Legislative Bulletin

 

 

Hello all,

The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday,
February 18, 2022 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, February 18, 2022**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. 3638

**Keep STEM Talent Act of 2022**

The bill would exclude from the annual green card numerical cap foreign
nationals with master's degrees or PhDs in science, technology,
engineering, or mathematics (STEM) fields who have a job or a job offer
in the U.S.

Sponsored by Senator Richard Durbin (D-Illinois) (6

cosponsors- 6 Democrats, 0 Republicans)

02/10/2022 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Durbin

02/10/2022 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

S. 3653

**Protecting Federal Funds from Human Trafficking and Smuggling Act of
2022**

The bill would prohibit awarding federal funds to non-profit entities
unless they submit a certification of compliance with federal laws
related to human trafficking, immigrant smuggling, fraud, bribery, and
gratuity. This is a companion bill of H.R. 6563
.

Sponsored by Senator John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) (0

cosponsors)

02/15/2022 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Kennedy

02/15/2022 Referred to the Senate Committee on Finance

S. 3665

**Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act of 2022**

The bill would reduce the current 365-day waiting period for work
authorization eligibility for asylum seekers to 30 days. This is a
companion bill of H.R. 6693
.

Sponsored by Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) (2

cosponsors- 1 Democrat, 1 Independent)

02/16/2022 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Collins

02/16/2022 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 6673

**Border Operations Strengthened by Stonegarden Act (BOSS) Act**

The bill would appropriate $180,000,000 for the Operation Stonegarden
grant program of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through 2025.
Operation Stonegarden provides funding to state, local, and tribal law
enforcement agencies to enhance their capabilities to support joint
efforts to secure U.S. borders.

Sponsored by Representative Tony Gonzalez (R-Texas) (0

cosponsors)

02/09/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative Gonzalez

02/09/2022 Referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security

H.R. 6706

**Abolishing the Lottery & Immigration Enforcement Now (ALIEN) Act**

The bill would eliminate the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. The bill
would also increase penalties for individuals that overstay their visas.
The penalties would include a fine of up to $1,000 each day that they
remain in the U.S. or face a jail sentence of up to a year; a 5-year ban
on legal re-entry; a 10-year ban on removal relief; and a 15-year ban on
applying for legal permanent residence.

Sponsored by Representative Pat Fallon (R-Texas) (8

cosponsors- 8 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

02/11/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative Fallon

02/11/2022 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 6715

**The Improving Opportunities for New Americans Act**

The bill would require the Department of Labor to conduct a study of the
factors affecting employment opportunities for immigrants and refugees
with professional credentials obtained in foreign countries.

Sponsored by Representative John Katko (R-New York) (3

cosponsors- 2 Democrats, 1 Republican)

02/11/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative Fallon

02/11/2022 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor

**LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR**The U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of
Representatives will not be in session the week of Monday, February 21,
2022.

**UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS**There are no immigration-related
hearings scheduled for the week of Monday, February 21, 2022.

**THEMES IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK**

****Federal****

******CBP Border Data Reveals Decline in Migrant Arrivals in
January******On February 18, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) released
 official
data on the number of migrants the agency had apprehended or encountered
at the border in the month of January. The data showed a 14% decrease in
overall monthly arrivals as the numbers dropped to 153,941 in January
from 178,840 in December. The overall numbers continue to be inflated by
a high number of repeat crossers, with recidivism rates reported

at 26%. Taking this repeat crosser rate into account, CBP reported that
the total number of "unique" crossers encountered was 111,437, an 18%
decrease from December.

The majority of all encounters

- a total of 75,455 individuals - were immediately expelled under a
Trump-era public health order called Title 42 without any access to the
asylum system. The administration has conintued to use

Title 42 even as other pandemic restrictions have been lifted at the
border and across the country.

The decline in encounter numbers included sharp drops
in arriving
family units (down 39%) and unaccompanied children (down 26%).

