Legislative Bulletin

 

 

Hello all,

The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday, July
22, 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, July 22, 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. 4567

**Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment Act (EAGLE ACT)**

The bill would phase out the 7% per-country limit on employment-based
immigrant visas and raise the 7% per-country limit on family-sponsored
visas to 15%. The bill also includes provisions to reform and modernize
the H-1B visa program and provides flexibility for those already in the
U.S. but stuck in the green card backlog. The bill is a companion to
H.R. 3648
.

Sponsored by Senator Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota) (1

cosponsor- 1 Democrat, 0 Republicans)

07/20/2022 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Cramer

07/20/2022 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

S. 4570

**Transnational Criminal Organization Illicit Spotter Prevention and
Elimination Act**

The bill would increase penalties for those who aid cartels in illegal
activity by transmitting information about the positions of Border
Patrol or destroying Border Patrol communication devices.

Sponsored by Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) (3

cosponsors- 3 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

07/20/2022 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Ernst

07/20/2022 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

S. 4572

**A bill to require U.S. Customs and Border Protection to expand the use
of non-intrusive inspection systems at land ports of entry**

Sponsored by Senator Gary Peters (D-Michigan) (1

cosponsor- 1 Republican, 0 Democrats)

07/20/2022 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Peters

07/20/2022 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 8356

**Flores Settlement Update and Establishment Act of 2022**

The bill would require the Department of Homeland Security to hold a
minor in custody for 120 days before being transferred to the Secretary
of Health and Human Services. It would also require DNA testing of
family units to establish a genetic relation. The bill would also
require the detention and segregation of minor children and adults in a
family unit until evidence of a familial relationship is established.

Sponsored by Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) (12

cosponsors- 12 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

07/13/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative Crenshaw

07/13/2022 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 8371

**Border Bonds for America Act of 2022**

The bill would establish a Border Trust Fund within the Treasury
Department. It would also require the Treasury Department to issue
bonds, known as Border Bonds. The proceeds of the Border Bonds would be
required to be transferred to the Border Trust Fund to construct
reinforced fencing and provide for the installation of additional
physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors to gain
operational control of the southwest border.

Sponsored by Representative Steven Palazzo (R-Mississippi) (1

cosponsor- 1 Republican, 0 Democrats)

07/14/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative Palazzo

07/14/2022 Referred to the House Committees on Ways and Means and
Homeland Security

H.R. 8382

**Migrant Protection Protocols Act of 2022**

The bill would codify the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also 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.

Sponsored by Representative Carlos Gimenez (R-Florida) (7

cosponsors- 7 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

07/14/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative Gimenez

07/14/2022 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 8393

**Puerto Rico Status Act**

The bill would enable eligible voters of Puerto Rico to choose a
permanent, non-territorial, fully self-governing political status for
Puerto Rico. Among the many provisions, the bill would require the
Elections Commission of Puerto Rico to carry out a nonpartisan voter
education campaign about citizenship and immigration as a consequence of
their potential independence. If granted independence, Puerto Ricans
would be subject to the same U.S. immigration laws that apply to foreign
nationals.

Sponsored by Representative Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona) (18

cosponsors- 13 Democrats, 5 Republicans)

07/15/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative Grijalva

07/15/2022 Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources

H.R. 8420

**To direct the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland
Security to add questions to visa application forms, applications to
register permanent residence or adjust status, and applications for
naturalization, related to affiliation with the Islamic Revolutionary
Guards Corps, including any Basij organizations**

Sponsored by Representative Jim Banks (R-Indiana) (14

cosponsors- 14 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

07/19/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative Banks

07/19/2022 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 8433

**Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929**

The bill would update the registry provision by moving the eligibility
cutoff date so that an immigrant may qualify if they have been in the
U.S. for at least seven years. Registry is a provision of immigration
law that allows individuals to apply for lawful permanent resident
status provided they entered the United States before a particular date
- the "registry date -" and have continuously resided in the United
States.

Sponsored by Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-California) (48

cosponsors- 48 Democrats, 0 Republicans)

07/20/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative Lofgren

07/20/2022 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

**LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR**

The U.S. Senate will be in session the week of Monday, July 25, 2022.

The U.S. House of Representatives will be in session from Tuesday, July
26, through Friday, July 29, 2022.

**UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS**There are no immigration-related
hearings scheduled for the week of July 25, 2022.

**THEMES IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK**

****Legal****

****Supreme Court Rejects Stay of Court Order Blocking Immigration
Enforcement Priorities****In a 5-4 vote on July 21, the Supreme Court
declined

to lift an injunction blocking the Biden administration's immigration
enforcement guidelines
 meant
to prioritize threats to national security and public safety.

In June, a federal judge in Texas had enjoined

the policy, with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit Court of
Appeals subsequently declining to stay the injunction. The Supreme Court
will hear the merits of the case in December, but in the meantime, the
guidance is not in effect.

