Legislative Bulletin

 

 

Hello all,

The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday,
October 15, 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, October 15, 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. 2951

**Aiding Afghan Allies Act**

The bill would allow a tax credit for certain charitable contributions
related to the evacuation of certain individuals from Afghanistan.

Sponsored by Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) (0

cosponsors)

10/07/2021 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Blackburn

10/07/2021 Referred to the Senate Committee on Finance

S. 2954

**Fair Adjudications for Immigrants Act**

The bill would redefine the term "conviction" in the Immigration and
Nationality Act to ensure that immigrants with criminal convictions that
have been dismissed, expunged, or pardoned by a Federal or State
authority do not face barriers to naturalization or undergo removal
proceedings. This is a companion bill of H.R. 5517
.

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

S. 2957

**Protecting Data at the Border Act**

The bill would force law enforcement to get a warrant based on probable
cause before it can search phones, laptops and other digital devices of
U.S. citizens at the border. The bill would also prohibit immigration
officials from delaying or denying entry to the U.S. if a person
declines to hand over passwords, PINs, and social media account
information. This is a companion bill of H.R. 5524
.

Sponsored by Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) (3

cosponsors- 2 Democrats, 1 Republican)

10/07/2021 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Wyden

10/07/2021 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 5497

**Burma Unified through Rigorous Military Accountability (BURMA) Act of
2021**

The bill would prohibit the issuance of any type of visas to individuals
of the Burmese military and individuals who have engaged in actions or
policies that threaten the peace, security, or stability of Burma.

Sponsored by Representative Gregory Meeks (D-New York) (23

cosponsors- 17 Democrats, 6 Republicans)

10/05/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Meeks

10/05/2021 Referred to the House Committees on the Judiciary, Foreign
Affairs, Financial Services, and Ways and Means

H.R. 5518

**Virtual Naturalization Act of 2021**

The bill would direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish
procedures for remote naturalization ceremonies as an alternative to
in-person oath ceremonies.

Sponsored by Representative Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) (3

cosponsors- 3 Democrats, 0 Republicans)

10/08/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Garcia

10/08/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 5564

**Cameroon TPS Act of 2021**

The bill would designate Cameroon for Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
for an initial period of 18 months. This designation would allow
Cameroonian nationals residing in the United States as of the date of
the enactment of the Act to file applications for TPS, which if granted,
would protect them from deportation and provide them with work
authorization on a temporary basis.

Sponsored by Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-California) (20

cosponsors- 20 Democrats, 0 Republicans)

10/12/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Lofgren

10/12/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 5572

**Safeguards Ensuring Criminal and Unvetted Refugees don't Enter
(SECURE) America Act**

The bill would shift the authority from the Executive branch to Congress
to set the yearly refugee admission cap. The bill would also require
that Governors receive a 30-day notice from the administration before
refugees are set to be resettled in their state. The bill would also
establish additional vetting processes for all refugees seeking
admittance into the United States.

Sponsored by Representative Matthew Rosendale Sr. (R-Montana) (15

cosponsors- 15 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

10/12/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Rosendale

10/12/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 5557

**Denying Earnings to the Military Oligarchy in Cuba and Restricting
Activities of the Cuban Intelligence Apparatus Act (DEMOCRACIA Act)**

The bill would prohibit the issuance of any type of visas to individuals
engaged in financial, material, or technological support on behalf of
the Government of Cuba.

Sponsored by Representative Byron Donalds (R-Florida) (6

cosponsors- 6 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

10/12/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Donalds

10/12/2021 Referred to the House Committees on Foreign Affairs, the
Judiciary, and Rules.

LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDARThe U.S. Senate will be in session the week of
October 18, 2021.

The U.S. House of Representatives will be in session from Tuesday,
October 19, through Friday, October 22, 2021.

UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS**Hearing to examine the nomination of
Chris Magnus, of Arizona, to be Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border
Protection, Department of Homeland Security**

**Date:**Tuesday, October 19, 2021, at 9:30 am E.T. (Senate Committee on
Finance)

**Location:** 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building

**Witnesses:**

Christopher Magnus, Police Chief of Tucson, Arizona.

THEMES IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK

****Federal****

****After Court Order, Biden Administration Details Plan to Reimplement
Migrant Protection Protocols****On October 14, the Department of
Homeland Security detailed

its plans to respond to a court order and restart the Migrant Protection
Protocols

(MPP), also known as the "Remain in Mexico" program. According to the
plans, the administration is planning to restart the program in
mid-November pending agreement from Mexico. The administration further
noted that those placed into the new MPP procedure will receive court
dates within six months of their processing and will be required to
attend hearings at ad-hoc courts set up near the border in Texas.

