Legislative Bulletin

 

 

Hello all,

The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday, July
9, 2021, is now posted.

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

[link removed]

All the best,

Arturo 

**LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN - Friday, July 9, 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 CONSIDEREDH.R. 4361

**People's Liberation Army**

**Visa Security Act**

The bill would prohibit the issuance of student or research visas to
individuals affiliated with the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA).
The bill would also require the U.S. government to develop a list of
scientific and engineering institutions affiliated with the PLA.

Sponsored by Representative Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin) (1

cosponsor - 1 Republican, 0 Democrats)

07/06/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Gallagher

07/06/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary and the
Committee on Foreign Affairs

H.R. 4373

**Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
Appropriations Act, 2022**

The bill includes no less than $60,000,000 to protect and strengthen the
rights of Afghan women and girls. The bill would also make appropriated
funds available to carry out the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009,
including for additional personnel necessary for eliminating any
processing backlog and expediting the adjudication of Afghan Special
Immigrant Visa (SIV) cases.

Sponsored by Representative Barbara Lee (D-California) (0

Cosponsors)

07/06/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Lee

07/06/2021 Referred to the House Committee on Appropriations

LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDARThe U.S. Senate will be in session the week of
Monday, July 12, 2021.

The U.S. House will be in session for committee work the week of Monday,
July 12, 2021.

UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS**Hearing to examine the nomination of Ed
Gonzalez to be an Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security**

**Date:**  Thursday, July 15, 2021, at 10:15 am E.T. (House Committee
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs)

**Location:** Dirksen Senate Office Building Room SD-342, Washington,
D.C.

**THEMES IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK**Federal

******President Biden Promises to Relocate Afghan Allies******On July 8,
President Joe Biden committed

to relocate thousands of Afghan interpreters, contractors, and other
allies who have assisted U.S. efforts and may be under threat as troop
withdrawals from Afghanistan continue. Most of these Afghan allies are
eligible for a Special Immigrant Visa

(SIV), but approximately 18,000 applicants-as well as their
families-remain stuck in the backlog.

President Biden highlighted that the U.S. has approved 2,500
Afghan SIVs since January.
Only half of the visa holders, however, have exercised their prerogative
to travel to the United States. Biden also said that he is working
closely with Congress to change the SIV legislation to accelerate the
processing time of those visas.

Biden shared few specifics on the evacuation plans, but noted that the
U.S. is beginning relocation flights for Afghan SIV applicants and their
families who wish to continue their visa process outside of Afghanistan.
He also indicated that his administration had identified military
facilities outside the continental United States and third countries
(possibly

Qatar and the United Arab Emirates) that could host our Afghan allies
for the remainder of their visa process.

"There is a home for you in the United States if you so choose,"
President Biden said to Afghan allies. "We will stand with you, just
like you stood with us."

******Biden Administration Announces Effort to Return Deported Veterans
to the United States******On July 2, the Biden administration announced

that it will act on a campaign promise to return deported veterans and
their immediate families to the United States.

In a joint statement on the decision, the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) promised

to support deported veterans in obtaining benefits they have earned and
receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. DHS will also establish

a "Military Resource Center" to assist families with their immigration
applications. The announcement followed media reports

that the administration was considering plans to reverse certain
Trump-era deportations.

"It's our responsibility to serve all veterans as well as they have
served us - no matter who they are, where they are from, or the status
of their citizenship," VA Secretary Denis McDonough said

in a statement.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has deported

non-citizen veterans for going back several years, with the precise
number of deportees uncertain due to inadequate government
record-keeping. Immigrant advocates have called on the Biden
administration to revisit many of these removals following an increase
in deportations of service members during the Trump administration. Many
were deported because of post-service criminal convictions, which
veteran advocates note can result from conduct related to post-traumatic
stress disorder arising from their prior military service.

******Reports: Biden Administration Plans to Lift Health-Related Border
Restrictions under Title 42******The Biden administration is reportedly

planning

a phased rollback of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) health-related border restrictions in the
coming weeks, with plans to end the application of those restrictions
- known as Title 42

- against migrant families by the end of July
.
Previously, in November 2020, a federal judge

halted the use of Title 42 to expel unaccompanied children. Title 42,
ordered by the Trump administration to curb the spread of COVID-19,
authorized the immediate expulsion of asylum-seekers who had entered the
United States illegally.

