Legislative Bulletin

 

 

Hello all,

The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday,
February 17, 2023, is now posted.

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

All the best,

Arturo 

**LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN - Friday, February 17, 2023**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. 311
<[link removed]>

**Customs and Border Protection Officers (CBPO) Retirement Corrections
Act**

The bill would require U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to
identify the individuals who did not have access to enhanced retirement
and annuity benefits. The bill would also include a retroactive annuity
adjustment for eligible individuals who retire before the date of
enactment of this bill and grants the Department of Homeland Security
the authority to waive maximum entry age requirements for eligible
officers.

Sponsored by Senator Gary Peters (D-Michigan) (1
<[link removed]>
cosponsor- 1 Republican, 0 Democrats)

02/09/2023 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Peters

02/09/2023 Referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs

S. 332
<[link removed]>

**Wall Act**

The bill would appropriate $25 billion dollars for the construction of a
border wall between the United States and Mexico.

Sponsored by Senator Katie Boyd Britt (R-Alabama) (6
<[link removed]>
cosponsors- 6 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

02/09/2023 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Britt

02/09/2023 Referred to the Senate Committee on Finance

S. 333
<[link removed]>

**Keep Our Communities Safe Act**

The bill would require DHS to indefinitely detain immigrants who have
not been accepted for deportation to other countries if they have a
highly contagious disease; if their release would have serious adverse
foreign policy consequences; if their release would threaten national
security; or if their release would threaten the safety of the community
because the immigrant is an aggravated felon or has committed a crime of
violence.

Sponsored by Senator Katie Boyd Britt (R-Alabama) (20
<[link removed]>
cosponsors- 20 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

02/09/2023 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Britt

02/09/2023 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

S. 342
<[link removed]>

**Access to Counsel Act**

The bill would ensure that all individuals with a legal right to be in
the United States who are held by Customs and Border Protection at ports
of entry or airports have access to legal counsel.

Sponsored by Senator Alex Padilla (D-California) (17
<[link removed]>
cosponsors- 16 Democrats, 1 Independent, 0 Republicans)

02/09/2023 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Padilla

02/09/2023 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

S. 348
<[link removed]>

**Asylum Abuse Reduction Act**

The bill would require asylum seekers to apply for asylum at a U.S.
embassy or consulate in Mexico or Canada before entering the United
States.

Sponsored by Senator Katie Boyd Britt (R-Alabama) (11
<[link removed]>
cosponsors- 11 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

02/09/2023 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Britt

02/09/2023 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

S. 370
<[link removed]>

**Stop Higher Education Espionage and Theft (SHEET) Act**

The bill would require U.S. consulates to ensure that efforts to engage
in espionage or technology transfer are considered in the issuance of
visas.

Sponsored by Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) (10
<[link removed]>
cosponsors- 10 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

02/09/2023 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Cruz

02/09/2023 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

S. 374
<[link removed]>

**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) (1
<[link removed]>
cosponsor- 1 Republican, 0 Democrats)

02/09/2023 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Ernst

02/09/2023 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

S. 381
<[link removed]>

**No Coyote Cash Act**

The bill would criminalize the payments made with the intent of
financing entry into the U.S. between ports of entry. The bill would
also penalize convicted foreign nationals who have violated this law by
making them deportable and inadmissible for reentrance.

Sponsored by Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) (7
<[link removed]>
cosponsors- 7 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

02/09/2023 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Rubio

02/09/2023 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

S. 387
<[link removed]>

**A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize
admission of Canadian retirees as long-term visitors for pleasure
described in section 101(a)(15)(B) of such Act**

Sponsored by Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) (3
<[link removed]>
cosponsors- 1 Democrat, 1 Republican, 1 Independent)

02/09/2023 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Rubio

02/09/2023 Referred to the Senate Committee on Finance

S. 422
<[link removed]>

**Build the Wall Now Act**

The bill would require border wall construction to restart within 24
hours, remove all legal impediments to construction, and unlock $2.1
billion in unspent wall funding. This is a companion bill of H.R. 989
<[link removed]>.

Sponsored by Senator Ted Budd (R-North Carolina) (9
<[link removed]>
cosponsors- 9 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

02/14/2023 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Budd

02/14/2023 Referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs

S. 425
<[link removed]>

**Secure & Protect Act**

This bill would require asylum seekers to apply only at refugee
processing centers in Northern Triangle and Mexico and add 500 new
immigration judges. It would also modify the Flores settlement agreement
to allow for children to be detained for up to 100 days and would amend
the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) to allow
for expedited deportations of unaccompanied immigrant children (UACs)
from noncontiguous countries.

Sponsored by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) (1
<[link removed]>
cosponsor- 1 Republican, 0 Democrats)

02/14/2023 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Graham

02/14/2023 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

S. 431
<[link removed]>

**A bill to withhold United States contributions to the United Nations
Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
(UNRWA)**

Sponsored by Senator James Risch (R-Idaho) (14
<[link removed]>
cosponsors- 14 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

02/15/2023 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Risch

02/15/2023 Referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

H.R. 921
<[link removed]>

**To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide that an alien
who has been convicted of a crime is ineligible for asylum**

Sponsored by Representative Bob Good (R-Virginia) (5
<[link removed]>
cosponsors- 5 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

02/09/2023 Introduced in the House by Representative Good

02/09/2023 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 943
<[link removed]>

**To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to
fentanyl**

Sponsored by Representative Andrew Ogles (R-Tennessee) (0
<[link removed]>
cosponsors)

02/09/2023 Introduced in the House by Representative Ogles

02/09/2023 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 988
<[link removed]>

**Shell Company Abuse Act**

The bill would make it a felony to use or create American shell
companies to conceal illegal political spending by foreign nationals.

