Legislative Bulletin

 

 

Hello all,

The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday, April
8, 2022 is now posted.

You can find the online version of the bulletin
here: [link removed]
/
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All the best,

Danilo 

**LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN - Friday, April 8, 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. 4021

**Human Rights Violator Act of 2022**

The bill would establish new grounds of inadmissibility for prospective
immigrants who have participated in the persecution of people on the
basis of their race, religion, nationality, social group, or political
opinion. The bill would also make inadmissible all those who have
participated in war crimes.

Sponsored by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) (1

cosponsor - 1 Republican, 0 Democrats)

04/06/2022 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Grassley

04/06/2022 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

S. 4022

**A bill to codify in statute the CDC title 42 expulsion order, which
suspends the right for certain aliens to enter the United States land
borders, until February 1, 2025**

Sponsored by Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) (9

cosponsors - 9 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

04/06/2022 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Rubio

04/06/2022 Placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar under General
Orders

**S. 4036**

**Public Health and Border Security Act**

The bill would require all COVID-19 related national states of emergency
to be lifted before the pandemic-era Title 42 health policy at the
border can be officially terminated. The bill would also require a
60-day termination window and require the administration to submit a
plan to Congress as to how it plans to address any possible influx of
arriving migrants. The bill is a companion to H.R. 7459
.

Sponsored by Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona) (10

cosponsors - 5 Democrats, 5 Republicans)

03/31/2022 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Sinema

03/31/2022 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions

**H.R. 7332**

**North Korea Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2022**

The bill would reauthorize the North Korean Human Rights Act and promote
human rights in North Korea. The bill would appoint a Special Envoy to
coordinate policy to protect North Korean refugees and assist in
reuniting Korean America families who have been separated.

Sponsored by Representative Young Kim (R-California) (3

cosponsors - 2 Republicans, 1 Democrat)

03/31/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative Kim

03/31/2022 Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs

**H.R. 7356**

**TPS Reform Act of 2022**

The bill would remove current Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
protections, shift authority to determine eligibility criteria for TPS
from the executive branch to Congress, and set a maximum length of time
that TPS can be provided.

Sponsored by Representative Mo Brooks (R-Alabama) (6

cosponsors - 6 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

04/01/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative Brooks

04/01/2022 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

**H.R. 7359**

**Stop Fentanyl Border Crossings Act**

The bill would allow Title 42 public health authority to be used at the
border to expel migrants in the name of preventing the smuggling of
illicit drugs.

Sponsored by Representative Scott DesJarlais (R-Tennessee) (28

cosponsors - 28 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

04/04/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative DesJarlais

04/04/2022 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce

**H.R. 7374**

**Jumpstart Act**

The bill contains several reforms to address the green card backlog. It
allows those who have been waiting for over two years in the backlog to
pay a fee to be exempted from visa limits, allows future unused
employment-based green cards to roll over to family-based categories,
and allows certain individuals in the U.S. but waiting in the green card
backlog to receive work authorization.

Sponsored by Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-California) (4

cosponsors - 4 Democrats, 0 Republicans)

04/04/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative Lofgren

04/04/2022 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

**H.R. 7380**

**Cartel Haven Sanction Act**

The bill would prohibit remittances from the United States to Mexico
until a border wall has been constructed on the U.S.-Mexico border and
is fully operational. The bill would also authorize additional sanctions
on individuals associated with cartel or human trafficking organizations
in Mexico.

Sponsored by Representative Paul Gosar (R-Arizona) (1

cosponsor - 1 Republican, 0 Democrats)

04/04/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative Gosar

04/04/2022 Referred to the House Committees on Foreign Affairs,
Education, and Energy and Commerce

**H.R. 7413**

**Immigration Enforcement Partnership Act**

The bill would authorize state attorneys general to demand that the
Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to require
that DHS adequately enforce various immigration enforcement duties or
deputize state officials to carry out federal immigration enforcement
functions under section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
The bill would also allow state attorneys general to file a civil action
against DHS if they believed that DHS was not abiding by these demands.

Sponsored by Representative Bill Posey (R-Florida) (0 cosponsors)

04/06/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative Posey

04/06/2022 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

**H.R. 7442**

**H-4 Work Authorization Act**

The bill would allow H-4 visa holders (the spouses of H-1B specialty
occupation visa holders) to be granted work authorization without
needing to submit an official application document.

