Legislative Bulletin

 

 

Hello all,

The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday,
September 17, 2021 is now posted.

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

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All the best,

Arturo 

**LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN - Friday, September 17, 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. 2753

**America's Cultivation of Hope and Inclusion for Long-Term Dependents
Raised and Educated Natively (CHILDREN) Act**

The bill would protect dependents of long-term nonimmigrant visa holders
who risk deportation after turning 21 and aging out of dependency
status. In addition to age-out protections, the bill would provide a
pathway to permanent status for those who came here legally as dependent
children, have lived in the U.S. for a minimum of 10 years, and who have
graduated from an institution of higher education. This is a companion
bill to H.R. 4331
.

Sponsored by Senator Alex Padilla (D-California) (4

cosponsors- 2 Republicans, 2 Democrats)

09/15/2021 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Padilla

09/15/2021 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 5209

**Counter-Kleptocracy Act**

The bill would prohibit the issuance of any type of visas to foreign
government officials who engage in extortion, corruption, or bribery.

Sponsored by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee) (17

cosponsors- 10 Democrats, 7 Republicans)

09/10/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Cohen

09/10/2021 Referred to the House Committees on the Judiciary and Foreign
Affairs.

H.R. 5227

**Lifting Immigrant Families Through Benefits Access Restoration Act of
2021**

The bill would eliminate the current five-year waiting period and
restore access to numerous federal financial and medical benefits for
Green Card holders, DACA recipients, individuals granted Special
Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), and other lawfully present immigrants.

Sponsored by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington) (50

cosponsors- 50 Democrats, 0 Republicans)

09/10/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Jayapal

09/10/2021 Referred to the House Committees on Ways and Means,
Agriculture, Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, the Judiciary,
and Financial Services.

**LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR**The U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of
Representatives will be in session the week of September 20, 2021.

UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS**Meeting to receive a closed briefing on
Department of Defense support of Afghan Nationals who have recently left
Afghanistan**

**Date:**  Tuesday, September 21, 2021, at 9:30 am E.T. (Senate
Committee on Armed Services)

**Location:** G50 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.

**Witnesses:**TBD

THEMES IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK

****Federal****

****House Judiciary Committee Advances Immigration Language for
Reconciliation Bill****On September 13, the House Judiciary Committee
marked up

the legislative text for the $107.5 billion instruction included in the
budget resolution

to advance multiple immigration priorities. As approved
,
the bill would provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, Temporary
Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforcement Departure (DED) holders,
farmworkers, and other critical infrastructure workers. It would also
recapture unused green cards for family and employment-based visas and
diversity visas. All told, the proposed text would allow approximately 8
million

people to qualify for permanent status. During the markup, Republicans
introduced 28

separate amendments to the Committee print

intending to alter or limit the scope of the included provisions, but
they all failed to pass.

House Democrats are aiming to finish marking up the reconciliation
legislation and pass the bill on the House Floor by September 27. That
is the deadline that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi set for the House to
turn to a vote on the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that
the Senate passed in August. The deadline came as a compromise
 with
nine moderate Democrats, who argued that the House should have first
considered the bipartisan infrastructure bill before dealing with the
more partisan reconciliation effort. Once the House approves the
spending bill, it will go back to the consideration of the Senate.
However, while the Judiciary Committee markup went smoothly, other
committees have been unable to agree

on various provisions as the September 27 deadline looms.

As the legislation is moving through the House, Senate Democrats have
begun attempts to demonstrate that all the immigration provisions are
budget-related and germane to the reconciliation process. The
determination falls on the Senate parliamentarian
,
who is the chamber's nonpartisan rules referee. In that regard,
following the September 10 meeting in which Democrats and Republicans
presented their arguments for and against the inclusion of immigration
provisions, the Senate parliamentarian requested Democrats provide
additional information to determine whether the provisions are germane
.
On September 17, the White House published a blog post

analyzing the economic benefits of extending permanent legal status to
unauthorized immigrants. If the parliamentarian rules that the
provisions are not germane, the reforms will be cut out from the
reconciliation process that allows Senate Democrats to bypass a
filibuster.

