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Legislative Bulletin
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Hello all,
The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday,
October 8, 2021 is now posted.
You can find the online version of the bulletin
here:Â [link removed]
[link removed]
All the best,
ArturoÂ
**LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN - Friday, October 8, 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. 2945
**Better Enforcement of Grievous Offenses by un-Nautralized Emigrants
(BE GONE) Act**
The bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to include
sexual assault and aggravated sexual violence as disqualifying crimes
for foreign applicants for residence in the United States, and make
those crimes deportable offenses for non-citizen resident immigrants.
Sponsored by Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) (15
cosponsors- 15 Republicans, 0 Democrats)
10/06/2021 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Ernst
10/06/2021 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary
S. 2954
**To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to alter the definition
of "conviction."**
Sponsored by Senator Alex Padilla (D-California) (9
cosponsors- 8 Democrats, 1 Independent, 0 Republicans)
10/07/2021 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Padilla
10/07/2021 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary
H.R. 5460
**Virgin Islands Visa Waiver Act of 2021**
The bill would waive visa requirements for nationals of certain
countries to visit Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands, or the Virgin Islands of the United States for a period not to
exceed 45 days.
Sponsored by Representative Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) (0
cosponsors)
09/30/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Plaskett
09/30/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
H.R. 5482
**Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan Fulbright Scholars Act**
The bill would direct the State Department to automatically issue
Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) for all Afghan nationals who have lived in
the United States as Fulbright Scholars and their immediate families.
Sponsored by Representative John Garamendi (D-California) (0
cosponsors)
10/05/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Garamendi
10/05/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
H.R. 5498
**Preserving Employment Visas Act**
The bill would authorize U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS) to process and award employment-based visas to eligible
applicants from the pool of unused employment-based immigrant visas
during fiscal years 2020 and 2021. The bill is a companion to S. 2828
.
Sponsored by Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) (0
cosponsors)
10/05/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Miller-Meeks
10/05/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDARThe U.S. Senate will not be in session the
week of October 11, 2021.
The U.S. House of Representatives will be in session for committee work
from Tuesday, October 12, through Friday, October 15, 2021.
**UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS**There are no scheduled
immigration-related hearings or markups scheduled for the week of
October 11, 2021.
THEMES IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK
****Federal****
****Despite Increased Refugee Admissions Ceiling, U.S. Resettles
Historic Low****On October 6, the Biden administration released
the number of
refugee admissions to the United States during Fiscal Year (FY) 2021,
revealing a historic low
.
The numbers showed that in FY 2021 - which ended on September 30 -
the United States admitted only 11,445 refugees. The admissions are far
below the 62,500-ceiling President Biden announced
in May and below the previous record low of 11,814 refugees that the
Trump administration set in FY 2020. On October 5, the Biden
administration argued
that the pandemic and the difficulty of reversing Trump administration
policies were responsible for the record-low number of refugees admitted
to the United States.
The released data did show the administration may be beginning to make
progress in rebuilding the resettlement program. In September, the U.S.
admitted 3,774
refugees, a sharp increase from 1,363 in August and the most the country
has resettled in a single month since May 2017. Even at this increased
pace, the Biden administration would need to dramatically further expand
resettlement to meet the intended
FY 2022
ceiling of 125,000, which would require 10,416 refugees to be resettled
per month.
The number of refugees admitted in FY 2021 does not include the tens of
thousands of Afghan evacuees
brought to the United States after American troops withdrew from
Afghanistan. Many of those Afghans were allowed into the country under a
different legal status known as humanitarian parole, which is why they
are not included in the refugee tally.
****Expulsions of Haitians Under Title 42 Spark Widespread Criticism of
White House Border Policy****The Biden administration's mass
expulsions of Haitians arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border - without
screening them for asylum claims or other fears of persecution - has
sparked widespread criticism from international organizations,
immigration advocates, health officials, and even senior officials from
within the administration. The administration conducted over 70