Sponsored by Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Georgia) (1

cosponsor - 1 Republican, 0 Democrats)

04/06/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative Bourdeaux

04/06/2022 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

**H.R. 7450**

**Build the Wall Now Act**

The bill requires border barrier construction to restart within 24 hours
of enactment and makes available funds that had been appropriated for
wall construction under the previous administration, including those
that were taken from U.S. Department of Defense accounts.

Sponsored by Representative Ted Budd (R-North Carolina) (12 cosponsors
- 12 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

03/31/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative Budd

03/31/2022 Referred to the House Committees on Homeland Security,
Natural Resources, Energy and Commerce, Transportation and
Infrastructure, Armed Services, Agriculture, Small Business, Oversight
and Reform, and the Judiciary.

H.R. 7452

**Updated Standards for Asylum (USA) Act**

The bill would implement a number of restrictions on the asylum system,
including increasing standards of proof at various stages in the asylum
process, establishing additional penalties for asylum claims, and
preventing asylum seekers from re-applying.

Sponsored by Representative John Carter (R-Texas) (0 cosponsors)

04/07/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative Carter

04/07/2022 Referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security

H.R. 7459

**Public Health and Border Security Act**

The bill would require all COVID-19 related national states of emergency
to be lifted before the pandemic-era Title 42 health policy at the
border can be officially terminated. The bill would also require a
60-day termination window and require the administration to submit a
plan to Congress as to how it plans to address any possible influx of
arriving migrants. The bill is a companion to  **S. 4036**

**.**

Sponsored by Representative Jared Golden (D-Maine) (1

cosponsor - 1 Republican, 0 Democrats)

04/07/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative Carter

04/07/2022 Referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security

**LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR**The U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of
Representatives will not be in session the week of Monday, April 11,
2022.

**UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS**There are no immigration-related
hearings or markups currently scheduled for the week of Monday, April
11, 2022.

**THEMES IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK**

****Federal****

******Bipartisan Group of Senators Aim to Prevent Biden Administration
from Suspending Title 42 at the Border******On April 7, a bipartisan
group of 11 Senators led by Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona) and James
Lankford (R-Oklahoma) introduced

the Public Health and Border Security Act, a bill that would delay the
end of Title 42 at the border, a pandemic-era policy that has been used
to rapidly turn away arriving migrants without offering them the chance
to seek protection under U.S. law. On April 1, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a 30-page assessment

that concluded Title 42 "is no longer necessary" to protect public
health and ordered the policy to be lifted by May 23.

The bill would require the multiple national states of emergency related
to the COVID-19 pandemic to be lifted before Title 42 is terminated at
the border. The legislation comes after many congressional Republicans
and some Democrats have criticized the Biden administration for planning
to lift Title 42 without having a clear plan in place at the border to
replace it.

Other House and Senate Democrats have supported the decision to end
Title 42. Senator Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey) said
"Title 42 is part of the problem,
not the solution to the problem." In a hearing on April 6,
Representative Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) said

"Does Title 42 stop migration? We've tried that...I hope the test case
proves what works and what doesn't."

The disagreement over the end of Title 42 has led an impasse in
bipartisan attempts to pass a $10 billion COVID-19 relief package.
Republicans have insisted on including an amendment preventing the
administration from ending Title 42 as a condition of moving forward on
the relief package. But Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-New
York) refused

to hold what would be a tough vote for much of his caucus, stating

that the package "should not be held hostage for an extraneous issue."
The resulting stalemate has prevented the Senate from advancing the
relief package in advance of a two-week congressional recess.

Congressional pushback on ending Title 42 occurs as the Biden
administration is preparing for an increase in migrant arrivals this
spring. The preparations are in response both to annual seasonal
increases (with migration having peaked in May

in five of the last eight years), as well as potential increases related
to the need to process border crossers and asylum seekers  following
the end of Title 42. The administration has established theSouthwest
Border Coordination Center

to organize agency efforts and released a fact sheet

detailing its preparations for an increase in migration.

