Legislative Bulletin

 

 

Hello all,

The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday,
February 12, 2021 is now posted.

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

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All the best,

Danilo 

**LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN - Friday, February 12, 2021**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. 256**

**The Southern Border Communities Reimbursement Act**

The bill would authorize $30 million for the following three fiscal
years to fund future costs incurred from providing humanitarian relief
at the U.S.-Mexico border. The funds would be allocated under the
Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP), which reimburses localities
and non-profit, non-governmental organizations that provide humanitarian
care to migrants. The bill is a companion to H.R. 924
.

Sponsored by Senator Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico) (2 cosponsors - 1
Democrat, 1 Republican)

02/04/2021 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Heinrich

02/04/2021 Referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban
Affairs

**S. 260**

**The Protecting Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence Act**

The bill would expand protections to immigrant victims of domestic
violence under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to spouses and
children who entered the U.S. on a temporary visa. Currently, certain
VAWA protections are only available to spouses of permanent residents or
U.S. citizens.

Sponsored by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) (3 cosponsors - 3
Democrats, 0 Republicans)

02/04/2021 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Klobuchar

02/04/2021 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

**S. 306**

**The Safe Environment from Countries Under Repression and in Emergency
(SECURE) Act**

The bill would provide a pathway to legal permanent residency to all
temporary protected status (TPS) recipients who are qualified under the
most recent TPS designation and who have been present in the U.S. for at
least three years.

Sponsored by Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) (23

Cosponsors - 23 Democrats, 0 Republicans)

02/08/2021 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Van Hollen

02/08/2021 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

**H.R. 863**

**The Arrest Statistics Reporting Act**

The bill would require the publishing of certain demographic and other
information related to the arrests of noncitizens in annual crime
reports produced by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Sponsored by Representative Mo Brooks (R-Alabama) (5

Cosponsors - 5 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

02/05/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Brooks

02/05/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

**H.R. 864**

**The No Social Security for Illegal Aliens Act**

The bill would prohibit unauthorized immigrant employees from receiving
social security benefits. Unauthorized immigrants are not eligible to
receive social security benefits under current law.

Sponsored by Representative Mo Brooks (R-Alabama) (19

Cosponsors - 19 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

02/05/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Brooks

02/05/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Ways and Means

**H.R. 865**

**The American Jobs First Act**

The bill would make significant reforms restricting the H-1B
nonimmigrant visa program for high skilled "specialty occupations." The
bill would also eliminate the diversity visa and the Optional Practical
Training program, which is used by international students to stay in the
U.S. and work in a field related to their degree.

Sponsored by Representative Mo Brooks (R-Alabama) (3

Cosponsors - 3 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

02/05/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Brooks

02/05/2021 Referred to the House Committees on Education and Labor and
the Judiciary

**H.R. 924**

**The Southern Border Communities Reimbursement Act**

The bill would authorize $30 million for the following three fiscal
years to fund future costs incurred from providing humanitarian relief
at the U.S.-Mexico border. The funds would be allocated under the
Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP), which reimburses localities
and non-profit, non-governmental organizations that provide humanitarian
care to migrants. The bill is a companion to S. 256
.

Sponsored by Representative Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) (1

cosponsor - 1 Republican)

02/08/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Cuellar

02/08/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Financial Services

**LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR**The U.S. Senate will not be in session the
week of Monday, February 15, 2021.

The U.S. House of Representatives will be in session from Tuesday,
February 16, 2021 to Friday, February 19, 2021.

**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****

****Biden Administration Plans New Interior Enforcement
Guidelines ****Consistent with President Biden's January 20 Executive
Order on the Revision of Civil Immigration Enforcement Policies and
Priorities
,
the Biden administration is planning to implement new interior
enforcement guidelines

for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Among these new
guidelines are changes that will prioritize deporting those who are
deemed national security threats, those who recently crossed the border
unlawfully, and those who are imprisoned for felonies. Additionally,
agents who are trying to arrest immigrants outside of jails or prisons
will need prior approval from the ICE director to ensure that action
"constitutes an appropriate allocation of limited resources.".

These changes represent a return to Obama era prioritization of
immigration enforcement, after the Trump administration greatly expanded

those who would be targeted by interior enforcement efforts as part of a
broader campaign to crack down on unauthorized immigration. The new
administration has said that the new guidelines are meant to prioritize
national security and public safety threats and allocate resources where
they can be most effective.

The draft guidelines will not be final until they are approved by
Alejandro Mayorkas, the newly-confirmed secretary of Homeland Security.

****DHS Announces Plans to Allow Asylum Seekers Waiting in Mexico Back
Into the U.S.****According to a February 11 DHS statement
,
the Biden administration intends to begin processing back into the
United States certain asylum seekers who have been forced to wait in
Mexico while their claims continue. The plan will apply to the
approximately 25,000 asylum seekers who have active asylum cases in the
U.S., and who have been waiting in Mexico in often dangerous conditions
under a program called the Migration Protection Protocols (MPP), also
known as "Remain in Mexico."

