Legislative Bulletin

 

 

Hello all,

The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday,
December 2, 2022, is now posted.

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


All the best,

Arturo 

**LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN - Friday, December 2, 2022**

BILLS INTRODUCED AND CONSIDERED
<#bills-introduced-and-considered>LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR
<#legislative-floor-calendar>

UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS <#upcoming-hearings-and-markups>

THEMES IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK <#Themes-In-Washington-This-week>

GOVERNMENT REPORTS <#government-reports>

SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES
<#spotlight-on-national-immigration-forum-resources>

**BILLS INTRODUCED AND CONSIDERED**S. 9
<[link removed]>

**Trafficking Survivors Relief Act of 2022**The bill would vacate
certain convictions and expunge certain arrests of victims of human
trafficking. If the victim of human trafficking in question is a foreign
national, the bill would forbid immigration authorities to remove them
from the United States or deny them immigration benefits in relation to
their expunged arrest or vacated conviction.

Sponsored by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) (1
<[link removed]>
cosponsor- 1 Republican, 0 Democrats)

11/17/2022 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Gillibrand

11/17/2022 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 9352
<[link removed]>

**To improve services for trafficking victims by establishing, in
Homeland Security Investigations, the Investigators Maintain Purposeful
Awareness to Combat Trafficking Trauma Program and the Victim Assistance
Program**The bill would establish a Victim Assistance Program within
Homeland Security Investigations of U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (HSI-ICE) to provide support to individuals impacted by
human trafficking. The bill would also make permanent an existing
program that ensures the well-being of HSI employees and partners who
are exposed to repeated stress and associated trauma through their work
in supporting victims and investigating human trafficking crimes. This
is a companion bill of S. 4611.
<[link removed]>

Sponsored by Representative David Joyce (R-Ohio) (3
<[link removed]>
cosponsors- 2 Democrats, 1 Republican)

11/22/2022 Introduced in the House by Representative Joyce

11/22/2022 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

**LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR**The U.S. Senate will be in session the
week of Monday, December 5, 2022.

The U.S. House of Representatives will be in session from Monday,
December 5, through Thursday, December 8, 2022.

**UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS****House Committee on Rules Meeting to
Discuss Two Immigration-Related Bills: EAGLE Act of 2022 and Veteran
Service Recognition Act of 2022**
<[link removed]>

**Date:**Monday, December 5 at 3:00 pm ET

**Location:**H-313, The Capitol

**THEMES IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK**

****Federal****

****Mayors, Educators, Business Leaders, and Others Push for Immigration
Reforms Before the Year Ends****On November 29, 71 Republican and
Democratic mayors from across the country signed a letter
<[link removed]>
urging Congress to enact legislation offering permanent solutions for
Dreamers before the end of the year. A Dreamer
<[link removed]> is an
undocumented immigrant who came to the United States as a child. In the
letter, the mayors expressed their disappointment with the lack of
Congressional action to pass humane, incremental immigration reforms.
The mayors also highlighted
<[link removed]>
that protecting Dreamers is supported by the majority of American voters
and expressed their solidarity with the immigrant communities living in
their cities and counties.In addition, several university presidents and
business leaders have also emphasized
<[link removed]>
the importance of passing a bipartisan legislative fix for DACA
recipients and other Dreamers before the end of this Congress - during
the lame-duck session. They expressed
<[link removed]>
concern about a potential Supreme Court ruling that could strip DACA
recipients of their work permits and threaten the livelihood of over 1.3
million DACA-eligible individuals. DACA is a deferred action policy
aimed at Dreamers, temporarily shielding them from deportation and
providing them with work authorization. DACA, however, does not provide
lawful status, nor does it provide the opportunity to stay permanently.
While there are as many as 3.6 million Dreamers residing in the United
States, only about 616,000 Dreamers are currently protected under DACA.

In a similar effort, agriculture organizations and farmworker advocates
together urged
<[link removed]>
Congress to pass the Farmworkforce Modernization Act
<[link removed]>,
a bill that, among other provisions, would provide a pathway to
citizenship for about one million farmworkers and modernize the H-2A
temporary agricultural worker visa program. These groups highlighted
<[link removed]>
that no other economic sector depends as much on immigrants as the
agricultural industry, with immigrants making up as much as 73% of
farmworkers in the country. They also pointed out
<[link removed]>
that the Farm Workforce Modernization Act would help reduce food prices,
which increased 11.2% in the last 12 months. The House version of the
bill passed
<[link removed]>
in March 2021, with the bipartisan support of 217 Democrats and 30
Republicans. However, the Senate version has not moved forward since
then.