The policy, first introduced by the Trump administration in 2019,
requires migrants seeking asylum along the southwest border to wait
in Mexico while their claims are adjudicated, a process that often
takes months or years. The Biden administration stopped enrollment in
MPP in January and officially terminated the program in June through a
multi-page memorandum
.
However, on August 13 a federal judge in Texas ruled

that the termination of MPP violated the Administrative Procedures Act
(APA). After the U.S. Supreme Court declined to stay
 the
ruling on August 24, the Biden administration was required to
reimplement the program.

The Biden administration has repeatedly stated that it cannot
reimplement the policy without agreement from Mexico. On October 14, the
administration noted that "discussions with the Government of Mexico
concerning when and how MPP will be reimplemented are ongoing."

Asylum seekers returned to Mexico under MPP by the Trump administration
were subject to extremely dangerous conditions while awaiting their
cases to be heard in U.S. immigration court. A regularly updated Human
Rights First report
 has
documented over 1,500 of publicly reported murder, rape, kidnapping, and
other violent assaults experienced by those forced to wait in MPP. In
its initial memorandum terminating the program, DHS Secretary Alejandro
Mayorkas stated

that the use of MPP "would not be consistent with this administration's
vision and values."

****Biden Administration Officially Raises Refugee Ceiling to 125,000
for Fiscal Year 2022****On October 8, President Biden signed a
presidential determination to raise

the refugee resettlement ceiling for fiscal year (FY) 2022 from 62,500
to 125,000. The new refugee resettlement ceiling allocates 40,000 slots
for refugees from Africa, 15,000 for the East Asian region, 10,000 for
the European and Central Asian region, 15,000 for the Latin American and
Caribbean region, 35,000 for the Near East and South Asian region, and
10,000 available spaces for reserve.

The presidential declaration came two days after the Biden
administration released the number of refugee admissions to the United
States during FY 2021, revealing a historic low

of 11,445. In other words, the monthly average of refugees resettled in
FY 2021 was 954. If the Biden administration intends to reach the new
refugee ceiling of 125,000, it would need to increase resettlement
tenfold in FY2022 to resettle an average of 10,416 refugees per month.

Acknowledging the challenge of dramatically expanding resettlement and
reaching the proposed ceiling, the President requested only enough
funding to process 65,000

refugees in FY 2022. However, the White House wrote that "those funding
levels will be re-evaluated and increased as appropriate as the year
progresses and as it becomes clearer how much progress can be made
against the target." The administration has also requested significant
additional funding for agencies involved in the refugee pipeline,
including USCIS refugee officers.

Thousands of Afghans who have been paroled into the U.S. following the
emergency evacuation are not counted towards the refugee ceiling.

****Biden Administration Ends Mass Worksite Immigration Raids****On
October 12, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas announced

a new worksite immigration enforcement strategy intended to better
respond to the exploitation of unauthorized workers in the United
States. The new strategy ceases mass worksite immigration raids, and
instead emphasizes

the need to adopt an approach that encourages undocumented workers to
report labor trafficking and exploitation and cooperate with law
enforcement agencies in the investigation and prosecution of
unscrupulous employers.

In announcing the new strategy, Mayorkas stated that the large workplace
raids undertaken in the past, especially under the Trump administration
,
misused resources and, in some instances, served as retaliation against
unauthorized workers who had reported workplace violations.

The new strategy also commits to ensuring that the E-Verify

program is not used to suppress unauthorized workers from reporting
unlawful labor practices such as substandard wages, unsafe working
conditions, and other forms of worker exploitation.

****Biden Administration Reignites Diplomatic Discussions with Mexico to
Address Migration****On October 6, President Biden sent a letter

to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador highlighting his
priorities on immigration. In the missive, Biden stressed that his
administration is working to have a secure border, expand legal
immigration pathways to the U.S., guarantee the fairness and efficiency
of asylum processes, reduce irregular migration, and address the root
causes of migration. President Biden also listed some of the steps his
administration has taken to achieve those goals, including funding the
modernization of land ports of entry, alterations to the asylum system,
and ramping up engagement with Central to tackle gender-based violence,
economic insecurity, inequality, corruption, and insecurity. The
President also mentioned his efforts to encourage Congress to provide a
pathway to permanent status for undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

Two days later, on October 8, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in
Mexico City with President López Obrador and his Mexican counterpart to
outline a new bilateral cooperation agreement

called U.S.-Mexico Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health
and Safe Communities. The three-year agreement - expected to be
completed in January 2022 - intends to strengthen the security

cooperation and stem migration to the United States by focusing on
development and addressing root causes.

****Biden Administration has Reunited 52 Families Separated Under Trump
Presidency; At Least 1,000 Remain Separated****On October 10, a CBS News
report

revealed that the Biden administration's Family Reunification Task Force
has so far reunited 52 families that were separated under former
President Trump's "zero tolerance" policy. However, the number
represents only a small fraction of the at least 1,000 children who
remain separated from their parents as a result of Trump administration
border practices. The report further revealed that the exact number of
separated children is unknown due to the lack of adequate records kept
by the Trump administration. According to Michelle Brane, the head of
the family reunification task force, the estimated number

of separated children is between 1,000 and 1,500.