The statement notes that starting on February 19, "DHS, the Department
of State, and the Department of Justice will collaborate with
international partners - including the Government of Mexico and
international and non-governmental organizations - to safely process
eligible individuals" to continue their asylum claims in the U.S.

The plan comes after a February 2 executive order
,
which called for relevant federal agencies to review the MPP program and
other border restrictions and consider what to do about those still
waiting in Mexico.

Since the MPP started in early 2019, approximately 69,000 migrants have
been sent back to wait in makeshift camps and lodging in Mexico's
northern border regions, which rank among the most dangerous in the
country. A January 6 Human Rights Watch report
 details
the dangers many asylum seekers have faced while waiting in MPP,
including widespread crime, violence, and physical and emotional harm. A
previous report documented
 over 1,300
cases of murder, rape, kidnapping, and other violent assaults
experienced by those forced to return to Mexico.

****Biden Administration to End Asylum Cooperative Agreements with
Northern Triangle Countries****Secretary of State Antony Blinken
announced February 6 that the U.S. will terminate its Asylum Cooperative
Agreements

(ACAs) with Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. These agreements,
signed in 2019, allowed the U.S. to transfer asylum seekers-most of
whom from Central America-back to the Northern Triangle to seek refuge
in those countries.

Domestic critics of the ACAs and political leaders in all three Northern
Triangle countries warned

that none had the infrastructure to process asylum claims promptly or to
ensure the safety of asylum seekers. As a result, only the ACA with
Guatemala was actually implemented. According to a Senate Foreign
Relations Committee report
,
of the 945 asylum seekers the U.S. sent to Guatemala under the
agreement, only 34 were able to submit asylum petitions and none had
been granted asylum as of January 2021.

Blinken's announcement came after President Biden issued an executive
order

February 2 requiring the secretary of State, Attorney General and
secretary of Homeland Security to reconsider the agreements.

****White House Releases Plans for Rebuilding the Refugee Resettlement
Program****President Biden announced

in a report to Congress that he plans to raise the refugee admissions
ceiling for the remainder of the fiscal year, from a historic low of
15,000 to 62,500. Refugee admissions had slowed to a trickle under the
Trump administration, with only 1,500 new refugees arriving in the U.S.
since October 2020.

In a February 4 executive order
,
Biden announced his intention of raising the refugee admissions ceiling
to 125,000 in fiscal year (FY) 2022. The order also called for a review
and potential expansion of the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program,
which provides resettlement to Iraqi and Afghan citizens facing
persecution resulting from their assistance to U.S. troops or diplomats.
The program had also been significiantly reduced under the Trump
administration, with only 537 SIVs resettled last fiscal year.

****Deportations Continue to Haiti and African Countries****On February
8, ICE deported

at least 72 people to Haiti, despite a recent temporary suspension

on deportations to the country. Among the deportees were at least 22
children. Immigration advocates have argued that the ongoing Covid-19
pandemic, as well as political instability and violence in Haiti mean
that continued deportations would be unsafe.

President Biden had issued

a 100-day moratorium on deportations when he took office on January 20,
but a federal judge in Texas issued a temporary stay on the moratorium,
and deportations have continued. Individual deportation flights have
been delayed after advocacy efforts, including a flight of deportees
that was headed to Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo on
February 4. That flight was halted because migrants on board were
witnesses in an investigation concerning allegations of abuse by ICE
agents.

Many of the individuals on the flights are being deported under a March
2020 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rule
 issued
in response to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The rule, which
invoked Title 42 of the 1944 Public Health Service Act, was intended to
give ICE the authority to expel or deport any individuals 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. These "Title 42" expulsions have remained in place

under the Biden administration, although a recent executive order
directed relevant agencies to review the necessity of continuing the
deportations. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP),
nearly 400,000 individuals have been expelled

from the country under Title 42 since March.

****Eminent Domain Cases Left in Limbo as Biden Halts Wall
Construction****After the Biden administration issued a January 20
executive order

halting the construction of barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border,
landowners involved in eminent domain cases along the border remain
unsure

about the status of their land. Most of the South Texas borderland is
privately owned and locals have objected to the construction of barriers
on their property, which led the Trump administration to file a series
of eminent domain lawsuits to seize their land in order to build
hundreds of miles of border fencing. As many as 60 of these eminent
domain cases were filed by the Trump administration between the November
3 presidential election and Biden's inauguration on January 20.

While construction has now been halted, attorneys from the Texas Civil
Rights Project say

that construction had already begun in some areas where the eminent
domain lawsuits were pending and the government did not yet have land
rights. It is not yet clear whether the Biden administration will return
seized land or attempt to settle ongoing cases that have already been
filed.

****Biden Administration Reviews Deportation of Military Family
Members****According to a February 8 McClatchy news report
,
the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is planning to
review deportations of veterans and military family members under the
Trump administration and determine if certain individuals should be
allowed to return to the U.S. A White House spokesperson explained
,
"The administration's immigration enforcement will focus on those who
are national security and public safety threats, not military families,
service members or veterans."  .

