Legislative Bulletin

 

 

Hello all,

The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday,
November 19, 2021 is now posted. We will publish our next bulletin on
Friday, December 3.

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

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All the best,

Arturo 

**LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN - Friday, November 19, 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. 3202

**To terminate the Interagency Task Force on the Reunification of
Families and to require the transfer of the salaries of certain Federal
officials and Task Force members to the Judgment Fund to reimburse the
Federal Government for settlements paid to aliens**

The bill would stop settlement negotiations between the U.S. government
and undocumented immigrants separated from their families at the border.
The bill would also terminate the Interagency Task Force on the
Reunification of Families and require the transfer of Task Force
members' salaries to reimburse the U.S. government for any settlements
paid to migrant families.

Sponsored by Senator James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) (0

cosponsors)

11/04/2021 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Lankford

11/04/2021 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

S. 3227

**Strengthening Citizenship Services for Veterans Act**

The bill would ensure that deported veterans who have successfully
completed the preliminary naturalization process can attend their
citizenship interview at a port of entry, embassy, or consulate without
navigating the complex process of advance parole.

Sponsored by Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) (1

cosponsor- 1 Democrat, 0 Republicans)

11/17/2021 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Duckworth

11/17/2021 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 5376

**Build Back Better Act**

The bill represents President Biden's sweeping, two-trillion-dollar
legislative package that he and congressional Democrats hope to pass
using the budget reconciliation process. Concerning immigration, the
bill would provide temporary protection from deportation, work permits,
travel authorization with advance parole, and access to certain benefits
to undocumented immigrants. The bill would also recapture unused
employment-based, family-sponsored, and diversity green cards.  It
would also provide access to pell grants for DACA, TPS, and DED holders.
The bill would also expand investments to tackle climate change and
expand health care and childcare.

Sponsored by Representative John Yarmuth (D-Kentucky) (0

cosponsors)

09/27/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Yarmuth

09/27/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Budget

11/19/2021 Passed the House of Representatives after a 220-213 vote
.

H.R. 5923

**Preserving the Integrity of Our Laws Act of 2021**

The bill would prohibit all employees of federal agencies from entering
into settlement negotiations or agreements with undocumented immigrants
who file a civil lawsuit against the United States.

Sponsored by Representative Pat Fallon (R-Texas) (0

cosponsors)

11/09/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Fallon

11/09/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 5924

**Keep STEM Talent Act of 2021**

The bill would allow certain international graduates with advanced
degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) to
apply for legal permanent residence in the United States. Their green
cards would not be being subject to annual numerical limitations.

Sponsored by Representative Bill Foster (D-Illinois) (3

cosponsors- 3 Democrats, 0 Republicans)

11/09/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Foster

11/09/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 5961

**To make revisions in title 5, United States Code, as necessary to keep
the title current, and to make technical amendments to improve the
United States Code**

The bill would grant authority to the Inspector General of the
Department of Homeland Security to oversee the internal investigations
performed by the Bureau of Border Security and the Bureau of Citizenship
and Immigration Services.

Sponsored by Representative Joe Neguse (D-Colorado) (0

cosponsors)

11/012/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Neguse

11/12/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 5969

**Border Security is National Security Act of 2021**

The bill would compel the U.S. Attorney General to appoint 200
additional immigration judges to serve in courts in the Southern
District of Texas, Southern District of California, Western District of
Texas, District of Arizona, or the District of New Mexico.

Sponsored by Representative Jerry Carl (R-Alabama) (0

cosponsors)

11/15/2021 Introduced in the House by Representative Carl

11/15/2021 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

**LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR**The U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of
Representatives will not be in session the week of November 22, 2021.

**UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS**There are no immigration-related
hearings scheduled for the week of Monday, November 22, 2021.

THEMES IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK

****Federal****

****House of Representatives Passes Build Back Better Act with
Immigration Provisions****On November 19, in a 220-213 vote
,
the House of Representatives passed

Democrats' sweeping, approximately $2 trillion Build Back Better Act,
a budget reconciliation bill intended to advance President Biden's
agenda by combatting climate change, expanding the social safety-net,
and enacting certain immigration reforms, among many other provisions.
Concerning immigration, the bill includes over $100 billion to provide
temporary parole protection

for millions of undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. before
2011. The bill would also recapture unused employment-based,
family-sponsored, and diversity green cards. Moreover, the bill would
provide fee-based cap-exemptions to certain green card holders waiting
in the backlog, and provide access to pell grants for DACA, TPS, and DED
holders.