******Increasing Numbers of Ukrainians Arrive at the U.S.-Mexico Border
to Seek Protection******According to multiple

reports
,
more than 2,000 Ukrainians are waiting at the U.S.-Mexico border to
cross into the U.S. and seek asylum. The Biden administration is
processing the Ukrainians in at official crossing points that have been
closed to other asylum seekers, but requiring them to wait in "metering"
lines that can take several days.

An estimated 4 million

forced migrants have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian
invasion in late February. On March 25, the Biden administration
committed
to
welcoming 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, but in March only 12
total Ukrainians
were resettled via the slow-moving refugee resettlement program
.
Ukrainians do not need tourist visas to travel to Mexico, and the
sluggishness of existing pathways to protection has led an increasing
number to arrive at the southern border.

Many of the Ukrainians at the border are hoping to join relatives

who are U.S. citizens or residents. There are approximately 1 million

Americans of Ukrainian heritage living in the United States.

******Low March Resettlement Numbers Demonstrate Challenge in Welcoming
Ukrainians, Afghans Left Behind******On April 6, refugee resettlement
data released by the
State Department revealed the administration has resettled a total of
2,263 refugees in March 2022. The number represents a 6% increase from
February. Halfway through the fiscal year, the administration is on
track for just 17,516 total refugees resettled, only a fraction of the
refugee ceiling of 125,000 set by the Biden administration in September
2021.

The slow-moving resettlement system has been unable to respond
efficiently to forced migration crises in Afghanistan and Ukraine. On
August 2, 2021, the U.S. created

a "priority" path for certain Afghan nationals to enter the resettlement
program. Over 16,000 Afghans applied for the pathway, but eight months
later on April 2, zero

have been resettled to the U.S. As for Ukrainian refugees, March
resettlement data revealed just 12 Ukrainians were resettled even as the
Biden administration committed to welcome 100,000 refugees fleeing the
Russian invasion.

The low Ukrainian totals can be explained in part by the need to
relocate resettlement operations from Kiev after the invasion. However,
even in normal circumstances the resettlement system can take over two
years

from start to finish, preventing those in danger from accessing safety
or protection in a timely manner.

****Legal****

******Missouri, Arizona, and Louisiana File Lawsuit Against Biden
Administration for Lifting Title 42******On April 4, several Republican
attorneys general filed a lawsuit

in the Western District of Louisiana challenging the CDC's decision to
terminate Title 42 on May 23. The lawsuit was filed by Arizona,
Missouri, and Louisiana and asserts

that the CDC termination order is illegal because it is arbitrary and
capricious and violates notice-and-comment requirements in the
Administrative Procedure Act. The text of the original CDC order
authorizing the use of Title 42 at the border provided authority to CDC
to terminate the policy at any time.

Previously, Republican attorneys general successfully sued the Biden
administration for ending the Migrant Protection Protocols, another
border measure initially implemented under the Trump administration, in
a decision that faced heavy criticism

from immigration advocates and legal commentators. That litigation,
which is now before the Supreme Court, has forced

the Biden administration to re-implement MPP.

******ICE Directs OPLA Lawyers to Review and Clear Low-Priority Cases in
Legal Memo******In an April 3 legal memo, U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) directed

its Office of the Principle Legal Advisory (OPLA) attorneys to review
and clear cases that are not priorities under recently-established
enforcement guidelines
,
such as those concerning individuals who are not public safety threats
or recent border crossers.

According to the American Immigration Lawyers Association, at least
700,000 cases currently in the immigration court backlog (approximately
40% of it) could be considered low-priority under the guidelines. The
memo comes in addition to other efforts to address the ever-increasing
court backlog, such as November 2021 guidance
that allows
immigration judges to use docket management tools like administrative
closure to pause removal proceedings on certain individuals.

On April 5, the states of Florida, Alabama, and Georgia filed a lawsuit

in the Northern District of Alabama challenging the recent enforcement
guidelines that prioritize certain immigrants for enforcement and
provide additional discretion to enforcement personnel. The suit claims
the Biden administration guidelines violated the Administrative
Procedure Act.