The effort is designed to address broad concern regarding the impact of
Trump-era policies related to foreign-born soldiers and veterans and
their families. While ICE policy requires special consideration for
military service members before initiating deportation proceedings, ICE
and the U.S. Department of Justice have not revealed

the number of military service members or family members that were
deported under the Trump administration. A 2019 Government
Accountability Office report
found that as many as 250
veterans were in the midst of deportation proceedings.

****U.S. Senators Introduce Bill to Provide Relief to those with
Temporary Protected Status ****On February 8, Senator Chris Van Hollen
(D-Maryland) joined 23 other Democratic Senators in introducing
legislation

that would offer a path to permanent status to the over 400,000
recipients of temporary protected status (TPS) in the U.S. The "SECURE"
Act would allow current TPS recipients from El Salvador, Haiti,
Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, and
Yemen to apply for green cards if they have been present in the U.S. for
at least the past three years. "Many have lived here legally for over
twenty years - and have come to call our country home," Senator Van
Holen said

of TPS recipients.

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.

****Business and Immigration Advocates Express Concern Over Legal
Immigration Ban****On February 5, over 170 business and immigration
advocacy groups sent a letter

to the Biden administration expressing concern that the White House has
not yet rescinded the Trump administration's April

and June

2020 proclamations suspending certain immigration categories from
outside the U.S. The bans, which are currently set to last until March
31, 2021, were originally justified by the Trump administration as an
attempt to protect the U.S. economy and preserve opportunities for
American workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the letter, the groups
argue that to the contrary, the bans are causing "harm to a wide
cross-section of families, businesses, and communities in the United
States."

The continued implementation of the restrictions may have a particularly
negative impact on diversity visa recipients. The Diversity Visa
Immigrant Program is designed to allow additional immigration
opportunities to people from countries with relatively low rates of
immigration to the U.S. Accessing a diversity visa is a multi-step
process, which consists first of entering a computerized lottery which
selects 55,000 individuals each year, and then a lengthy application,
interview, and visa issuance stage before lottery winners can finally
receive their green cards. Typically, lottery winners must act quickly,
because if their visas are not issued by the end of the following fiscal
year (September 30), they lose all access to their visa and are no
longer authorized for a green card.

While a court decision allowed the issuance of diversity visas to some
FY 2020 winners, the continued immigration bans mean that thousands of
those visas already issued to FY 2020 winners may be set to expire

before they can be used. In addition, the bans mean less time for FY
2021 diversity visa winners to complete the lengthy application process.

****Legal****

****Federal Judge Extends Restraining Order Against Biden's 100-Day
Deportation Moratorium ****On February 9, a federal judge in the
Southern District of Texas extended his temporary restraining order
(T.R.O.) against the Biden administration's 100-day deportation
moratorium
 for
an additional 14 days. The T.R.O. had been set to expire two weeks after
it was initially granted on January 26. In extending the T.R.O., the
judge stated
 that
the extension was necessary for "the record to be more fully developed"
and to provide the court more time to consider and rule on Texas
Attorney General John Paxton's claim that the moratorium violated
a deal
 requiring
DHS to provide six months of notice before implementing significant
immigration policy changes.

The ruling continues to block DHS from categorically pausing the removal
of persons possessing executable final orders of removal for at least
two more weeks. It does not require the removal of any specific
individuals, however. The 100-day deportation moratorium was premised on
giving the new Biden administration time to consider changes to
enforcement priorities and to look at each detainee's case
individually.

****Nominations/Personnel****

****Biden Administration Head of Department of Labor Nominee Moves on to
Full Senate Vote ****On February 11, the Biden administration's
nominee to head the Department of Labor (DOL), Marty Walsh,
successfully advanced
 to
a full Senate nomination vote after review by the Senate Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). Walsh, who is the current
mayor of Boston, received bipartisan support from the committee,
advancing to the floor with an 18-4 vote.

The Department of Labor plays a critical role in H1-B and other work
visa petition processes and in regulating certain legal immigration
pathways.

**GOVERNMENT REPORTS**There were no immigration-related government
reports released the week of February 8, 2021

**SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES****Eminent Domain
Along the Southern Border**
This
fact sheet provides an overview of eminent domain and how the federal
government utilizes it to construct physical barriers, including
fencing, along the U.S.-Mexico border.

**President Trump's Proclamation Suspending Immigration**
This
resource explains President Trump's June 22, 2020 proclamation
extending and expanding on immigration restrictions initially
implemented in April 2020. It describes which categories of immigrants
are affected and which are exempt, discusses the additional measures
included in the proclamation, and provides information about which
groups of immigrants face the most immediate harm.

Biden Administration's January/February Executive Actions on
Immigration
This
explainer summarizes several of the Biden administration's executive
actions impacting immigrants from January and February. The explainer
provides summaries of 13 immigration-related memoranda, proclamations,
and executive orders issued in Biden's first weeks in office.

* * *

*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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