If the parliamentarian green lights the provisions, Senate Democrats are
hoping to continue the reconciliation process and pass the omnibus
package into law. However, prospects for broader Senate passage are
becoming more complicated, as key moderate Senator Joe Manchin (D-West
Virginia) last week came forward
 to
say that he would not support the full $3.5 trillion spending package
allocated by the budget resolution. According to an Axios report
,
Manchin is open to supporting at most $1.5 trillion of the spending
bill. That scenario would require Democrats to make concessions on at
least part of the ambitious spending package.

****Resettlement of Afghan Evacuees in the U.S. Continues; Secretary
Blinken Defends Biden Administration's Afghanistan Evacuation****On
September 14, Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared before the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee to examine the U.S. withdrawal

from Afghanistan. Blinken defended the evacuation of U.S. citizens,
Afghan allies, refugees, and others, noting that with a total of 124,000
evacuated it was one of the largest airlifts in history. He also said
that the administration still does not have the exact breakdown of
evacuees in terms of how many would qualify under Special Immigrant Visa
(SIV) status, Priority 2 (P2) refugee status, or were otherwise at risk.
Regardless of their eligibility, almost all evacuees are being initially
brought to the U.S. under humanitarian parole.

On September 15, the Biden administration began notifying

governors and state refugee coordinators across the country about where
Afghan evacuees are slated to be resettled. To support the resettlement
operation, the administration requested last week from Congress $6.4
billion in additional funding. Most of this funding would go to resettle
65,000 Afghans in the U.S. by the end of this month and 95,000 by
September 2022. The supplemental funding request also included
provisions allowing parolees access to federally funded refugee benefits
and providing a pathway to permanent status. The appropriations ask will
factor into what may be a contentious week on Capitol Hill as the House
and Senate scramble to fund the government and raise the debt limit
before funding deadlines at the end of September.

Currently, the vast majority of the evacuated Afghans remain on military
bases

either in the U.S. or overseas, awaiting additional medical and security
screenings. Approximately 300

unaccompanied Afghan minors are among the evacuees.

Even though the resettlement of Afghan evacuees in the U.S. has received
broad support that cuts across political divides, a September 15 report
stated that a group

of former Trump aides - including noted immigration hardliner Stephen
Miller - is working to turn Republicans against efforts to welcome
Afghan allies.

****Apprehensions at the Southern Border Drop Slightly, Remain Near
Record High****On September 15, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
released official data
on
the number of migrants the agency had apprehended or encountered in
August. The data showed a marginal decline in overall monthly arrivals
as the numbers dropped approximately 2% to 208,887 in August from
212,672 in July. The overall numbers continue to be inflated

by a high number of repeat crossers, with recidivism rates reportedly at
25%. CBP reported that the total number of "unique" crossers encountered
was 156,641. In August, CBP encountered 86,911 migrants in family units,
more than any previous month this year (although still below the peak
set in 2019). The number of arriving unaccompanied children remained
relatively stable, dropping approximately 1% from July to August.

Approximately 44% of all arriving migrants - and 75% all single adults
- were expelled immediately

under a public health order called Title 42. The administration has been
flying some individuals expelled under Title 42 to southern Mexico in
order to discourage repeat crossing, and it has reimplemented "lateral
flights" to fly migrants to different parts of the border where it is
easier to conduct Title 42 expulsions.

The slight decline in overall apprehensions in August represents the
first monthly decline since the start of the pandemic almost one and a
half years ago. According to a September 13 report
,
early data on arrivals in September show arrival numbers are on pace for
a more significant decline. The report stated that as of mid-September,
average daily encounters were down 15% from the same period in August.

Despite this recent drop in overall arrivals, the administration has
still struggled at times to process arriving migrants in an orderly
fashion. According to a September 16 report
,
over 10,000 mostly Haitian migrants are waiting under an international
bridge in Del Rio Texas to turn themselves in to CBP to enter migration
processing or submit asylum pleas.

