Legislative Bulletin

 

 

Hello all,

The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday, May
14, 2021 is now posted.

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

All the best,

Danilo 

**LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN - Friday, May 14, 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. 1580

**Make the Migrant Protection Protocols Mandatory Act of 2021**

The bill would require the Department of Homeland Security to
re-implement the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), a Trump-era policy
that required certain asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their
claims were processed and heard in the U.S.

Sponsored by Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) (2

cosponsors - 2 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

05/12/2021 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Blackburn

05/12/2021 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

S. 1582

**Empowering Law Enforcement Act**

The bill would delegate federal immigration enforcement functions to
state and local law enforcement. The bill would also require the
detention of certain noncitizens in Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) custody at the request of local law enforcement.

Sponsored by Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) (2

cosponsors - 2 Republicans,0 Democrats)

05/12/2021 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Tuberville

05/12/2021 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 3120

**UAC State Notification Act of 2021**

The bill would require the government to notify the Governor of a state
prior to placement of unaccompanied children in that state.

Sponsored by Representative Adrian Smith (R-Nebraska) (2

cosponsors - 2 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

05/11/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Smith

05/11/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 3149

**Health Equity and Access under Law (HEAL) for Immigrant Families**

The bill would lift the five-year requirement that lawful immigrants
must wait before being able to enroll in Medicaid and the Children's
Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The bill would also allow undocumented
immigrants to purchase health care through the Affordable Care Act and
provide additional access to health coverage for DACA recipients.

Sponsored by Representative Pramila Jayapal (80

cosponsors - 80 Democrats, 0 Republicans)

05/12/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Jayapal

05/12/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

**LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR**The U.S. Senate will be in session the
week of Monday, May 17, 2021.

The U.S. House of Representatives will be in session from Monday, May
17, 2021 to Thursday, May 20, 2021.

**UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS**U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Resource Management and Operational Priorities

**Date:**Wednesday, May 19, 2021 at 10:00 am ET (House Appropriations
Committee)

Location: Virtual

**Witnesses:**

Troy Miller, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection

**THEMES IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK**

**Federal**

****Bipartisan Border Negotiations Continue Despite
Headwinds****According to a May 12 report
,
a bipartisan group of senators are continuing talks

related to a potential deal on immigration reform. The group has
reportedly made little progress in negotiations since they last met

on April 22, as leading Republicans continue to highlight the need to
address the current situation at the border before moving forward on two
pieces of legislation which recently passed by the House of
Representatives with bipartisan support that would provide a pathway to
permanent status for Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status holders, and
undocumented farmworkers. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-Texas) said

that "there'll be no immigration reform until you get control of the
border." Senator Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey) said, "We certainly are
willing to deal with questions about the border - but the question is
much broader."

Leading Senate Democrats continue to consider using the budget
reconciliation process to pass immigration reform if a bipartisan
compromise cannot be reached. Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington), said

that, "we need to look at every legislative path possible to get
comprehensive immigration reform done."

****Official April Border Numbers Reveal Arrivals Have Leveled Off****On
May 11, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released official data
on
the number of migrants the agency had apprehended or encountered at the
Southwest border in March. The data showed a slight uptick in overall
April arrivals, signaling numbers are beginning to plateau after steep
increases in February and March. CBP encountered 178,622 total April
encounters, a marginal increase from March's total of 172,331. Single
adults drove the entirety of the increase, rising from 100,104 to
111,301. Arriving individuals in family units and arriving unaccompanied
children dropped slightly from March to April. The overall numbers,
particularly of arriving adults, remain inflated due to a high number of
repeat crossers, with recidivism rates reportedly close to 40%.

Safely processing arriving unaccompanied children has continued to pose
a challenge for the administration, although children are no longer
being backed up in Customs and Border Protection holding cells for
prolonged periods. The administration has dramatically expanded shelter
capacity in the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to get children
quickly out of CBP custody, opening at least 15 emergency sites

across the country. However, the hastily-opened emergency sites do not
meet the same standards for care and oversight as permanent ORR
shelters, and some are overcrowded themselves

or facing allegations

that children are mistreated in their care. According to a May 13
report, some unaccompanied minors were held for consecutive days

on buses as they waited to be transferred to emergency sites or to be
re-united with family members.