******Biden Administration Proposes Limiting Use of Public Charge
Determinations for Status Applications******On February 17, the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced

that it would issue a proposed rule that would regulate how DHS
determines whether a noncitizen is inadmissible to the United States
because they are likely to become a public charge.

According to the Immigration and Nationality Act, noncitizens who seek
an adjustment of status or a visa must establish

that they are not likely to rely on particular government benefits .
Historically, the benefits that make an applicant ineligible under this
"public charge" provision have been limited to government cash
assistance and government-financed long-term institutionalization.
However, a Trump-era regulation - which was halted

by the courts in 2019 - attempted to allow officials to deny visas and
green cards to those who used a much broader range of public benefits.

The Biden administration's proposed rule, which will be open to
comments from the public, would codify the previously existing limits to
public charge determinations. In other words, DHS would formally limit
the number of public benefits that can weigh against immigrants applying
for certain visas and green cards.

******Veterans, Advocates Mark Six-Month Anniversary of Kabul Evacuation
with Push for Afghan Adjustment Act******On February 14, commemorating
six months after the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, veterans
and immigration advocates gathered

outside the U.S. Capitol to call upon Congress to pass an Afghan
Adjustment Act

- legislation that would provide Afghan evacuees a path to permanent
status in the United States.

The majority of the 82,015 Afghan evacuees

were vetted and then brought to the U.S. under humanitarian parole,
which - unlike refugee or asylum status - does not automatically
confer a path to a green card or citizenship. Afghan parolees are
granted

two years of protection from deportation and work authorization, but no
further access to status. With many Afghans evacuees already six months
into their humanitarian parole, the veterans and refugee advocates at
the news conference described

the situation as "a ticking time bomb."

Matt Zeller, a representative of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of
America, said

at the conference that "we have already failed these people once. We
cannot fail them again."

Congress has passed adjustment acts in the aftermath of multiple prior
evacuations
,
including  for Cubans fleeing the Castro regime in the 1960s, for
Vietnamese and South Asian refugees after the fall of Saigon in 1970s,
and Iraqis after Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom in
the 1990s.

******House Judiciary Hearing Highlights Role of Foreign-Born Physicians
in the US******On February 15, the House Judiciary Committee held
a
hearing on the role of the 200,000 immigrant physicians in the U.S
healthcare system. In her opening remarks, Representative Mary Gay
Scanlon (D-Pennsylvania), who presided over the hearing, highlighted
that the U.S. is facing a shortage of physicians. She referenced
Department of Health and Human Services figures showing more than 86
million Americans live in areas with an insufficient number of primary
care doctors.

One of the witnesses at the hearing, David Skorton, president and CEO of
the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), recommended

expanding the State Conrad 30 J-1 visa waiver Program, which allows
foreign medical graduates expanded access to visas if they agree to work
in underserved communities. He also urged Congress to enact a permanent
pathway to citizenship for enrolees of Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA). Both proposals have previously received bipartisan

support
in Congress.

****Legal****

******Supreme Court Grants Certiorari to Review Remain in Mexico
Case******On February 18, the Supreme Court granted
 certiorari
to the Biden administration's petition to consider its bid to end the
Migrant Protection Protocols

(MPP), commonly known as Remain in Mexico. In granting cert, the Supreme
Court announced that it would hold oral arguments on the case in the
second week of April 2022.

The case, Biden v. Texas
, brought
by the states of Texas and Missouri, challenges the administration's
termination of MPP. Soon after taking office, the Biden
administration stopped
 enrollment
in MPP, and it officially terminated the program in June 2021. However,
on August 13, a federal judge in Texas ruled
 that
the termination of MPP violated the APA. Hence, in compliance with court
orders, the Biden administration resumed
 the
implementation of MPP on December 6. On December 29, the Biden
administration asked
 the
Supreme Court to consider its arguments to end MPP after the Fifth
Circuit rejected
 its
appeal on December 14.