****State and Local****

******TX Governor Threatens to Bus Arriving Migrants to Washington,
D.C.******On April 6, Governor Greg Abbott (R-Texas) promised

"unprecedented" action in response to the CDC's April 1 announcement
that it will be ending Title 42 on May 23. In opposing the Title 42 wind
down, Abbott threatened to use state troopers to apprehend migrants at
the border and bus the migrants to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Following criticism of the proposal's legality and practicality,
including criticism from the White House characterizing the announcement
as a "publicity stunt
,"
the governor's office later clarified the program would be

"completely voluntary" for migrants and would occur only after migrants
were processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which has
jurisdiction over the border.

After CBP processing and placement into alternatives to detention, many
migrants - particularly families and children - are already put on
buses or flights to go to locations where they can continue their
immigration court proceedings.

******Arizona Legislature Introduces "Legal Vigilante" Bill Targeting
Undocumented Immigrants, Also Enacts Voting Restrictions Likely to
Impact Naturalized Citizen Voters******On March 30, Arizona lawmakers
introduced a law

that would create an open-access database in the state with pictures and
information on undocumented immigrants. The bill, H.B. 2326
, was introduced
by Representative
John Kavanagh(R-Arizona) of the Arizona House of Representatives. In an
April 4 letter, Arizona business leaders expressed concern

that the bill would allow and encourage "legal vigilantes" to target
immigrant communities and urged state lawmakers to reject the bill.

Previously, on March 30, Gov. Doug Ducey (R-Arizona) signed into law
a second bill
(H.B. 2492) that requires Arizonans to obtain, copy, and submit
paperwork that proves their citizenship and state residency when
registering to vote. Critics

have noted that such requirements have a disproportionate impact on
communities less likely to have access to documents, potentially
disenfranchising several communities of legal voters, including
naturalized citizens, Native Americans, seniors, and lower income
voters, and violates existing Supreme Court precedent. The Campaign
Legal Center has filed a lawsuit

against the bill, alleging that it creates discriminatory and
unnecessary barriers for naturalized citizens that are not placed on
other voters.

**GOVERNMENT REPORTS**

**Congressional Research Service (CRS), "****Legal Sidebar: The
Department of Homeland Security's Authority to Expand Expedited
Removal Proceedings**

**,**

**" April 6, 2022**This CRS legal sidebar describes DHS removal
proceedings and explains how a rapid deportation process called
expedited removal fits into those proceedings. The sidebar examines the
legality of the Trump administration's attempt to dramatically expand
the use of expedited removal and notes the open legal question of due
process considerations that limit the use of expedited removal in the
interior of the U.S.

**Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS-OIG),
"****FEMA Successfully Assisted HHS in Providing Shelter and Supplies to
Unaccompanied Children from the Southwest Border**

**,**

**" March 31, 2022**In March 2021, DHS directed FEMA to support the
processing and care of increasing numbers of unaccompanied children
arriving at the border. This OIG audit examines FEMA's role in the
process and concludes the agency accomplished its operational goals to
help provide shelter and supplies to unaccompanied children. The report
did not contain any recommendations.

**Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS-OIG),
"****CBP Needs Improved Oversight for Its Centers for Excellence and
Expertise**

**,**

**" March 31, 2022**This OIG report examines implementation of CBP
Centers of Excellence and Expertise, which are meant to coordinate and
improve policy on trade enforcement and facilitation across ports of
entry. The report finds that there are no established performance
standards for the Centers, making it difficult to determine their
effectiveness.

**SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES****Remaking USCIS:
Supplementing a Fee-Funded Agency**
This
blog post describes mounting backlogs and budget shortfalls at U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), describes the impact of
recent legislation designed to better fund USCIS, and concludes that
additional appropriations will be necessary for USCIS to achieve its
mission.

**Addressing Increases in Migration at the Southwest Border**
This
resource provides policy recommendations that would create more humane
and efficient border processing, refocus on regional approaches that
combat trafficking networks and address the root causes of migration,
and enact practical border security fixes that address key remaining
vulnerabilities.

**Border Security Along the Southwest Border: Fact Sheet**
This
fact sheet analyzes the state of border security along the southwest
border, describing the personnel and technology that have been deployed
and the key threats the border continues to face at ports of entry.

* * *

*This Bulletin is not intended to be comprehensive. Please contact
Danilo Zak, National Immigration Forum Policy and Advocacy Manager, with
comments and suggestions of additional items to be included. Danilo can
be reached at [email protected] .
Thank you.

 

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