The administration has also continued to use a pandemic era rule called
Title 42 to rapidly expel most single adults and many families - even
those seeking humanitarian protection. There were 111,000 (or 62.5%)
arriving migrants immediately returned under the protocol, including 85%
of single adults and about one third of all arriving families. According
to a May 7 report
,
the use of  the rule on families has resulted in 2,100 unaccompanied
children separating from their families after being returned and
attempting to cross alone. The administration has said it plans to
clarify exceptions to Title 42, but as of May 8 the implementation
remained haphazard
.
According to a May 12 report, the U.S. government has stopped

flying families from one part of the border to another in order to more
easily expel them.

****Harris Urges Cooperation on Migration in Meeting with Mexican
President****In a May 7 virtual meeting with Mexican President Andrés
Manuel López Obrador, Vice President Kamala Harris urged
 bilateral
cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico, particularly to address the
root causes migration into the U.S. from Mexico and Central America.
"Most people don't want to leave home, and when they do, it is often
because they are fleeing some harm or they are forced to leave because
there are no opportunity," Harris said in the conversation. López
Obrador offered to assist with U.S. efforts to stem migration but did
not provide specifics.

As part of an effort to address root causes, the Biden administration
has recently launched

a series of anti-corruption initiatives in the Northern Triangle and
Mexico. The initiative has faced pushback from political leaders in the
countries, with lawmakers in Guatemala and El Salvador dismissing judges
and others who are leading anti-corruption efforts. Shortly before
President López Obrador's meeting with Vice President Harris,
he requested
 that
the U.S. cut off funding to an anti-corruption group in Mexico.

****Administration Supports Pathway for Immigrant Entrepreneurs****On
May 10, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the
revival of the International Entrepreneur Rule (IER)
,
a program that allows international entrepreneurs to start or scale
their businesses for up to five years in the U.S.

The IER was initially adopted at the end of the Obama administration in
January 2017 but delayed by the Trump administration before it went into
effect. After a successful lawsuit over the delay, USCIS was compelled
to begin accepting applications
 under
the rule in 2018. Following the lawsuit, the Trump administration
delayed implementation and issued a proposed regulation to withdraw the
IER. While the rule was never finalized, due to the program's
uncertain status between 2017 and 2019, USCIS only received 30
applications for the program, and just one was approved. With the May 10
announcement, USCIS rescinded the proposed regulation to withdraw the
IER and promised to begin advertising and supporting new applications.

Under the IER, entrepreneurs are eligible to be paroled
 into
the U.S. and granted an initial stay of up to two years as long as their
startups attract at least $250,000 in U.S. venture capital, hire ten
employees, or meet other benchmarks. A subsequent request for re-parole
for up to three additional years is available in situations where the
entrepreneur and the startup entity could demonstrate a significant
public benefit through increases in capital investment, revenue, or job
creation. USCIS has estimated that about 3,000 international
entrepreneurs qualify each year, leading to the creation of 100,000 jobs
over ten years.

****Education Secretary Opens Emergency Grants to Undocumented and
International College Students****On May 11, the U.S. Department of
Education broadened the eligibility of pandemic relief grants
 to
all higher education students regardless of their immigration status.
These grants will help over 5,000 higher education institutions provide
emergency financial aid to millions of students, including DACA
recipients. U.S. Secretary of Education, Miguel Cordona, said the
additional funds would be critical to ensuring that all of the
nation's students -particularly those disproportionately impacted by
the pandemic - have the opportunity to continue their education.