Critics panned

the one-page order
,
arguing that DHS authority to set immigration priorities is longstanding
, provided by
statute
,
and undermines prosecutorial discretion
.
Presidential administrations of both parties have long set their own
immigration enforcement priorities.

In a July 8 request for an emergency stay, Solicitor General Elizabeth
Prelogar warned that enjoining the enforcement priorities will have a
negative impact on DHS operations, "thwarting the Secretary's direction
of the Department he leads and disrupting DHS's efforts to focus its
limited resources on the noncitizens who pose the gravest threat to
national security, public safety, and the integrity of our Nation's
borders."

The case represents the latest

of several in which Republican-led states have blocked significant parts
of the Biden administration's immigration agenda.

****Federal****

****June Border Data Reveals Decrease in Migrant Arrivals****On July 15,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released

official data on the number of migrants the agency had apprehended or
encountered at the southwest border in the month of June. The data
showed a 14% decrease in overall monthly encounters as arrivals fell to
207,416 in June from May's total of 239,416.

The encounter data continues to be inflated by a high number of repeat
crossers, with CBP reporting recidivism rates at 26%. Taking this repeat
crosser rate into account, reported the total number of "unique"
crossers encountered in June was 153,379 - also a 14% decrease from
May. The continued use of the Title 42 policy, which carries no
penalties for repeat crossers, may be one reason for the increase in
recidivism. Title 42 was used 92,273 times in June to rapidly expel
migrants without providing them a chance to seek protection under U.S.
law.

The overall decrease in encounters was driven in part by a sharp decline
in arrivals from Cuba. Cuban arrivals declined to 16,447 in June, down
36.7% from May and 53.1% from April. Even as other encounters fell, the
month of June saw a sharp 153% increase in arrivals of Venezuelans,
reaching 13,350 encounters. In addition, the number of unaccompanied
children arriving at the border continued to rise, up another 4% in June
to 15,271.

Migration at the border peaked in May in five of the last eight years,
and the June decline could be a sign of seasonal patterns in which
arrivals slow during the hotter summer months. However, recent reporting

suggests a July spike in encounters, particularly in the historically
quiet Del Rio sector. Del Rio has been getting higher-than-usual traffic
since March.

****ICE Expected to Run Out of Money by October; DHS to Shift Millions
From Other Programs****According to a July 13 Axios report
,
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is expected to run out of
money by October unless the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shifts
millions of dollars from other programs. According to the report, the
federal agency's $345 million budgetary deficit is due to recent policy
reforms, court decisions, and responding to record encounters at the
U.S.-Mexico border. Among the changes impacting ICE's budget are recent
investments in alternatives to detention programming the court order to
restart the Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), which
reportedly cost $100 million. According to Axios, DHS will shift
approximately $100 million from the Coast Guard's budget, while $80
million could be freed up by moving around existing ICE funds.

Some advocacy organizations have opposed

the transfer or reprogramming of funds to salvage ICE's looming budget
deficit, alleging the agency has a record of misusing funds. DHS
officials stated

that reprogramming actions are a normal function of a federal agency to
meet its priority needs.

ICE has an overall annual operating budget of $8.1 billion. Notably,
there has not been a Senate-confirmed director of ICE

since the Obama administration.

****Biden Administration Simplifies Application Process for Afghan SIV
Applicants****On July 18, the Biden administration announced

plans to simplify the application process for Afghan Special Immigrant
Visa (SIV) applicants. The U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department
of Homeland Security issued a statement that new Afghan applicants will
need to file only a single, revised form (DS-157) in order to petition
for an SIV. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland
Security Alejandro Mayorkas stated

that this change "will help to eliminate barriers for applicants and
reduce application times," but will not "reduce or remove any of the
robust security vetting processes required before the benefit is
granted."

The SIV program was created to provide protection for certain Iraqis and
Afghans who worked for the U.S. government in support of military
efforts. The program is currently heavily backlogged and applications
often take years to process. Administration officials believe

the simplified application process may reduce wait times by about one
month.

As of July 2022, there are approximately 74,274 principal applicants

with pending Afghan SIV applications. Of that number, only about 10,000
principal applicants have chief of mission (COM) approval - a critical
phase in the application process.  A senior administration official
stated that about 40-50% of applicants in the pre-COM phase are denied
for either not having the right documentation or not being otherwise
eligible for the SIV program.

****Wait Times for Visa Interviews Significantly Increased in
2022****According to a July 19 CATO report
,
wait times for non-emergency visa interviews have grown significantly
since 2021. According to the report, it may take over six months for a
tourist or a business traveler to schedule an interview at most
consulates. Among consulates responsible for conducting interviews, 52%

have interviews scheduled for at least six months or longer and 27% have
interviews scheduled for a year or longer. Interviews for student visas
and temporary work visas are backlogged forty-nine and seventy-five
days, respectively
.
In addition to non-immigrant visa applications, immigrant visa
applications are backlogged by 433,819 cases
.
Based on the 42,096 immigrant visas

issued in May, the average wait for an immigrant visa interview might be
ten months.