The Biden administration has indicated that it is deferring to the
judgment of the CDC on the continued need for Title 42. Secretary
Mayorkas explained

Title 42 "is not an immigration policy," and will be driven by what is
in the interest of public health.

Rollback of the order is expected to coincide with a phased reopening

of the Mexican and Canadian borders for non-essential travel. As
vaccination rates along the U.S.-Mexico border improve, with vaccination
drives completed in the north of Mexico, the Biden administration
expects that Title 42 and border closures will soon be unnecessary. A
bipartisan delegation

of U.S. Senators met with the Mexican President Manuel López Obrador on
July  6, to discuss, in part, "opening the border as quickly as
possible."

******Biden Administration Extends and Redesignates Yemen for Temporary
Protected Status (TPS)******On July 6, DHS renewed and redesignated
Temporary Protected Status

(TPS) for Yemeni currently residing in the U.S. TPS allows work permits
and deportation relief to foreign nationals already in the U.S. who
cannot safely return to their home countries. The renewal of TPS extends
TPS protections for 1,700 Yemenis through March 3, 2023. By
redesignating TPS for Yemen, the action allows an estimated 480
additional Yemenis in the U.S. to apply for TPS protections.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said

that the renewal of TPS for Yemen was appropriate due to worsening
humanitarian conditions in the country driven by COVID-19, ongoing armed
conflict, and persisting shortages of food, water, and healthcare.

******Whistleblowers Allege Inadequate Care for Migrant Kids in
Emergency Shelter******On July 7, two federal workers filed

a whistleblower complaint

to House and Senate committee leaders, asserting gross mismanagement at
the emergency shelter at Fort Bliss. The complaint highlights threats to
the health and safety of migrant children housed at the Texas facility,
raising concerns about staff lacking adequate training to interact with
migrant children and delayed medical attention.

The whistleblowers alleged that the contractors employed by the base
spoke no Spanish, had no relevant experience caring for children and
avoided interacting with children under their care. They noted
overcrowding in tents, inadequate supervision of the children, and the
failure to provide clean bedding and clothing.

The whistleblower complaints come amid growing concerns

about shelters for unaccompanied children and adult immigrant detention
centers and the risk they carry as vector points for COVID-19 and its
Delta variant.  According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) data from May, only 20% of detainees have received one dose of a
COVID-19 vaccine.

******Schumer Warns August Recess May Be Cut Short in Laying Out
"Two-Track" Approach on Biden Priorities******Warning colleagues

that August recess may be cut short, Senate Majority Leader Charles
Schumer (D-New York) laid out a "two-track" strategy to move key parts
of President Biden's agenda in the coming months, including
immigration provisions. In a July 9 letter, Schumer stated, "Senators
should be prepared for the possibility of working long nights, weekends,
and remaining in Washington into the previously-scheduled August state
work period."

Under this "two-track" approach, which has received pushback from Senate
Republicans

leadership, the Senate would move a bipartisan infrastructure package
alongside a Democratic-backed reconciliation bill that would include

other Biden priorities left out of the bipartisan package. The
reconciliation bill, which under Senate rules requires a bare majority
to pass, could include administration priorities health care, child care
benefits, and immigration provisions. Earlier, on July 7, reports
indicated that Senate leadership was aiming

to bring the bipartisan infrastructure agreement to the Senate floor on
the week of July 19.

The inclusion of potential immigration provisions in a Democratic
reconciliation bill remains uncertain. On July 6, Congressman Jesús
"Chuy" García (D-Illinois) said he would only

support

a budget reconciliation package if it includes provisions to grant a
pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients, TPS holders, farmworkers,
and other essential immigrant workers: "Our country can't make a full
recovery without them, and I can't support any deal that leaves so many
people in my district behind." García's position is notable because
Democrats have a slim majority in the House and can only afford to lose
a handful of votes to pass a reconciliation package. While other
Democrats have voiced support for including immigration provisions in
the reconciliation package, García is the first to draw a red line on
the issue, and the defection of a handful of moderate to conservative
House Democrats - or of any single Senate Democrat - could halt the
passage of the package.