Since early 2020, Congress has earmarked $35 billion in emergency aid
for students
 facing
housing, employment, and food insecurities, but left it to the Education
Department to determine the terms governing the distribution of the
funds. Under the previous administration, only those eligible for
federal student aid programs could receive money, disqualifying
undocumented and international students. The new rule clarifies that
emergency aid can support all students who have been enrolled in college
during the pandemic, regardless of their migratory status.

****Legal****

****Biden Hires 17 Immigration Judges Formerly Selected by Trump
Administration**

******On May 13 the Biden administration announced

the appointments of 17 new immigration judges, all of whom were
initially selected by the Trump administration. A Department of Justice
spokesperson said the judges had "all received their conditional offers
under the previous administration."

The appointments drew criticism

from immigration advocates, who noted that the appointments were almost
all former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) prosecutors. Others
called for additional reforms to the immigration court system. A
representative from the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said
that, "on its own more judges won't fix the fundamental lack of fairness
in the immigration courts."

****State and Local****

****Arizona House Approves Ballot Referral to Allow DACA Recipients to
Access In-State Tuition****On May 10, the Arizona House of
Representatives voted
 in
favor of a ballot referral giving Arizona voters in 2022 the chance to
determine if students brought to the U.S. as children should qualify for
in-state tuition. The measure, which was supported by 29 Democrats and
four Republicans, would partially repeal Proposition 300, a 2006 state
law that prevents undocumented Arizonans from accessing a number of
public benefits. Arizona is one of just three states
 that
currently deny undocumented students access to in-state tuition. "We
need more educated youth to become tomorrow's teachers, health care
workers, lawyers, engineers and a host of other occupations, especially
if we want to continue to lower taxes," said
 state Representative
Michelle Udall (R-Mesa).

****Indianapolis Approves Immigration Legal Defense Fund****On May 10,
the Indianapolis City-County Council approved
 a
pilot program that will assist immigrants accessing legal counsel. The
$150,000 program was approved as a fiscal ordinance, and it will furnish
legal counsel to immigrants who are applying citizenship or adjustment
of status or who are seeking protection from removal or deportation. The
funds would come from the Indiana Office of Public Health and Safety and
will be distributed to local nonprofits that provide legal immigration
services.

Because immigration court proceedings are administrative, not criminal,
the constitutional right to counsel does not extend to immigrants with
cases in immigration court. While those in proceedings may retain
representation at their own expense, the federal government does not
provide them with counsel. Data shows that those who are able to find
legal representation are four times more likely
 to
win their cases.

**GOVERNMENT REPORTS**Congressional Research Service (CRS): Applications
for Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF): Fact Sheet
Updated May 6, 2021This
fact sheet from the Congressional Research Service focuses on Liberian
Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF) applications. Since 1991, certain
Liberians have been permitted to live and work in the United States
through Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or deferred enforced departure
(DED). In December 2019, Congress enacted LRIF in order to provide
Liberians with a pathway for lawful permanent resident status or
citizenship, if they met certain requirements. Currently, it is
estimated that 10,000 Liberians are potentially eligible for LRIF.

Congressional Research Service (CRS): U.S Refugee Admissions in FY2021
; April 27, 2021This report
focuses on the number of refugee admissions for FY2021. In April 2021,
President Biden issued a presidential determination (PD) on the year's
refugee admissions, setting the ceiling for how many refugees can be
admitted to the United States. Biden's initial emergency PD kept the
ceiling at 15,000 but changed eligibility requirements. The April PD
lifted the ceiling to 62,500.

**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.

Public Funding for Immigration Legal Services
This
resource provides an overview of various local efforts to provide legal
representation to immigrants in removal proceedings. The resource
examines four different types of immigrant legal service provision
programs, examines the outcomes of each, and makes a series of
recommendations for future programs.

Explainer: Emergency Shelters and Facilities Housing Unaccompanied
Children
This
explainer describes the different kinds of shelters and facilities that
are currently being used to house unaccompanied children (UACs). The
explainer documents the emergency facilities that have recently been
opened by the Biden administration to address the increase in UACs at
the 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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