Legislative Bulletin

 

 

Hello all,

The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday,
December 18, 2020 is now posted. We will publish our next bulletin on
Friday, January 8, 2021.

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

[link removed]

All the best,

Danilo 

**LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN - Friday, December 18, 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**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 Passed the Senate by Unanimous Consent

11/18/2020 Introduced in the House of Representatives as H.R. 8772

by Representative Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas)

11/18/2020 Referred to the House Committees on Homeland Security and the
Judiciary

12/16/2020 Amended and Passed the House under Suspension of the Rules

**LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR**The U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of
Representatives will not be in session the week of December 21, 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**

****Administration Finalizes Agreement to Send Asylum Seekers to El
Salvador****On December 15, the Trump administration announced

it had finalized an agreement to send certain individuals seeking asylum
or other similar humanitarian protection at the U.S. border to El
Salvador to seek protection there. The deal, known as an Asylum
Cooperative Agreement (ACA), is one of three such agreements

originally brokered in 2019 with the governments of El Salvador,
Guatemala, and Honduras.

In the announcement, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf
said

the ACAs represent "a truly regional approach to migration." Asylum
advocates have noted that the three Central American countries do not
have robust asylum systems and are not capable of providing protection
to asylum seekers sent to them under the agreements. El Salvador has the
highest homicide rate

of any country in the world. As recently as December 2019, Salvadoran
President Nayib Bukele said , "We
don't have asylum capacities."

Prior to the finalization of the ACA with El Salvador, the U.S. had only
implemented the agreement with Guatemala, sending approximately 939
Hondurans and Salvadorans fleeing persecution there to apply for
protection in 2019 and 2020. As of May 2020, only 2%

of the 939 asylum seekers sent to Guatemala were able to apply for
protection, and none had yet received asylum status.

It is not clear yet whether, in the final month of the Trump
administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will actually
act on the agreement and send arriving asylum seekers to El Salvador.
Currently, DHS is summarily expelling most arriving asylum seekers to
Mexico or their home countries under a pandemic-era Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) rule
.
DHS argues the rule gives it the authority to expel any individuals
arriving at the border, regardless of whether they pose a particular
risk for spreading the virus or were intending to seek asylum in the
U.S.

****Border Crossings Tick Up as Some Experts Predict Sustained
Increase****According to a December 13 report
,
unauthorized border crossings into the United States have increased

in the past few weeks after steadily declining throughout the year. Some
experts are predicting the uptick will continue in the coming months due
to a variety of factors, including increasingly difficult economic
conditions throughout Central America and the widespread damage caused
by Hurricanes Eta and Iota. The incoming Biden administration's
promises for a more welcoming
approach to those arriving at the border seeking protection from
persecution may also be contributing

to some of this increase.

The increase in border crossings is also due in part to the nature of
the Trump administration's border restrictions implemented during the
COVID-19 pandemic. Under these restrictions
,
unauthorized migrants apprehended by Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
at the border are brought back to border stations rather than being
deported, and they are able to attempt re-entry without additional
penalties or prosecutions. These rules are resulting in an increasing
recidivism rate, and CBP reported in August

that the percentage of apprehensions involving repeat crossers was over
30%.

****IG Report: ICE Kept Detainees in Solitary Confinement for 300
Days****According to the draft of a DHS Office of Inspector General
(OIG) report obtained by Buzzfeed News

on December 17, two immigrants detained by ICE were held in solitary
confinement for more than 300 days. The report also noted several other
immigrants were kept in solitary confinement for over two months and
that detainees were fed expired and moldy food. The report is the result
of an OIG investigation into the treatment of detainees at the Imperial
Regional Detention Facility in Calexico, California.

According to the report, the Calexico facility falsely reported

it was providing detainees recreation time when, in fact, individuals
held in solitary confinement were restricted from leaving their cells
for 22 to 23 hours a day.

