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BORDER BILL — Senate Democrats "are considering including about $10 billion in their $3.5-trillion budget reconciliation package for border security — focused on infrastructure at legal entry points," Stef W. Kight and Alayna Treene report for Axios. Per sources familiar with the negotiations, the funds may be allocated "toward facilities for handling asylum claims; additional staff for higher cross-border traffic areas; expanding immigration courts to address backlogs; alternatives-to-detention programs, and various ports-of-entry repairs." While the details aren’t set in stone, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) has set a Wednesday deadline for getting all 50 Senate Dems on board with the proposal’s general framework. Schumer’s goal is to pass the measure before members break for August recess, Kight and Treene add. DREAMER EMPLOYMENT — In light of U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen’s ruling on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) barring new applications, employers face tough decisions surrounding recipients’ work authorization, report Lydia O'Neal and Ellen M. Gilmer of Bloomberg Law. "It is indeed likely that some employers will be concerned about the implications of the ruling and that it may lead them to avoid promoting or advancing recipients based on concerns about the durability of their work eligibility," said Leon Rodriguez, a former director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Currently, the ruling most directly affects first-time DACA applicants — more than 55,000 people — whose pending applications remain frozen. "None of them are able to apply [to work]. So that’s future workers that employers won’t be able to employ," added immigration lawyer Greg Siskind. A reminder that there is broad, bipartisan support for allowing DACA recipients and other Dreamers to earn permanent legal status, including across faith communities: Evangelical leaders, Catholic groups and human rights advocates are among the countless voices urging Congress to take action on permanent legislative solutions, reports Jeff Brumley at Baptist News Global.
FARMWORKERS NEEDED — Iowa’s largest pork producer is calling on lawmakers to remove seasonal visa restrictions and allow them to employ immigrant workers year-round, Donnelle Eller and Stephen Gruber-Miller report for the Des Moines Register. "If the labor shortage is not addressed, it could lead to farms and packing plants shutting down, causing serious financial harm to the communities in which they operate," said Jen Sorenson of Iowa Select Farms (who is also president of the National Pork Producers Council) during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday. "[U]ltimately, the consumer will be punished with reduced pork supplies and higher prices at the store." Access to foreign workers year-round is a component of the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act — passed in the House in March — which would provide an earned pathway to citizenship for more than 1 million undocumented farmworkers. HONG KONG — A coalition of exiled Hong Kong pro-democracy activists sent a public letter urging Congress to grant refugee status to Hong Kong citizens seeking resettlement, Phelim Kine reports for Politico. The request comes ahead of a looming restrictive immigration law set to take effect Aug. 1, which will allow local authorities to impose ‘exit bans’ on government critics. The letter’s proposals — some of which are included in the bipartisan Hong Kong Safe Harbor Act of 2021 — also include a request to grant Temporary Protected Status to Hong Kong citizens already in the U.S. and an extension of visas to high-skilled residents. "When the tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square in 1989, the United States became a vital place of sanctuary for young [Chinese] democrats," said Johnny Patterson, policy director at the nonprofit pro-democracy organization Hong Kong Watch. "Now is the time to offer the same hand of welcome to Hong Kongers." Thanks for reading and have a great weekend, Joanna |