****Biden Administration Considers Border Strategies to Replace Title
42****According to reports
<[link removed]>
from various sources
<[link removed]>,
the Biden administration - ordered
<[link removed]>
by a District Court to lift Title 42 by December 21 - is considering
imposing new restrictions on migrants attempting to apply for asylum in
the United States. Title 42 is a pandemic-era order that both the Trump
and Biden administrations have used since March 2020 to rapidly expel
arriving migrants without providing them the opportunity to seek asylum.
Over two million people have been expelled under Title 42 since the
pandemic began.Among the reported proposals
<[link removed]>,
the Biden administration is considering prohibiting asylum seekers from
seeking refuge in the United States unless another country first denied
them safe harbor. According to the reports
<[link removed]>,
the new policy, if adopted, could go into effect as soon as the
government stops the implementation of Title 42 on December 21. The
reports also highlighted
<[link removed]>
that the plans were not final and had not been presented to President
Biden Biden or the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.
The plan would echo a previous attempt by the Trump administration to
ban asylums seekers who had transited through a third country before
arriving in the U.S. That effort was struck down
<[link removed]>
by the courts.

The administration is reportedly also considering
<[link removed]>
ramping up criminal prosecution of arriving migrants, as well as pairing
restrictions with expanded pathways for migrants to come to the United
States legally.

The reports came a day after a group of four moderate Democratic
Senators sent a letter
<[link removed]>
to Secretary Mayorkas expressing their concern about the impact of
suddenly lifting Title 42 and asking him to provide the Senate with a
strategy to deal with migration at the border after December 21.

****Russian Dissidents Left in Detention After Applying for Asylum in
the US****A November 28 New York Times report
<[link removed]>
revealed that over 20,000
<[link removed]> Russian
dissidents have crossed the Southwest border to claim asylum in the U.S.
over the last calendar year, expecting to receive protection as allies
against Russian aggression. However, many are instead finding themselves
detained in immigration prisons.The report highlighted that the number
of Russians making their way across the southern border has increased in
recent months as Russian President Vladimir Putin persecutes dissidents
and arrests those evading the draft in its war against Ukraine. Even
before the war began in late February, anti-government activists were
leaving the country to seek refuge in the United States. Since the war's
start, the number of arrivals have reached their highest levels in
recent history. U.S. authorities processed
<[link removed]> 21,763
Russians at the southern border in Fiscal Year 2022, compared with just
467 in 2020. In October alone, 3,879 Russians were encountered at the
border.

Many asylum seekers are taken into U.S. custody, screened, and then
released and allowed to argue their cases later in court. However,
thousands of other asylum seekers, including many Russians, are being
sent to detention centers where they have remained for months. There,
they face difficulty securing lawyers and collecting evidence for their
asylum cases. In addition, the report noted
<[link removed]>
that lawyers working with migrants believe Russian asylum seekers have
been detained at higher rates in recent months, sometimes with bonds set
at more than $30,000.

****Federal Government to Close Berks County Immigrant Detention Center
in January****On November 30, the Biden administration announced
<[link removed]>
that it would not renew the contract with Berks County Immigrant
Detention Center in Pennsylvania, with the facility expected to end all
existing operations by January 31. The facility, which opened in 2001,
was for many years one of three holding centers used to detain migrant
families (along with two facilities in Texas, one in Dilley and one near
San Antonio). The center temporarily ceased operations in 2021 as the
Biden administration ended the practice of long-term family detention,
but it reopened in early 2022 as a facility holding only women.The
facility has been accused
<[link removed]>
of mistreatment of detainees and poor living conditions, and many local
and national advocacy groups have long called for it to be shut down.

****ICE Accidentally Posts Personal Information of 6,252 Asylum Seekers
on the Agency's Website****On November 28, U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) accidentally posted
<[link removed]>
the names, A-numbers, case statuses, and detention locations of 6,252
asylum seekers in ICE custody. According to an agency spokesperson, the
accident - which left the sensitive information up for five hours
- occurred "while performing routine updates" to the agency's website.
The agency also said
<[link removed]> that
ICE is notifying the impacted noncitizens and their attorneys of the
improper disclosure. According to ICE, the impacted cases have been
flagged to determine whether the improper disclosure of information
could impact the merits of individuals' protection claims. In
addition, ICE said
<[link removed]>
that it will identify through IP addresses the entities that accessed
the information, and that it is monitoring the internet for any
reposting of the data.