The parole provisions in the bill would provide work authorization and
protection from deportation to approximately seven million undocumented
immigrants for a five-year period, once renewable. The green-card
recapture

and cap exemption

provisions would provide access to relief to the over five million
individuals currently stuck in green card backlogs - many of whom are
already in the U.S. on temporary visas.

The reconciliation bill

will now move to the Senate, where it is likely to face a challenging
road ahead. While reconciliation bills are not subject to a Senate
filibuster, all 50 Senate Democrats must be in lock-step in order to
pass the effort with a simple majority. While Senate Democrats have been
involved in the negotiations as the bill proceeded through the House,
several have voiced concerns about particular aspects of the legislation
and have not yet given their full endorsement to the House legislation.
Among other issues, moderate Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), has
raised the need to incorporate border security funding in the
legislation, noting

that "for us to even be talking about immigration without border
security is ludicrous." Meanwhile, progressive Senator Bernie Sanders
(I-Vermont) has said

he hopes to see the bill "strengthened in a number of ways."

Another hurdle that the reconciliation bill faces in the Senate is the
Byrd rule, which requires all provisions to be budget-related. The
Senate Parliamentarian - the body's nonpartisan rules referee -
has previously ruled against

the inclusion of a path to citizenship in reconciliation efforts. The
Parliamentarian has not yet ruled whether the parole and green card
reform provisions are germane to budget reconciliation.

****Biden Administration Puts Refugee Resettlement Program on Hold To
Prioritize Resettlement of Afghan Evacuees****According to multiple

reports

on November 16, the Biden administration has curtailed the traditional
refugee resettlement program from October 29 through January 11, 2022,
to prioritize resettling Afghan evacuees. The federal government will
still be processing applications of refugees who meet one of the
following criteria: 1) urgent cases, 2) cases with processing steps that
will expire, 3) family reunification cases, 4) refugees who already have
travel arrangements made for November and December, and 5) refugees
eligible for a Special Immigrant Visa status. New cases that do not fit
any of these five categories will be temporarily put on hold.

Advocacy groups have expressed concern that the administration has not
yet built capacity within the system to resettle both Afghan evacuees
and refugees already in the pipeline. Due to this lack of capacity,
refugee resettlement groups requested a pause in resettlement as they
devote limited resources to properly care for arriving Afghans.

The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) prioritizes the most
vulnerable refugees around the world for resettlement. In October, Biden
administration set the refugee admissions ceiling at 125,000 for Fiscal
Year (FY) 2022. However, even before the pause was put in place, the
U.S. had only resettled 401 refugees in October and was on track
to resettle just
4,812 refugees for the entire year.

****October Border Data Reveals Decline in Migrant Encounters and High
Recidivism Rates****On November 16, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) released

official data on the number of migrants the agency had apprehended or
encountered in October. The data showed a decline in overall monthly
border encounters as the numbers dropped

approximately 14% to 164,303 in October from 192,001 reported in
September. These numbers confirmed that October was the third
consecutive month

in which migrant encounters along the Southwest border declined - with
particularly sharp drops in arriving families and unaccompanied
children.

Notably, recidivism

continued to play a significant role at the border and increased from
previous months even as arrivals declined. CBP reported that 29% of all
individuals encountered in October were repeat crossers. High recidivism
is inflating overall arrival numbers - the number of

**unique** border crossers dropped to 117,260 in October from 142,710 in
September. The high recidivism rates are partially explained due to
Title 42 expulsions of migrants, which increased in October as 57% of
all crossers were immediately expelled under Title 42. According to the
data, approximately 80,000 single adults and 13,000 individuals in
family units were summarily expelled under Title 42 without an
opportunity to request humanitarian protection.

****Biden, Trudeau, and López Obrador Discuss Migration in North
American Leaders' Summit but Avoid Controversial Issues****On November
18, President Biden met with Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau,
and Mexico's President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to discuss
multiple trilateral issues
,
including migration. The three of them recognized the complex factors
that have driven an increase in irregular migration through the
hemisphere and acknowledged the need to implement a coordinated regional
response that prioritizes an orderly, safe, and regular migration.

