Legislative Bulletin

 

 

Hello all,

The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday, April
16, 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, April 16, 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. 1070**

**End the Border Crisis Now Act**

The bill would institute a number of limitations to the U.S. asylum
system, including requiring certain asylum seekers to apply for
protection through the refugee resettlement program before arriving at
the U.S. border and requiring to migrants who travel through third
countries en route to the U.S. to first apply for protection in those
countries.

Sponsored by Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) (0 cosponsors)

04/12/2021 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Cotton

04/12/2021 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

**S. 1075**

**No Bailouts for Illegal Aliens Act**

The bill would withhold any funding authorized under the American Rescue
Plan Act to any state or locality that provides economic stimulus
payments to undocumented immigrants. The bill would require states and
localities to certify they were not providing support to undocumented
persons under such a program before receiving future funding authorized
under the American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 response
package.

Sponsored by Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) (0 cosponsors)

04/12/2021 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Cotton

04/12/2021 Referred to the Senate Committee on Finance

**S. 1080**

**The Uyghur Human Rights Protection Act**

The bill would designate residents of China's Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region as priority 2 (P-2) refugees, specifically Uyghurs and
members of other predominantly Turkic or Muslim ethnic groups in
Xinjiang. P-2 designations result in the likely qualification of
individual members of a group for admission as refugees in the U.S. The
bill would also exclude refugees from the Xinjiang region from the
annual refugee admissions ceiling.

Sponsored by Senator Chris Coons (D-Delaware) (1

cosponsor - 1 Republican, 0 Democrats)

04/13/2021 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Coons

04/13/2021 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

**S. 1100**

**The Immigrants' Mental Health Act**

The bill would direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to implement a
training curriculum to address the mental health and wellness of
arriving immigrants and of CBP officers. The bill would also require CBP
to staff each detention facility with at least one mental health expert.
The bill is a companion to H.R. 2480
.

Sponsored by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) (3

cosponsors - 3 Democrats, 0 Republicans)

04/13/2021 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Merkley

04/13/2021 Referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and
Government Affairs

**S. 1103**

**To suspend any funding authorized under the American Rescue Plan of
2021 from any State government that provides monetary payments to
undocumented immigrants and to require States to reimburse the Federal
Government for any such payments made since the date of the enactment of
such Act.**

Sponsored by Senator Steve Daines (R-Montana) (0 cosponsors)

04/13/2021 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Daines

04/13/2021 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

**H.R. 2382**

**Veterans Pathway to Citizenship Act**

The bill would grant green cards to any current or former member of the
Armed Forces, and it would provide additional guidance and resources to
assist members of the Armed Services in the naturalization process.

Sponsored by Representative Nanette Diaz Barragan (D-California) (1

cosponsor - 1 Democrat, 0 Republicans)

04/08/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Senator Barragan

04/08/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

**H.R. 2390**

**The Donument Act**

The bill would designate barriers constructed on the Southwest border as
a national monument, preventing future efforts to alter them. The term
"Donument" is intended to honor former President Donald Trump.

Sponsored by Representative Madison Cawthorn (R-North Carolina) (0
cosponsors)

04/08/2021 Introduced in the House by Representatives by Representative
Cawthorn

04/08/2021 Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources

**H.R. 2536**

**The Prevention of Anti-Immigrant Violence Act**

The bill would add hate crimes to the list of crimes that allow
noncitizen victims to qualify for U visas. The bill would also increase
the U visa cap from 10,000 to 12,000 and make at least 2,000 U visas
specifically available to victims of hate crimes. The bill would also
prevent the deportation of noncitizens until after the exhaustion of
administrative and judicial review of an application for status.

Sponsored by Representative Mark Takano (D-California) (0 cosponsors)

04/14/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Mark Takano

04/14/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

**H.R. 2480**

**The Immigrants' Mental Health Act**

The bill would direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to implement a
training curriculum to address the mental health and wellness of
arriving immigrants and of CBP officers. The bill would also require CBP
to staff each detention facility with at least one mental health expert.
The bill is a companion to S. 1100
.

Sponsored by Representative Grace Napolitano (D-California) (6

cosponsors - 6 Democrats, 0 Republicans)

04/13/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Napolitano

04/13/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

**LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR**The U.S. Senate will be in session the
week of Monday, April 19, 2021.