****Biden Administration Reopens**

**Central American Minors (CAM) Program**

**to Reunite Families from Northern Triangle****On September 13, the
Biden Administration announced

that it would begin the second stage of its expanded Central American
Minors (CAM) Program. The CAM program, created under President Obama in
2014, allowed parents with legal status in the U.S. to apply to have
their children in El Salvador, Honduras, or Guatemala join them in the
U.S. under either humanitarian parole or refugee status.

The CAM program was terminated by the Trump administration in 2018
but reinstituted by the Biden administration on March 10, 2021.
Initially, the Biden administration was only using the program to
process those who had pending cases before 2018, but the expanded
eligibility announcement

signals the administration's intent to process new cases. As a result,
tens of thousands
 of
parents residing in the U.S. could benefit from the program's full
reinstatement. The program will now be extended to include legal
guardians - in addition to parents - with pending asylum
applications or U visa petitions filed before May 15, 2021.

Also, on September 13, the Biden administration's Family Reunification
Task Force launched

a new program to find the parents who were separated from their children
by the Trump administration. Many of the parents are presumed to be in
remote Central American communities. The new program will help the
parents return to the United States, where they will get at least three
years of legal residency and other assistance. The task force has
reunited about 50 families since starting its work in late February, but
estimates suggest there are as many as 2,000 parents

who were separated from their children and have not been located.

****The U.S. Makes Coronavirus Vaccinations Mandatory for New
Immigrants**

**Applying for Green Card****On September 15, the Biden administration
announced that beginning October 1, new immigrants seeking to become
lawful permanent residents - or green card holders - will need to
show proof of complete vaccination

against Covid-19. The requirement is part of a general immigration
medical examination to ensure individuals are free from any conditions
that would render them inadmissible under health-related grounds. The
Covid-19 vaccination joins other vaccinations

required for those seeking permanent residency in the United States,
including measles, tetanus and diphtheria, rubella, polio, and hepatitis
A and B.

The requirement excludes

children who are too young to receive the vaccine and individuals with
medical conditions exempting them from receiving the vaccine. The
vaccination requirement may also be waved for those with religious
reasoning. USCIS officers will assess those waivers on an individual
basis.

****USCIS to Welcome More Than 21,000 New Americans for Citizenship
Day****On September 17 - in commemoration of Citizenship Day and
Constitution Day - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
announced

its plans to celebrate the holiday by welcoming nearly 21,000 new
citizens in 335 naturalization ceremonies across the country. "As we
take time to reflect on what citizenship means to each of us," USCIS
Director Ur Jaddou said, "let us share in the commitment to invest fully
in this country's promise to be a place of hope and possibilities for
all." The citizenship ceremonies will take place between September 17
and 23.

****Legal****

****Federal Judge Rules Against Use of Title 42 Expulsions for Families
at the Border****On September 16, a federal judge ruled against

the use of Title 42 expulsions for arriving migrant families at the
border. Title 42 is a public health order based on a 1944 statute that
both the Trump and Biden administrations have used during the COVID-19
pandemic to rapidly expel over a million arriving migrants without
providing them the opportunity to seek asylum.  The judge ruled

that the public health statute does not allow for expulsions and does
not supersede the 1980 Refugee Act, which requires that all arriving
migrants be provided with an opportunity to seek humanitarian
protection.

While the judge argued that the use of Title 42 was broadly unlawful,
the case only concerned migrant families. In August, 86,911

migrants in family units arrived at the Southwest border, the most since
2019. Throughout the past several months, over 80% of families have not
been put into Title 42 and instead processed in under more normal
immigration processes. Approximately 16,000 migrants in family units
were returned under Title 42 in August.