Separately, on the Republican side, also on July 6, Senators John Cornyn
(R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) urged a scaled-back
approach to immigration issues in the Senate. Following months of
bipartisan negotiations

on immigration, they wrote a letter

to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) asking him
to consider a bill that only would give permanent legal status to
current DACA recipients, excluding Dreamers who have not currently
obtained DACA, as well as TPS holders, essential workers, and others.
Cornyn's and Tillis's proposal would apply to a much narrower
population than the American Dream and Promise Act, which Cornyn and
Tillis say has "no clear and politically viable path forward" in
Congress, and would be narrower than the bipartisan Dream Act

(S. 264
),
which Durbin cosponsored with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina).

******Family Separation under Trump Started Earlier than Previously
Reported******Recently released DHS data showed that the separation of
migrant families during the Trump administration began earlier

than previously reported. In May 2017, Border Patrol agents in Yuma,
Arizona, began implementing a pilot program known as the Criminal
Consequence Initiative, which prioritized the criminal prosecution of
border crossers, including parents who crossed the border with their
children. Previously, it was believed that family separation

pilot programs began in July 2017, months before the better-known "zero
tolerance" policy that led to thousands of separations in 2018.  The
new data indicated that the first separations occurred in May 2017, at
the start of the Criminal Consequence Initiative pilot program.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration's family reunification
efforts indicated

that  234 families were separated in Yuma between July 1 and December
31, 2017. These statistics, however, do not include the numbers of
separations in May and June 2017, indicating that the number of 2017
family separations was higher. According to government data, the
children separated in Yuma in 2017 were as young as ten months

old.

Relatedly, as part of its efforts evaluating the impact of immigration
enforcement on families, on July 9, ICE issued a policy memo to avoid
detaining pregnant, nursing, and postpartum women
.
ICE officials said in a statement

that the new policy takes into account the "health and safety" of
expecting and new mothers, and recognizes "the time needed for infant
development and parental bonding." The new policy reversed a Trump-era
policy that permitted the detention of thousands of pregnant women and
new mothers.

****Legal****

******Houston and New York City's Immigration Courts Reopen for
Hearings******Immigration courts in Houston and New York City have
reopened

for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The courts
will begin working through backlogs that are among the worst in the
country; Houston has approximately 80,000 outstanding cases, and New
York state has nearly 150,000. The average waiting period

for an immigration case in New York is almost three years.

Many immigration courts held remote hearings

during the pandemic, generally prioritizing detained migrants, but
courts struggled to keep up with pre-pandemic workloads.

****Nominations/Personnel****

******Confirmation Hearing for ICE Nominee Sheriff Ed Gonzalez Set for
July 15******On July 15, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs will hold a confirmation hearing for Harris
County (Texas) Sheriff Ed Gonzalez to serve as the next ICE director.

In an interview

on July 6, Sheriff Gonzalez, who was nominated by President Biden in
April, expressed gratitude to be going through the process. "Whether I'm
here [as Harris County Sheriff] or doing a different job, I'll always
try to make sure that I'm bringing some common sense and compassion to
the job."

Sheriff Gonzalez is a co-chair of the Law Enforcement Immigration Task
Force (LEITF), and his nomination received praise

from the National Immigration Forum and his fellow LEITF co-chairs
, among others
.

**GOVERNMENT REPORTS**There were no immigration-related government
reports the week of July 5, 2021.

**SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES****Bill Summary: The
EAGLE Act**
This
summary analyzes the Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment
(EAGLE) Act introduced on June 2, 2021. This bill would eliminate
per-country caps for employment-based visa categories and raise
per-country caps for family-based visa categories, scaling back
decades-long green card backlogs for Indian and Chinese workers.

**Fact Sheet: Overview of the Special Immigrant Visa Programs**
This
resource provides an overview of the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV)
programs, which provide a pathway to status for Afghans who have
assisted U.S. efforts in Afghanistan and who face threats based on their
association with the U.S. The fact sheet describes the SIV
application process and eligibility requirements.

**Explainer: What's Happening at the U.S.-Mexico Border**
This
regularly updated 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, and providing additional context on reports
of increased migration to the U.S. and releases of migrant families into
the interior. The explainer also includes a Facebook live discussion
covering recent developments at the border.

* * *

*This Bulletin is not intended to be comprehensive. Please contact
Arturo Castellanos-Canales, 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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