****Legal****

****US Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in Case About Biden
Administration's Immigration Enforcement Priorities****On November 29,
the U.S. Supreme Court held
<[link removed]> oral
arguments in the case United States v. Texas
<[link removed]>,
which challenges the Biden administration's immigration enforcement
guidelines
<[link removed]>.
The enforcement guidelines being challenged represented the Biden
administration's efforts to prioritize immigration
enforcement resources on those who are deemed national security
threats, those who recently crossed the border without authorization,
and those who have been convicted of aggravated felonies or other
violent crimes.The case stems from an April 6 lawsuit
<[link removed]> that
Texas and Louisiana filed against the federal
government's enforcement guidelines. The case hinges on three
questions: Whether Texas has standing to challenge the guidelines,
whether enforcement guidelines violate federal immigration law or laws
governing agency actions, and whether lower courts can issue nationwide
injunctions blocking federal immigration policies.

Because DHS and ICE do not have the capacity to target, detain, and
deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., they,
like other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, have long
utlized prosecutorial discretion
<[link removed]>
to direct limited resources towards effective enforcement. Before the
Supreme Court, the Biden administration argued that limited resources
require prioritizing certain enforcement actions.

On the question of standing, the administration further argued that if
Texas and the other states prevail, any states could "sue the federal
government about virtually any policy" in the future. The case
represents one of several lawsuits
<[link removed]> in
which Republican-led states have attempted to block significant parts of
the Biden administration's immigration and border agenda.

****Judge Hanen Instructs Attorneys to Propose a Schedule to Resolve
Pending Matters of DACA Case****On November 29, Judge Andrew Hanen
ordered the attorneys in the case Texas v. United States
<[link removed]> to confer and
proposed a schedule to resolve pending matters by December 16. The
case stems <[link removed]> from a
lawsuit brought by nine Republican-led states, led by Texas, challenging
the legality of DACA. On July 16, 2021, Judge Hanen had ruled against
the legality of DACA as it was set out under the Obama administration.
The decision stopped new and pending applications to the program, but
the judge did allow a stay of the ruling for the approximately 600,000
current DACA recipients. To address procedural concerns raised in
Judge Hanen's ruling, on August 24, 2022, DHS announced a final rule
that codified a substantively identical version of DACA.On September 10,
2021, the Department of Justice appealed Judge Hanen's ruling before
the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. On October 5, the Fifth Circuit
sided with Judge Hanen in ruling against the legality of the DACA
program as set out in 2012. The Fifth Circuit declined to rule on the
legality of the new DACA program set out in the Biden administration's
2022 rule, which was set to go into effect on October 31. A decision on
the lawfulness of the new but substantively similar DACA program was
remanded to Judge Hanen, who has now extended an injunction against the
rule as he continues his decision.

While the case proceeds
<[link removed]> before
Judge Hanen and likely ultimately before the Supreme Court, DACA
recipients remain at risk of losing protection from deportation and work
authorization.

**GOVERNMENT REPORTS**There were no immigration-related government
reports this week.

**SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM
RESOURCES**Explainer: DHS Immigration Enforcement Guidelines
<[link removed]>This
is an explainer on
the DHS immigration enforcement priorities that are currently under
consideration of the Supreme Court. The guidance provides flexibility
to DHS personnel, who are advised to balance aggravating and
mitigating factors when making enforcement determinations.**America's
Worker Shortages in the Agriculture and Food Industries: Direct Impact
on Food Waste and Inflation**
<[link removed]>The
paper explains how the labor deficit in the sector is increasing food
waste and inflation. The paper also recognizes that inflation is a
global phenomenon where immigration reform in the United States is not a
panacea. It argues, however, that labor reforms such as the Farm
Workforce Modernization Act (FWMA), would provide stability in the
agricultural sector, prevent the offshoring of food production, and
reduce food waste from unharvested crops in American farms, consequently
helping to alleviate food inflation.**Fact Sheet: Changes in Migrant
Demographics at the Southwest Border**
<[link removed]>The
fact sheet describes and visualizes the changing dynamics at the border
- particularly concerning the increasing number of Cubans,
Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and Colombians. It also discusses the policy
implications of these changes.* * *

*This Bulletin is not intended to be comprehensive. Please contact
Arturo Castellanos-Canales, National Immigration Forum Senior 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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