Biden, Trudeau, and López Obrador pledged to foster pathways to labor
mobility by committing to promote seasonal worker visas

and expanding centralized migration resource centers in Central
America.  They also committed to developing additional programs to
create jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean. Moreover, they agreed to
deepen the trilateral collaboration between the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) and its Mexican and Canadian
counterparts to address the root causes of irregular migration and
forced displacement.

The three leaders also pledged

to strengthen asylum systems and refugee resettlement programs to
provide international protection for those fleeing persecution. Each
country promised to make new commitments to take in more refugees.
Additionally, they committed to improving their capacity to identify
human trafficking and other crimes and create a trilateral migrant
smuggling and human trafficking task force.

Even though Biden, Trudeau, and López Obrador addressed general
migration issues, they did not tackle specific pressing and thorny
problems
.
For instance, they did not discuss the surging number of migrants at the
southern border and the potential implementation of MPP, commonly known
as the Remain in Mexico policy.

****Biden Administration Announces Departure and Resettlement of Last
Afghan Evacuees from Fort Lee, Virginia****On November 17, the Biden
administration announced
 that
the first temporary housing site for Afghan evacuees-Fort Lee,
Virginia-is officially closed as the U.S. ramps up the resettlement of
Afghan evacuees into communities across the country. Fort Lee began
hosting Afghan evacuees with pending Special Immigrant Visa (SIV)
applications in late July.

An estimated 80,000 Afghans
 were
evacuated to the United States for resettlement, including those who
aided the U.S. war effort and their families, family members of U.S.
citizens, and others that were at risk, such as journalists and NGO
workers. Before arriving in the U.S., evacuees underwent thorough
background and security checks and medical screenings at overseas bases
conducted by intelligence, law enforcement, and counterterrorism
professionals. The Department of Defense will continue to support the
remaining Afghans in the process of completing their resettlement at
several other military installations across the country.

The U.S. government has not yet made clear an exact date when it expects
to have all Afghan evacuees resettled. However, Secretary of Homeland
Security Alejandro Mayorkas told Congress
 this
week that the administration expects it to be between December 2021 and
February 2022. Mayorkas further noted that they were aiming to resettle
approximately 4,000 Afghans a week out of the military bases.

Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president of the Lutheran Immigration and
Refugee Service, noted the challenges in acquiring housing and
emphasized the need for "balance" between making sure families are
relocated as quickly as possible while also ensuring they have safe
places to call home.

****DHS Office of Inspector General Declines to Investigate Mounted
Officer Controversy****On November 16, the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) released an update

regarding the ongoing investigation of mounted Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) officers' interactions with Haitian migrants in Del
Rio, Texas, on September 19. The case was initially referred to the
DHS's Office of Inspector General (OIG). However, OIG declined to
investigate, and the case is now being managed by CBP's Office of
Professional Responsibility (OPR). The OPR investigation is currently
ongoing while it continues to collect information and statements from
witnesses and CBP employees. Once the investigation concludes, the
findings will be made available to CBP leadership and the accused
officers, allowing them to make a formal response and retain their due
process rights.

A DHS spokesperson confirmed

that the accused CBP officers remain on administrative duty while the
investigation is pending and that mounted officers are no longer being
used in Del Rio. Many advocates, however, have expressed frustration

regarding how the investigation is being managed, especially after DHS
Secretary Mayorkas stated in September

that it would "be completed in days, not weeks."

GOVERNMENT REPORTS

**Government Accountability Office (GAO):** **Progress Made, but DHS
Should Take Additional Steps to Improve Information Quality**
; November 16, 2021This
report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) highlights that
even though DHS has improved the quality of the information on 43
metrics of border security effectiveness, the agency still needs to
improve. The 43 metrics include information on different matters,
including average wait time at land ports of entry, apprehensions in
each U.S. Border Patrol sector, and illicit drugs seized at ports of
entry.

**SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES****Explainer: The
Refugee Resettlement Backlog and How to Rebuild the Pipeline**
This
resource explains why refugee resettlement has continued to crater
despite President Biden dramatically increasing the admissions ceiling.
It describes the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) and the
backlogs at various stages of the pipeline, and it discusses six
solutions to quickly expand domestic capacity and rebuild the pipeline
overseas.

**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 green card recapture. 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.
Green card recapture would "recapture" a number of these unused green
cards accumulated over the years, relieving the backlog and promoting
economic growth.

* * *

*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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