The report notes that in 2012, President Obama signed an executive order

which mandated that 80% of all temporary visas be issued in less than
twenty-one days in response to an increase in visa wait times. This
order was rescinded

under the Trump Administration and has not been re-issued thus far under
the Biden Administration.

****USCIS Backlog Reaches 8.6 Million Pending Applications****On July
18, U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) released

data on the number of applications received, approved, denied, and
pending as of March 2022. The data showed that the agency's total
backlog grew from 8.4 million in December 2021 to almost 8.6 million in
March.

Notably, pending employment authorization applications increased
from 1.5
million in December to 1.6 million in March, with the number of pending
asylum applications increasing from 432,341 in December to 468,080 in
March.

The USCIS also included information
on the average
processing times for various categories of employment authorizations.
Current median wait times are as follows:  8.8 months for asylum
seekers, 6.5 months for people adjusting status, two weeks for DACA
holders, and 5.7 months for all others.

Despite growing backlogs in many areas, USCIS reported progress on
temporary protected status (TPS) application backlogs, which decreased
from 313,309 in December to 295,511 in March.

****USCIS Announces Second Phase of Premium Processing for Certain
Employment-Based Green Card Petitions****On July 15, U.S. Customs and
Immigration Services (USCIS) announced

the second phase of premium processing for petitioners who have a
pending green card petition under the EB-1 and EB-2 classifications.
Premium processing provides - for an additional fee - expedited
processing for certain categories of applicants by guaranteeing some
adjudicative action on the case within 15 to 45 calendar days.

This phase only applies to applicants who have already filed Form I-140
under an E13 multinational executive and
manager classification or E21 classification as a member of professions
with advanced degrees or exceptional ability seeking a national interest
waiver. The agency announced that petitioners who wish to request a
premium processing upgrade must file a Request for Premium Processing
Service (Form I-907 ).

In the announcement, USCIS highlighted

that the expansion of premium processing is part of the agency's efforts
to increase efficiency and reduce burdens to the overall legal
immigration system.

****State & Local****

****NYC and DC Mayors Ask Federal Government to Provide Support for
Migrants Bused from Border States****Following the busing of thousands
of asylum-seeking migrants from Texas and Arizona to Washington, D.C.,
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and New York City Mayor Eric Adams
called

on the Biden administration to provide assistance to their cities. The
requests, which prompted pointed reactions

from some congressional Republicans, followed Texas and Arizona state
government initiatives to bus migrants to Washington, D.C. According

to reports
,
reports, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's (R-Texas) busing initiative

had transported over 5,200 people out of the state, with Arizona's
similar program busing 1,100 asylum seekers

out of Arizona.

On July 17, D.C. Mayor Bowser said
in an interview that she
had "called on the federal government to work across state lines to
prevent people from being tricked into getting on (these) buses." She
also highlighted that she
had worked "with the White House to make sure that the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) provided a grant to a local organization that
is providing services" to these migrants.

On July 19, New York City Mayor Adams argued

that the city was experiencing a marked increase in the number of asylum
seekers arriving from neighboring states after being bused out of
Arizona and Texas, after previously stating incorrectly that the
migrants had been bused directly to New York. Adams called

on the federal government to partner with NYC to provide high-quality
shelter and services for the 2,800 people who had recently entered into
NYC shelter system.

**GOVERNMENT REPORTS**

**Congressional Research Service (CRS); "****Citizenship and Immigration
Statuses of the U.S. Foreign-Born Population**

**;" July 18, 2022**This CRS brief provides information about the U.S.
foreign-born population. According to the 2020 American Community
Survey, the total number of foreign-born people residing in the United
States reached 44.1 million, representing 13.5% of the total U.S.
population.

**SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM
RESOURCES****Explainer: DHS Immigration Enforcement Guidelines**
This
is an explainer on the
new DHS immigration enforcement priorities issued on September 30.
The new guidance provides flexibility to DHS personnel, who are
advised to balance aggravating and mitigating factors when
making enforcement determinations.

**Bilateral Labor Agreements: A Beneficial Tool to Expand Pathways to
Lawful Work**
This
paper explores the rationale, benefits, and history of bilateral labor
agreements (BLAs) in the United States, including the recent labor
mobility discussions with the Mexican government. It also highlights how
these agreements can benefit the U.S., as they provide U.S. policymakers
more control over the size of the temporary migrant workforce, while
prioritizing needed skills and experience. It argues that BLAs are
useful in addressing U.S. labor shortages, managing the irregular
migration flow at the U.S. southern border, and reaffirming the United
States' hemispheric leadership.

**Bill Summary: The EAGLE Act**
The
bill would phase out the 7% per-country limit on employment-based
immigrant visas and raise the 7% per-country limit on family-sponsored
visas to 15%. The bill also includes provisions to reform and modernize
the H-1B visa program and provides flexibility for those already in the
U.S. but stuck in the green card backlog.

* * *

*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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