******Court Settlement Prohibits ICE from Making Traffic Stops and
Warrantless Arrests******On February 8, a District Court approved

a class action settlement requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) to end its practice of using local traffic enforcement
as a way to detain undocumented immigrants without a warrant. The
settlement stems from a lawsuit filed in 2018 - Castañon Nava et al.
v. Department of Homeland Security et al.

- by five undocumented immigrants detained without an arrest warrant.
The plaintiffs alleged that ICE agents had racially profiled them while
driving in Latino-majority neighborhoods or near construction sites in
Chicago and the suburbs.

The court settlement mandates

ICE to issue a new nationwide policy regarding collateral arrests

and vehicle stops. Under the agreement, ICE officers may only make
vehicle stops if they have reasonable suspicion - based on specific,
articulable facts - that a particular person inside the vehicle does
not have legal status. In addition, the settlement prohibits ICE
officers from telling drivers or vehicle passengers the purpose for a
stop is related to any vehicle or traffic violations.

****State and Local****

******Detention of Immigrants Facing Deportation Ends in Illinois in
Compliance with State Law******On February 15, U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced

that as of February 5, there were no more immigrants facing deportation
detained in the state of Illinois. The announcement came after a new
state law, the Illinois Way Forward Act
,
banned county jails from detaining people facing deportation.

Prior to the passage of the law in August 2021, ICE had contracts with
three Illinois county jails to hold people facing deportation. After the
bill passed, ICE transferred those awaiting deportation to facilities
outside of the state. With the new law, Illinois joined

New Jersey, California, Washington, and Nevada in passing laws that
limit or bar immigration detention.

******Massachusetts' House of Representatives Pass a Bill that Would
Allow Undocumented Immigrants to Obtain Driver's License******On
February 17, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed

a bill by a vote of 120 to 36 that would allow undocumented immigrants
to obtain driver's licenses. The bill would require undocumented
immigrants seeking a license to prove

their identity and provide evidence of their residency in the state.
Applicants would be required to provide two separate identification
documents, the first consisting of either a passport or consular
identification and the second consisting of an unexpired driver's
license from any U.S. state or territory, a birth certificate, a foreign
national identity card, a foreign driver's license, or a marriage
certificate issued in Massachusetts.

The bill still requires approval by the Massachusetts Senate, where it
will need to pass by a two-thirds majority vote. If the bill becomes
law, it would benefit over 200,000 undocumented immigrants and
Massachusetts would become the 16th state in the country to allow
undocumented immigrants to access driver's licenses.

******House**

**Committee in Florida Votes to Advance Bill Targeting Sanctuary
Jurisdictions******In a party line vote on February 17, Florida's House
of Representatives State Affairs Committee voted

in favor of advancing a bill, HB 1355
,
that would ban so-called "sanctuary jurisdictions" in the state. The
bill, which has yet to face a vote on the Florida House floor, would
require counties to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) to enforce immigration laws. The bill would also ban
state and local governments from contracting transportation companies
that bring undocumented immigrants into the state.

Sanctuary jurisdictions are those which limit state and local officials'
involvement in federal immigration enforcement functions. Some
immigration advocates and law enforcement officials have argued that
requiring local law enforcement to conduct federal immigration
enforcement functions can undermine public trust in local law
enforcement and make communities less safe.

**GOVERNMENT REPORTS**There were no immigration-related government
reports released the week of Monday, February 14, 2022.

**SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES****Lighting the
Beacon: A New Method for Setting Refugee Admissions Levels**
This
policy proposal suggests setting the annual baseline for refugee
admissions at 10% of UNHCR's Refugees in Need of Resettlement (RINOR)
estimate - the projected population of forcibly displaced people who
are most in need of permanent resettlement each year.

**Explainer: What's Happening at the U.S.-Mexico Border**
This
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 developments
at the border.

**Room to Grow: One Year Later**
This
blog post commemorates the one-year anniversary of our Room to Grow

report. The post describes why our findings in Room to Grow - and
calls to reimagine our immigration system - are more important now
than ever, particularly given recently released Census data and growing
labor market shortages.

* * *

*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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