Legislative Bulletin

 

 

Hello all,

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

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

[link removed]

All the best,

Arturo 

**LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN - Friday, July 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. 4460

**Eradicating Narcotic Drugs and Formulating Effective New Tools to
Address National Yearly Losses of Life Act (END FENTANYL Act)**

The bill would require the CBP Commissioner to review and update the
policies and manuals of the Office of Field Operations to enhance
inspection practices at ports of entry to prevent the trafficking of
drugs and humans.

Sponsored by Senator Rick Scott (R-Florida) (3

cosponsors- 2 Democrats 1, Republican)

06/23/2022 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Scott

06/23/2022 Referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs

**LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR**

The U.S. Senate will be in session the week of Monday, July 11, 2022.

The U.S. House of Representatives will be in session from Tuesday, July
12, through Friday, July 15, 2022.

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

**THEMES IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK**

****Legal****

****Fifth Circuit Hears Oral Arguments on DACA Case****On July 6, the
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on Texas et al. v.
USA
,
a case concerning the legality of the Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides protections for certain young
undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. The
case could impact over 611,000

DACA recipients who rely on the program, and many others who may be
eligible for protection. During oral arguments, the court focused on
the issue of the plaintiff states' standing to bring the suit. Texas
- the state leading

Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, and West
Virginia in their collective challenge against the program's legality
- argued

that its expenditures on DACA recipients placed an undue burden on the
state. In defense of DACA, the Justice Department asserted that Texas
had failed to establish standing and that Texas's alleged injury was too
speculative. Also speaking in support of DACA, the New Jersey Acting
Attorney General Matthew Platkin questioned Texas's decision to
challenge the program years after the policy was issued and argued

that eliminating the program would greatly disrupt the lives of DACA
recipients, employers, their citizen children, and states.

The case stems from a July 16, 2021 ruling

from District Court Judge Andrew Hanen in which he held that DACA was
unlawful, granted a permanent injunction vacating the original 2012 DACA
memorandum, and prevented USCIS from approving new DACA
applications. However, noting the reliance interest of current DACA
recipients, Judge Hanen temporarily stayed the injunction for those who
had DACA protections at the time of the ruling, allowing them to
continue to receive and renew protections.

In addition to appealing the decision to the Fifth Circuit, DHS has also
proceeded with rulemaking to formalize DACA, an effort to satisfy the
procedural objections raised by Judge Hanen. The proposed rule

to preserve DACA was published in the Federal Register in September
2021. It is anticipated that a final rule may be published in the
summer of 2022.

****Fifth Circuit Upholds Court Order Vacating DHS's Immigration
Enforcement Priorities****On July 7, the Fifth Circuit refused

to grant a stay of a lower court's order that blocked

the Biden administration's immigration enforcement guidelines. The
guidelines attempted to re-prioritize enforcement efforts to focus on
immigrants who are deemed national security threats, those who recently
crossed the border unlawfully, and those who have been convicted of
aggravated felonies or other violent crimes. In the view
of the
Fifth Circuit, the administration's appeal is unlikely to be
successful because the immigration enforcement guidelines conflict with
federal statutes, are arbitrary and capricious, and their promulgation
was procedurally invalid.

The decision stems from an April 6 lawsuit

that Texas and Louisiana filed against the federal government's
enforcement guidelines. The Biden administration argued that limited
resources require prioritizing certain enforcement actions, and that the
use of discretion and prioritization is both common and necessary across
law enforcement agencies. But on June 10, a federal judge in Texas judge
sided

with the states, arguing that while the federal government has
case-by-case discretion, DHS policy binds officials in a "generalized,
prospective manner." The Biden administration appealed the ruling and
requested a stay while the appeal was underway.

The Fifth Circuit's rejection of the stay request conflicts

with a July 6 ruling in the Sixth Circuit, which rejected a similar
injunction

by an Ohio judge in a suit that also concerned the administration's
enforcement guidelines.