Almost a month ago, 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 back
in Central American communities after they were deported from the U.S.
The new program intends

to help the parents return to the United States to reunite with their
children, providing them with at least three years of legal residency
and other assistance.

****Biden Administration Suspends Use of Expanded Expedited Removal
Proceedings****On October 14, the Biden administration announced the
suspension

of a Trump-era expansion of expedited removal proceedings. Expedited
removal is a procedure established in the 1990s which allows Customs and
Border Protection (CBP) officers to rapidly deport undocumented
immigrants without a full immigration court hearing. While several prior
administrations have used expedited removal for recent unauthorized
border crossers, in 2019 the Trump administration expanded the practice
in an attempt to allow ICE officers to implement the procedure for
migrants apprehended far away from the border and long after they had
entered without authorization.

The Biden administration announced it had suspended the practice only
after a Buzzfeed report revealed that at least four migrants had been
deported under the expansion of the policy since the President took
office on January 20.

Under the Trump-era expansion of the policy, most undocumented persons
who could not prove they had resided in the United States for more than
two years were subject to expedited removal. The previous regulations
limited eligibility for expedited removal
 to
unauthorized immigrants who were apprehended within 100 miles of the
U.S. border and who had been in the country for less than two weeks.

****U.S. Hits H-2B Visa Limit For First Half of FY 2022****On October
12, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced

that it had already received enough applications to exhaust the 33,000
H-2B visas available for the first half of Fiscal Year (FY) 2022. The
fiscal year began just 12 days before at the start of October. H-2B

nonimmigrant visas are intended to help American employers fill
temporary, non-agricultural positions when there are no sufficient
qualified U.S. workers capable of performing the work.

Only 66,000

H-2B visas are available each fiscal year - with half awarded in the
first half of the fiscal year, and the remainder in the second half. For
the past three fiscal years, USCIS met the visa cap for the first half
of the year by November and December, and reached the annual threshold
by February, according to prior agency announcements.

****Biden Administration to Lift Border Restrictions with Canada and
Mexico for Fully Vaccinated Visitors****On October 12, the Biden
administration announced that it would lift

the COVID-19 land border travel restrictions for fully vaccinated
visitors from Canada and Mexico in November. The announcement by the
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas aligns with the new
lift
 on air
travel restrictions for vaccinated foreigners traveling from a total
of 33 countries, also set to start in November. The new order is
divided into two phases. The first phase will start in November and
will allow visitors to enter the U.S. by land borders or ferry
crossings for non-essential purposes if they have proof of vaccination
against COVID-19. The second phase will begin in January of 2022
and will require all travelers - including individuals deemed
essential - to provide proof of complete vaccination against the
virus.

While the travel restrictions have significantly impacted border
communities, even with the limitations in place millions of individuals
have been crossing at land ports of entry every month for purposes
deemed essential (including cross-border trade).

****Legal****

****Biden Administration Terminates Border Wall Construction
Contracts****On October 8, the Biden administration canceled

all the remaining Trump-era border wall construction contracts in Laredo
and the Rio Grande Valley. Instead of funding the construction, the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it would initiate
research into the environmental, biological, and cultural significant of
the area in consultation with impacted landowners, tribes, state and
local elected officials, and federal agencies. In addition, the DHS
reiterated

its call on Congress to cancel the remaining border wall funding and
instead fund smarter border security measures such as the implementation
of new border technologies and modernizing land ports of entry.

GOVERNMENT REPORTS

**Department of State,****U.S. Periodic Report to the U.N. Committee
Against Torture (CAT)**

**, September 24, 2021**The United States submitted its periodic report
before CAT to present the country's compliance with the Convention
Against Torture between 2014 and 2021. The report describes a series of
immigration-related actions taken by the U.S. government to improve the
country's immigration system. The report highlights the creation of
mechanisms for noncitizens to apply for any form of relief or protection
for which they may be eligible, including asylum and protection from
removal under CAT obligations.

**Congressional Research Service (CRS):****Visa Waiver Program**

**, October 12, 2021**This CRS report provides an overview of the Visa
Waiver Program, which allows nationals from 40 countries, many of which
are in Europe, to enter the United States as temporary visitors for
business or pleasure without first obtaining a visa.

**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: Unused Green Card Recapture**
This
fact sheet explains, in simple terms, what green card recapture means.
Every year, the U.S. sets aside a specific number of available green
cards for individuals from all around the world. However, over the
years, various administrative complications have left hundreds of
thousands of green cards unissued. To tackle the backlog - and
consequently trigger economic growth - policy analysts and immigration
advocates have suggested recapturing the unused green cards accumulated
over the past three decades, going back to 1992.

**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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