The U.S. House will be in session from Monday, April 19, 2021 to
Thursday, April 22, 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**

****Biden Administration Backtracks after Backlash over Maintaining
Refugee Ceiling at 15,000****On April 16, the Biden administration
backtracked

after announcing

it would be keeping the fiscal year (FY) 2021 refugee ceiling at a
record-low 15,000, a reversal from his previous pledge

to increase the cap to 62,500. Following intense pushback from allies,
the administration indicated that it would be issuing a new presidential
determination on refugees in May with an increased admissions ceiling.

The episode followed the issuance

of the long-delayed FY2021 presidential determination on refugees
earlier on April 16. That determination kept the cap at the record-low
level of 15,000 set by the Trump administration, but removed Trump-era
restrictions that prevented most Muslim and African refugees from
resettling in the U.S.

A White House official told the New York Times

that the decision to maintain the 15,000 ceiling was due to concerns
over increases in unaccompanied migrant children seeking asylum at the
U.S.-Mexico border, which has strained the Office of Refugee
Resettlement (ORR), which is located within the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS). Immigration

advocacy and refugee

groups

harshly criticized the reversal and called it misguided
,
noting the refugee ceiling "has nothing to do with
"
the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border and that the resettlement system
is entirely distinct from the processing of migrants and children at the
border.

The release of the presidential determination - and the subsequent
walk back of the 15,000 ceiling - followed mounting criticism

and urgent questioning from lawmakers
,
faith groups
,
advocates
,
and resettled refugee families
,
with the White House previously declining to publicly articulate a
reason for the delay. According to an April 14 report
,
some sources within the administration state that the presidential
determination had not been signed due to "political concerns" associated
with the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border.

According to an April 11 International Rescue Committee report
,
the Biden administration is on track to resettle fewer refugees

in FY 2021 than former president Trump did in any of his four years in
office. Despite early promises

from President Biden to undo Trump-era restrictions to the resettlement
program and raise the ceiling for resettlement, a mere 2,050 refugees
have been admitted in the last six months, putting the administration on
track to admit no more than 4,150 refugees in total this fiscal year.
This figure would be less than half the number admitted in President
Trump's last full year in office, a number which itself represented a
historic low. According

to a representative for World Relief, which works with the government to
help resettle refugees, "the program is effectively operating as if
President Trump were still in office."

A White House official told the New York Times

that, after the presidential determination was issued, the
administration intends to reach the 15,000 ceiling in FY 2021. The
presidential determination

itself also noted that the administration may issue a subsequent
presidential determination to increase admissions if the 15,000 ceiling
is reached prior to the end of the fiscal year. It now appears that the
Biden administration will go forward with issuing a subsequent
determination

lifting the ceiling in the coming weeks.

****Biden Administration Skinny Budget Sets Immigration Priorities****On
April 9, the Biden administration sent an initial funding request

to Congress for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022. The "skinny" budget proposal
provides the administration's discretionary funding priorities that
allow Congress to begin the appropriations process, and it includes a
number of immigration-related provisions.

The proposal includes

$52 billion overall allocated for the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security (DHS). Within that overall request, $345 million is allocated
for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to tackle backlogs and
expedite the adjudication of asylum and naturalization applications.
Within the DHS request, there is also $84 million allocated to fund the
investigation of workplace complaints at Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Within the DHS
request, there is no total amount specified for CBP or ICE or particular
funds for wall or barrier construction on the Southern border. There is
also funding for the U.S. Department of Justice to hire 100 additional
immigration judges and staff to process asylum cases more quickly for
migrants arriving at the border.

The section of the funding request for HHS includes $4.1 billion

for ORR to help build resettlement capacity with the ultimate goal of
resettling 125,000 refugees in FY 2022. There is also a request for $10
billion for the State Department to provide assistance to refugees and
forced migrants around the world, with $861 million specifically
earmarked for investment in Central America and to address root causes
of migration in the region.

If enacted, the budget would also expand

Pell grant eligibility to recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA). Pell grants help low-income students fund college and
post-secondary education.

****Biden Administration Makes Progress Moving Children out of CBP
Custody, But Challenges Remain at the Border****According to daily data
released by DHS, the number of unaccompanied children (UACs) held in CBP
custody has dropped by 55%,
due
in part

to declining UAC arrivals in recent weeks and the administration's
efforts to open additional HHS emergency intake facilities and shelter
space. The reported number of children held in CBP custody has dropped
from
a high of 5,767 on March 28 to 2,581 according to recently reported data
on April 15.

When children at the border are determined to be unaccompanied, they are
required by law to be transferred within 72 hours from CBP holding cells
- which are not built to properly house or care for children - to
ORR shelters. With a record number of UACs arriving in March, ORR
shelters reached capacity and children were backed up in severely
overcrowded

CBP holding centers. The Biden administration has opened at least 12 HHS
emergency housing sites around the country to expedite the processing of
children out of CBP custody.