****Federal****

****Refugee Resettlement Rises in June, Although Administration Still on
Track to Fall Well Below Resettlement Goals****Refugee resettlement data
released on July 5
by the State Department revealed the administration resettled a total of
2,457 refugees in June, which represents a 29% increase from the 1,898
resettled in May. Following three months of declining numbers, June
marked the highest resettlement total of any month in FY 2022 so far.
With just three months left in the fiscal year, the current resettlement
pace would lead to a total of only 20,133 total refugees resettled in FY
2022 - still far below the ceiling the administration set at 125,000.
These low totals come as the UNHCR estimates

a record 2 million refugees most in need of resettlement worldwide.

June's resettlement increase was driven largely by a sharp uptick in
refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The U.S. resettled
808 Congolese refugees in June, a 103% increase from 398 in May and by
far the highest resettlement total of any country of origin this month.
The released data also revealed that the U.S. resettled only 142
Ukrainians in June, up from 77 in May but still not making a significant
impact on the administration's pledge

of welcoming 100,000 Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion. Instead,
the Uniting for Ukraine parole program has received over 66,000
applications in about two months, and over 41,000 have already been
approved.

The June resettlement data also reveals

that 1,262 Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) were granted to Afghans in
June, a 91% increase from the 629 granted in May.

****MPP Remains in Place After SCOTUS Allowed Biden Administration to
Terminate the Program****On July 3, only three days after the Supreme
Court ruled
the Biden
administration can lawfully end the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP)
- also known as the "Remain in Mexico" program - Secretary of
Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said

that the policy would remain in place until the ruling is officially in
effect. He stated

that while MPP has "endemic flaws, imposes unjustifiable human costs,
and pulls resources and personnel away from other priority efforts to
secure our border," the administration must wait until it was legally
permissible to terminate the program. In the administration's opinion
,
it is required to wait a few more weeks to lawfully end the program
while the Supreme Court's decision is formally communicated to the lower
court in Texas which issued an injunction against ending the policy.

****President Biden to Host Mexico's President López Obrador to Discuss
Migration, Other Issues****On July 12, President Biden will host

Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for a bilateral meeting
at the White House to discuss a number of joint efforts to address
regional challenges, including migration
.
The meeting will happen amid record-high encounters of migrants at the
U.S.-Mexico border, a majority

of them Mexican. According to a June 24 press release

from the Mexican government, high-level negotiations are ongoing between
the United States and Mexico to expand the number of H-2B seasonal
nonagricultural visas and enhance the process of H-2A seasonal
agricultural visas for Mexicans and Central Americans. In addition, the
press release highlights

that Mexico and the United States are exploring policies to strengthen
Mexicans' labor rights and protect children in a situation of mobility.

****State & Local****

****Texas Governor Abbott Orders State Authorities to Apprehend
Undocumented Immigrants and Return Them to Ports of Entry at the
Border****On July 7, Governor Greg Abbott (R-Texas) signed an executive
order that
authorizes the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public
Safety to apprehend immigrants who cross the border irregularly between
ports of entry or commit other violations of federal law, and return
them to the border at a port of entry.

Immigration advocates and legal scholars have raised concerns

over the legality of the executive order and reiterated that immigration
enforcement is the sole responsibility of the federal government. Also,
in response to the executive order, the Mexican government expressed

its opposition to the measure and stated that the order "can only be
understood as part of the electoral campaigns in Texas."

The executive order came after a group of county officials in South
Texas urged

Governor Abbott to declare an "invasion" under the Texas and United
States constitutions and begin using state resources to expel migrants.
The power to deport individuals lies within the exclusive authority of
the federal government.

****Biden Administration Challenges Arizona's Proof-of-Citizenship Voter
Law****On July 5, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit

against the state of Arizona over legislation that requires voters to
show proof of citizenship when casting a presidential ballot in person
or by mail. The bill also requires that registration forms include a
person's place of birth, which critics believe is immaterial to
establishing whether a voter is a U.S. citizen. State Republican
lawmakers passed the bill along party lines and Governor Doug Ducey
(R-Arizona) signed it into law on March 30. The new law, House Bill 2492
, is set to
take effect at the end of the year and requires that county officials
reject voting applications that do not include citizenship documents.
Critics of the bill argue

that the new measure could disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters.