The news of the draft report comes after a series of scandals and
additional reporting criticizing the treatment of detainees in ICE
custody. A separate OIG report

from October documented how an immigrant detention center in Maryland
was in violation of several standards that threatened the health,
safety, and rights of detainees. An August report

found Muslim immigrants detained in a facility in Florida were required
to choose between eating expired meals or eating pork-based products
which went against their religious beliefs. Investigations continue into
a September 14 whistleblower complaint
 alleging
that numerous detainees at an ICE detention center in Georgia were
subjected to medical negligence and neglect, including detained women
receiving unwanted invasive surgeries.

****Legal****

****Third Court Rules Against Administration's Restrictions on H-1B
Workers****On December 14, a federal judge in the District of Columbia
ruled

against a Trump administration rule that restricts the H-1B nonimmigrant
visa program for high-skilled "specialty occupations." The Department of
Labor (DOL) rule sought to significantly increase minimum wage
requirements for H-1B workers. The rule would have raised required
salaries by an average of 50-60%, and some occupations would have seen
required wages double or even triple.

The judge ruled that DOL did not have "good cause" to bypass required
public notice and comment rulemaking procedures when it attempted to
expedite implementation and issue the regulation as an interim final
rule. The judge further ordered DOL to reissue any wage determinations
that had been issued under the rule while it was in effect.

The case was the third such successful challenge to the rule, with
federal courts in San Francisco and New Jersey previously rejecting the
government's defense. This most recent challenge was led by the
American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).

While it was in effect, the rule had applied to new H-1B applicants and
to those seeking to renew their H-1B status, which may have resulted in
a number of employers suddenly unable to afford to pay workers on whom
they have relied for many years. Had it remained in effect, the rule
might also have cut out many junior-level and early career applicants
from the H-1B program.

****State and Local****

****San Diego Sheriff's Department Ends Policy of Posting Release
Dates of Those in Custody****On December 10, the San Diego Sheriff's
Department announced

it will end a policy of publicly posting the release dates of
individuals in its custody. Immigration advocates had argued that the
policy provided

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with information it could use
to apprehend and deport immigrants shortly after their release. The
policy had been in effect since the 2017 passage of the California
Values Act
,
which limits the use of state and local resources in federal immigration
enforcement functions.

The decision comes after ICE launched a series of raids and crackdowns
targeting undocumented immigrants in multiple California jurisdictions
with robust "sanctuary" policies in early October.
Sanctuary jurisdictions are not defined under federal statute
,
but the term generally refers to state and localities that limit
officials' involvement in federal immigration enforcement functions.
Advocates and local officials argue that requiring local law enforcement
to play a role in all federal immigration enforcement activities
undermines public safety and community trust.

****D.C. Closer to Making Sanctuary City Status Permanent****On December
15, the District of Columbia Council unanimously approved

a permanent version of the Sanctuary Values Act. The legislation would
limit local agencies involvement in Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) functions, including limitations on jails, police, and other city
officials sharing information with ICE. The current "emergency" version
of the Sanctuary Values Act was passed in 2019 as a temporary measure.
Despite approval by the city council, the measure will need to be

voted on again in 2021 during the next legislative session and pass
through a further two rounds of votes before being enacted.

**GOVERNMENT REPORTS**There were no immigration-related government
reports published the week of December 14, 2020.

**SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES****Robust Refugee
Programs Aid National Security**
This
paper explores how the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program bolsters national
security and provides a number of recommendations to strengthen our
resettlement program and re-engage with international allies to address
global forced migration. Elizabeth Neumann, former DHS Assistant
Secretary for Counterterrorism and Threat Prevention during the Trump
Administration and senior advisor to the National Immigration Forum on
national security matters, authored the paper.

**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.

**Working Paper: Addressing the Increase of Central American Migrants**
This
working paper provides a set of short-term and long-term policy
recommendations that can be implemented to better manage and process the
increase in Central American migrants at the Southern border.

* * *

*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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