However, the Biden administration continues to face challenges in its
attempts to safely and securely process arriving unaccompanied children.
According to an April 12 CNN report
,
children are still being held for an average of 122 hours in CBP
custody, beyond the legal maximum of 72 hours. In working to expand
federally-funded shelter capacity and reduce the time UACs are spending
in CBP holding facilities, the Biden administration has made requests of
state governments to use convention centers and other state-run
buildings around the country to temporarily house migrant children.
However, as of April 15, Governors Kim Reynolds

(R-Iowa), Henry McMaster

(R-South Carolina), Pete Ricketts

(R-Nebraska) and Kristi Noem

(R-South Dakota) have publicly expressed opposition to housing
unaccompanied children in their states.

After a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border by the House Problem Solvers
Caucus, the group of moderate representatives from both sides of the
aisle called for bipartisanship

to address the complex ongoing challenges brought about by the current
situation.

****VP Harris Works Towards Regional Migration Management Agreements
with Focus on Enforcement, Root Causes****On April 12, multiple White
House officials

confirmed

that the U.S. had secured agreements with Mexico, Honduras, and
Guatemala to increase enforcement at their borders and reduce migration
flows to the U.S. The agreements come as Vice President Harris continues
her role leading the diplomatic and regional response to the ongoing
situation at the southern border.

On April 13, the Guatemalan government released a statement

disputing that an agreement had been signed, noting that it had already
sent addition troops to its border in January to respond to an influx
of migration then. Subsequently, Guatemalan President Alejandro
Giammattei clarified

on April 14 that he is engaged in conversations with Vice President
Harris and that the two countries are likely to come to an agreement on
migration issues upon the vice president's upcoming visit to the
country.

Harris has scheduled visits

to both Guatemala and Mexico, with a focus on addressing regional
migration management and specifically the need to "deal with root
causes." In addition to engaging diplomatically, on April 6 the Biden
administration deployed

an Agency for International Development Disaster Assistance Response
team to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. The U.S. has also launched
a media messaging campaign to discourage prospective migrants and asylum
seekers, and it is planning to invest in other ways

in the region to fight corruption and to address the economic and
security reasons that may lead people to migrate.

****House Committee Advances Bill to Prevent Future Discriminatory
Bans****On April 14, the House Judiciary Committee advanced
 a
bill that would prevent the White House from barring immigrants from
entering the U.S. based on their religion. The National Origin-Based
Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act

was initially introduced in early 2019 as a response to numerous Trump
administration executive orders limiting visas for multiple countries,
many with majority Muslim populations. The bill will now be brought

to the House floor for a vote the week of April 19.

The House Judiciary Committee also advanced
a
bill that would guarantee access to counsel for certain noncitizens who
had legal status but have been detained for secondary investigation upon
entry into the United States. That bill, the Access to Counsel Act
,
will also be taken up by the House the week of April 19.

Separately, on April 13, a group of Democrats from the House and Senate
sent a letter

to President Biden urging him to include a pathway to citizenship for
undocumented essential workers in the administration's proposed
two-part infrastructure package that may be advanced through the budget
reconciliation process in the Senate.

****Legal****

****Texas Sues Biden for Rescinding Trump's 'Remain in Mexico'
Policy****On April 13, Texas filed

a lawsuit against the Biden administration in an attempt to reinstate
the Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) policy. The policy,
also known as "Remain in Mexico," forced

more than 60,000 migrants to wait in northern Mexico while applying for
asylum, where many faced extremely dangerous conditions. In his first
days in office, President Biden directed

DHS to stop enrolling newly arriving migrants into MPP, and in February,
DHS announced that those who had been removed to Mexico under the policy
and still had active asylum cases would be slowly processed back into
the U.S. So far, DHS has processed

up to 300 of these asylum seekers per day.

Texas claims

that these actions by the Biden administration violated the
Administrative Procedures Act in failing to sufficiently consult with
the state before implementing new policies that impact them. The case
also asserts

that Texas bears the burden of "illegal immigration" as a result of the
Biden administration rolling back MPP, although U.S. law and recent
judicial decisions

make clear it is legal for migrants to present themselves anywhere along
the border and apply for asylum.

As of April 15, 7,200
 asylum
seekers who were in MPP have been processed back into the U.S.