In the lawsuit, the Justice Department said

the bill "turns back the clock" on voting rights by imposing unnecessary
requirements to produce documents demonstrating citizenship. Kristen
Clark, head of the Justice Department's civil rights division, called

the bill a "textbook violation" of the 1993 National Voter Registration
Act, which established a voter-registration form that requires people to
attest under penalty of perjury that they are U.S. citizens. That
process was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2013, which rejected a
similar attempt by the state of Arizona to impose proof of citizenship
requirements for federal elections. The Justice Department further
argues

the law violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act because it requires election
officials to reject registration forms based on errors and omissions
that are unrelated to a voter's ability to cast a ballot.

****Biden Administration Deploys Surveillance Blimp at the Arizona
Border with Mexico****On June 28, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) started using

an aerostatic surveillance balloon at the U.S.-Mexico border at Nogales,
Arizona. The blimp, which has day and night-vision cameras and can reach
up to 3,000 feet, will be used "to maintain visual awareness of border
activity for longer periods of time" according to CBP officials. The
blimp, however, raised privacy concerns

from local residents in Nogales who worry that the federal government
will have the capacity to monitor their daily activities. In response to
the concerns, a CBP spokesperson stressed

that "the technology will not be oriented in such a way as to monitor
the activities occurring outside of the immediate areas of the border."
The federal government has used aerostatic blimps to monitor the border
since 2013, but this is the first in eastern Arizona.

**GOVERNMENT REPORTS**

**Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS-OIG);
"****Violations of ICE Detention Standards at Folkston Processing Center
and Folkston Annex**

**;" June 30, 2022**This OIG report highlights that U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Folkston Processing Center (Folkston) in
Georgia does not meet standards for facility conditions, medical care,
grievances, segregation, staff-detainee communications, and handling of
detainee property. The report reveals that Folkston is unsanitary and
dilapidated, with torn mattresses, water leaks and standing water, mold
growth and water damage, rundown showers, mold and debris in the
ventilation system, insect infestations, lack of access to hot showers,
inoperable toilets, and an absence of hot meals. The report also notes
that Folkston does not provide timely or complete responses to detainee
grievances and requests. Folkston also fails to consistently provide
required services to detainees in segregation and inappropriately
handcuffed detainees. In addition, medical staff at Folkston does not
provide timely access to specialty care or adequate mental health care
for detainees. The report notes that all these violations have
compromised the health, safety, and rights of detainees.

**Congressional Research Service (CRS); "****U.S. Immigration Courts:
Access to Counsel in Removal Proceedings and Legal Access Programs**

**;" July 6, 2022**This CRS report provides an overview of the right to
access counsel in removal proceedings before U.S. immigration courts.
The report highlights that while the federal government cannot provide
counsel, respondents must have the option to seek counsel at their own
expense or pro bono.

**Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Citizenship and
Immigration Services (CIS) Ombudsman; "****Annual Report 2022**

**"; June 30, 2022.**This report provides recommendations for creating a
more effective and efficient system to better assist individuals and
employers applying for immigration benefits at U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS). This year's report contains an overview of
the CIS Ombudsman's mission and services, USCIS's programmatic and
policy challenges during 2021 and early 2022, and a detailed discussion
of pervasive problems, recommendations, and best practices in the
administration of our immigration laws. members.

**Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS-OIG);
"****CBP Complied with Facial Recognition Policies to Identify
International Travelers at Airports**

**;" July 5, 2022**This OIG report highlights that from May 2019 to
September 2021, CBP used facial biometric technology deployed at
airports to process 51.1 million international travelers entering the
United States. The report notes that in that period, CBP identified 39
impostors attempting entry into the country.

**SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES****Infographic: What
You Need to Know About the Great Replacement Theory**
This
infographic is designed to help anyone understand what this "great
replacement" theory is, where it came from, and how it is being used
today. It also explores the implications of its growing popularity, and
how we can fight back against its spread.

**The Current State of DACA: Challenges Await in Litigation and
Rulemaking**
This
explainer describes the current state of the Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, discussing the ongoing attempts to
scale back or end the program in the courts and the current
administration's attempts to preserve the program.

**Explainer: The Migrant Protection Protocols**
This
explainer describes the history and elements of the Migrant Protection
Protocols (MPP), commonly known as the Remain-in-Mexico program. Under
MPP, certain migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border were
returned to Mexico after making an asylum claim in the U.S. and expected
to wait near the border for the duration of their immigration
proceedings.

* * *

*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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