied children
without first allowing them to request humanitarian protection or
properly screening them for signs of human trafficking. The judge ruled

that the administration had not provided "scientific and technical"
evidence to demonstrate that it had the authority to deport children
without allowing them to apply for asylum or to be processed and cared
for in Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) shelters.

The ruling concerns the summary deportation of children arriving at the
border that has been occurring under an emergency Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) rule

issued in response to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The
administration argued that this rule, issued under title 42 of the 1944
Public Health Service Act, gives DHS the authority to expel or deport
any individual arriving at the border, regardless of whether they posed
a particular risk for spreading the virus or were intending to seek
asylum or another form of protection.

Over 13,000 unaccompanied children

have been subject to these 'Title 42" expulsions since March,
including many who were detained secretively in private hotels prior to
their deportation.

****State and Local****

****Court Bars ICE Practice of Arresting Immigrants at Courthouses in
Southern California****On November 17, a federal judge in California
barred

ICE agents from making immigration arrests in and around San Diego-area
courthouses. The ruling granted a temporary restraining order blocking a
2018 directive that allowed immigration officers to make arrests in
courthouses. The judge argued

that the practice "deters parties and witnesses from coming to court,
instills fear, and is inconsistent with the decorum of the court." Prior
to the 2018, ICE only made arrests at or near courthouses in
circumstances in which the individual was deemed a danger to national
security or a risk to public safety. But the 2018 directive lead to a
sharp increase in immigration arrests at courthouses, and a subsequent
decline

in court appearances by immigrant defendants.

**GOVERNMENT REPORTS**

**Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of the Inspector General
(OIG):****Major Management and Performance Challenges Facing the
Department of Homeland Security**

**, November 10, 2020**This report issued by the DHS Office of Inspector
General (OIG) describes several management and performance challenges
that DHS has faced in 2020. Among other issues, the agency has had
difficulty performing effectively during COVID-19; ensuring proper
financial management; and ensuring that information technology (IT) is
supporting essential mission operations. The OIG found that the IT
shortfalls contributed to DHS's inability to properly track migrant
families who had been detained and separated at the border. The report
states that this has led to uncertainty as to how many families were
separated during the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" policy in
2018.

**SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES****Fact Sheet:
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals**
This
resource provides information about the Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA) policy. It also describes how DACA recipients strengthen
the United States and why Dreamers are still in need of a permanent
solution.

**Time to Naturalize**
This
infographic provides details about the current challenges related to
naturalization and notes that cost of applying for naturalization may
soon increase.

**Bill Analysis: The Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act**
This
resource summarizes and provides context for the Missing Persons and
Unidentified Remains Act, which would take steps to prevent migrant
deaths on the Southwest border and help border counties and nonprofit
organizations locate and identify missing migrants.

* * *

*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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