****Biden Administration Refuses to Release DOJ Documents Relating to
Trump-Era Family Separation Policy****According to an April 12 report
,
the Biden administration has refused to disclose a number of documents
related to widespread instances of family separation in 2018 during the
Trump administration. Specifically, the documents at issue were sought
in a civil lawsuit filed by lawyers representing the separated families
and relate to the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy at
the Southern border that resulted in the separation of thousands of
migrant families. The Trump administration had previously also withheld
the documents, citing executive privilege. The Biden administration
unredacted

some previously redacted material, but it chose not to disclose other
documents, citing the need to protect the government's right to keep
certain planning documents confidential.

A January 14 DOJ Office of Inspector General (OIG) report
 concluded
that in 2018, DOJ leadership and the attorney general's office were
aware that the zero-tolerance policy would result in widespread family
separation prior to implementation. According to an August 2020 report
,
senior White House officials at the time voted by a show of hands on
whether to follow through with separating families.

The zero tolerance policy, which was met with widespread criticism from
Members of Congress, faith groups, and the general public, resulted in
the separation of more than 3,000 children
 from
their parents in 2018.

****Nominations and Personnel****

****Biden Taps Police Chief, Former State Department Official to Key DHS
Posts****On April 12, President Biden announced that he will nominate
Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus to lead Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) and immigration expert Ur Jaddou to head U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS), two key immigration agencies within the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

As the chief of police in an Arizona city near the U.S.-Mexico border,
Magnus has dealt often with immigration issues and had criticized Trump
administration border policies. A member of the Law Enforcement
Immigration Task Force , Magnus's nomination is
supported by other law enforcement officials around the country. "Chris
Magnus is a dedicated law enforcement leader and a longtime advocate for
fair and humane immigration policies," said
 Sheriff Margaret Mims
of Fresno County, California. "He would lead [CBP] in ensuring public
safety while treating all immigrants with care and compassion."

As head of CBP, Chief Magnus would be tasked
with
securing and protecting U.S. borders, managing and processing arriving
migrants and asylum seekers, and securing the initial transfer of
unaccompanied minors from Border Patrol stations to the Department of
Health and Human Services.

Jaddou served as USCIS chief counsel during the Obama administration and
previously had positions on Capitol Hill and in the State Department.
Leon Rodriguez, the director of USCIS in the Obama administration said,
"she is the most substantively prepared nominee in the history of the
agency." If confirmed, Jaddou will lead on addressing the agency's
many challenges, including working through lengthy visa and
naturalization backlogs

and budgetary issues that led to furloughs in the summer of 2020.

****State and Local****

****South Carolina Advances DACA Licensure Legislation****The week of
April 5, the South Carolina House of Representatives passed legislation

that would allow qualified DACA recipients and victims of trafficking to
obtain state licensures. The bill now awaits a vote in the state Senate.

Currently, DACA-recipients are permitted to study in fields such as
nursing and cosmetology in South Carolina. However, upon graduating,
they are unable to apply for certain licenses required to practice in
their field because of their legal status, leading many to move to other
states to find work. Sponsors of the bill say
that the current policy is exacerbating critical workforce shortages

- particularly in the nursing sector - and that this bill will
allow the state to retain the skilled workers it needs.

**GOVERNMENT REPORTS**

**Government Accountability Office (GAO):****Assessment of the
Department of Homeland Security's Border Security Improvement Plan**
;

**April 12, 2021.**This report focuses on the DHS

**Fiscal Year 2019-2020 Border Security Improvement Plan.**DHS is
required to submit this plan each fiscal year to detail how it intends
to use personnel, barriers, and technology to improve border security.
The GAO found that the report for FY 2019-2020 was submitted late by the
Trump administration and provided incomplete information. The plan DHS
submitted did not include elements such as a planned obligation of funds
for 2019-2027, or an implementation schedule for services and program
management capabilities. DHS said that information gathering necessary
for a comprehensive plan was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

**SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES****What's
Happening at the Southern Border, Explained**
This
explainer breaks down what is happening at the U.S.-Mexico border,
analyzing CBP data on recent apprehensions, describing the impact and
use of Title 42 expulsions as well as the treatment of arriving UACs. It
also provides additional context on reports of increased migration to
the U.S. and the treatment of migrant families seeking entry at the
border.

**Explainer: Migrant Protection Protocols**
This
explainer describes the Migrant Protection Protocols, including
providing information about the conditions faced by those returned under
the program and the actions taken by the Biden administration to roll it
back.

Fact Sheet: U.S. Refugee Resettlement
This
fact sheet summarizes basic facts and statistics about refugee
resettlement in the United States. It describes the refugee screening
process and provides basic information about refugees in the U.S.

* * *

*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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