The order to block the case was stayed for two weeks to give the Biden
administration time to appeal. On September 17, the Biden administration
appealed

the ruling to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

****Fifth Circuit Largely Stays Judge's Order that Blocked Biden's
Immigration Enforcement Priorities****On September 15, the Fifth Circuit
Court of Appeals stayed

the preliminary injunction that blocked the enforcement and
implementation of two Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
memorandums. The two memos, known as the Pekoske Memo

and the Johnson Memo
,
encourage ICE to prioritize enforcement efforts concerning unauthorized
immigrants who are either recent border-crossers or who may pose
national security and public safety threats. The memos also instruct ICE
agents to refrain from detaining or deporting victims of serious crimes
and pregnant or nursing women.

In the ruling
, the
court found that prosecutorial discretion is an inherent power of the
Executive Branch, and compromising it could diminish the separation of
powers. The ruling, however, did allow a narrow provision of the
District Court's order to remain in place. That portion of the order
prevents

the Attorney General from relying on the memos to release those who fall
within mandatory detention provisions.

****U.S. District Court Vacates Trump-Era H-1B Rule****On September 15,
the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California vacated

a Trump-era rule that would have replaced the current H-1B lottery with
a system prioritizing individuals with the highest offered salaries. The
court argued that DHS's rule

was promulgated before the lawful appointment of Chad Wolf as Acting DHS
Secretary.

The regulation, which had been scheduled to take effect on December 31,
would have had significant effects on the allocation of H-1B visas for
the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 H-1B cap season.

GOVERNMENT REPORTS

**Department of Homeland Security - Office of the Inspector General
(OIG):****DHS Needs to Enhance Its COVID-19 Response at the Southwest
Border**

**, September 10, 2021**This report analyzes U.S. Customs and Border
Protection's (CBP) policies and practices related to Covid-19 management
and prevention at the southwest border. The DHS Office of the Inspector
General (OIG) found that although CBP follows guidance from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention for Covid-19 preventative measures,
CBP is putting its workforce, support staff, communities, and migrants
at risk of contracting the virus due to the agency's lack of resources
to conduct Covid-19 testing on migrants. In general, arriving migrants
have been tested and quarantined after transfer from CBP custody.

**Department of Homeland Security - Office of the Inspector General
(OIG):****Violations of ICE Detention Standards at Otay Mesa Detention
Center**

**, September 14, 2021**This report identified deficient detention
standards that compromised the health, safety, and rights of detainees
at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Otay Mesa
Detention Center. The DHS's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found
that the personnel at the facility failed to enforce the use of facial
covering and social distancing to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The
report also noted that Otay Mesa staff did not respond adequately to
detainee grievances and did not forward staff misconduct grievances to
ICE as required. The OIG also discovered that Otay Mesa did not provide
access to recreation, legal calls, laundry, linen exchange, mail, legal
materials, commissary, and law library to detainees in segregation.
Finally, the report notes that Otay Mesa staff did not consistently
respond to detainee requests in a timely manner and did not specify
times for visits with detainees.

**Government Accountability Office (GAO): ****U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services: Actions Needed to Address Pending Caseload**

**; September 17, 2021**The Government Accountability Office (GAO)
reviewed USCIS's efforts to reduce its pending caseload, which has
increased by 85% in recent years. GAO found that policy changes, longer
forms, staffing issues, and delays from Covid-19 contributed to longer
processing times. It also discovered that although USCIS has several
plans to address the backlog, it hasn't implemented them and hasn't
identified necessary resources.

**SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES****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.

**Fact Sheet: Pathways to Protection for Afghans at Risk**
This
resource provides a comparison between the SIV status, the P2 refugee
program, and Humanitarian Parole. It also summarizes the eligibility
requirements for each pathway and notes the different application
timelines and vetting procedures. The fact sheet also describes what we
know about the numbers resettled so far under each pathway and what
benefits they receive.

**Explainer: Budget Reconciliation and Immigration Reform**
This
resource explains the elements, rules, and history of
the budget reconciliation process. Congressional Democrats are
expected to try to use reconciliation to avoid a Senate filibuster and
pass immigration reforms with a simple majority.

* * *

*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. Arturo can be reached at [email protected]
. Thank you.

 

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