Sponsored by Representative Colin Allred (D-Texas) (1
<[link removed]>
cosponsor- 1 Democrat, 0 Republicans)

02/14/2023 Introduced in the House by Representative Allred

02/14/2023 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 998
<[link removed]>

**To amend section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to
clarify congressional intent with respect to agreements under such
section**

Sponsored by Representative Michael Cloud (R-Texas) (2
<[link removed]>
cosponsors- 2 Republicans, 0 Democrats)

02/14/2023 Introduced in the House by Representative Cloud

02/14/2023 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

H.R. 1033
<[link removed]>

**To establish the Virgin Islands visa waiver program**

Sponsored by Delegate Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) (0
<[link removed]>
cosponsors)

02/14/2023 Introduced in the House by Delegate Plaskett

02/14/2023 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

**LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR**Neither the U.S. Senate nor the U.S. House
of Representatives will be in session the week of Monday, February 20,
2023.

**UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS**

The Biden Border Crisis: Part II
<[link removed]>

**Date:** Thursday, February 23, 2023, at 4:00 pm E.T. (House Judiciary
Committee)

**Location:** Yuma City Hall, One City Plaza, Yuma, Arizona

**Witnesses:**

**Jonathan Lines,**Yuma County Supervisor District 2

**Leon Wilmot**, Sheriff, Yuma County Sheriff's Office

**Robert Trenschel**, President and CEO, Yuma Regional Medical Center

**THEMES IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK**

****Federal****

****January Border Encounters Drop to Lowest Level in Two Years****On
February 10, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported
<[link removed]>
that the agency encountered 128,410 migrants at the southwest border in
January. This represents a sharp 42% decrease compared to December's
total of 221,675 encounters. January also marked the lowest month of
Border Patrol encounters since February 2021.

Biden administration officials attributed
<[link removed]>
the decline in border crossings to the recently-announced parole program
<[link removed]> that allows up to 30,000 Haitians, Cubans,
Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans per month to come to the United States.
January's numbers revealed that the encounters of Cubans, Haitians,
Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans declined from a 7-day average of 1,231 on
the day of the parole program announcement on January 5 to 59 on January
31 - a 95% drop. According to preliminary data, those trends have
endured
<[link removed]>
so far through the month of February.

President Biden announced
<[link removed]> the
parole program in early January as a safer, more orderly alternative
for people fleeing instability and violence in the hemisphere to come to
the United States. The parole initiative allows prospective migrants
with financial sponsors in the U.S. to apply for and receive two-year
grants of parole, which offer entry into the U.S. (via air travel),
protection from deportation, and access to work authorization. The
parole program was implemented alongside an expansion of Title 42
expulsions of migrants from the countries listed above.

Notably, 64,499 of January's encounters
<[link removed]>
- 41.3% of the total - were processed for expulsion under Title 42,
while 91,775 encounters were processed under Title 8. In addition, there
were 39,680 (25%) repeat encounters and 115,226 (74%) unique encounters.
The number of unique individuals encountered in January 2023 was 115,226
compared to 216,429 in December 2022, a 47% decrease.

****Biden Administration Protects Some Documented Dreamers From Losing
Legal Status While Their Parents' Green Card Applications are
Pending****On February 14, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS) updated
<[link removed]>
the agency's Policy Manual
<[link removed]> to
protect some "Documented Dreamers" from aging out of status if they turn
21 while their parents' green card applications are pending. Documented
Dreamers
<[link removed].>
are the more than 200,000 children who came to the United States legally
as dependents of their parents' visas. However, if their parents are
unable to obtain a green card before the children turn 21, they "age
out" of their dependency status, and are forced to self-deport.

Most Documented Dreamers are nationals of India and China, who face
exceptionally long wait times due to green card backlogs
<[link removed]>.
The Policy Manual update will allow the agency to "freeze
<[link removed]>" the
child's age based on when a parent's first employment-based green card
application was initiated. This will prevent
<[link removed]> some child
beneficiaries from aging out of child status and allow them to adjust
status with their parents.

****Biden Administration Reports Reunification
of 600 Children Separated at the Border in 2017 and 2018****On
February 2, the Biden administration reported
<[link removed]> that
its Family Reunification Task Force has so far
reunited 600 children who were separated under former President
Trump's "zero tolerance" border policy. The zero tolerance policy -
which was met with widespread criticism from members of Congress, faith
groups, and the general public - resulted in the
deliberate separation
<[link removed]> of
at least 5,569 migrant children from their parents between 2017 and
2018, impacting over 1,500 families. However, the exact number of
separated children remains unknown due to the lack of precise records
from the previous administration.

In a press release, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro
Mayorkas reiterated
<[link removed]>
the Biden Administration's commitment to reunify all children who were
separated from their families under the "zero-tolerance" policy to the
greatest extent possible."

****Legal****

****Supreme Court Cancels Arguments in Title 42 Immigration Case****On
February 16, the U.S. Supreme Court canceled
<[link removed]>
the oral arguments in the Title 42 litigation initially scheduled for
March 1. Title 42
<[link removed]>
is a pandemic-era order that has been used to rapidly expel arriving
migrants to Mexico or their countries of origin without providing them
the opportunity to seek asylum.

The oral arguments for

**Arizona v. Mayorkas** disappeared from the Supreme Court's calendar
without an accompanying opinion or order. The cancelation of oral
arguments came nine days after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) 
filed a brief
<[link removed]>
urging the U.S. Supreme Court to dismiss the Title 42 litigation
currently pending before Court. DOJ argued
<[link removed]> that
the end of the public health emergency on May 11 - announced
<[link removed]> on
January 31 - would terminate the Title 42 order and would moot the
case.

The case in question,

**Arizona v. Mayorkas**, concerned the question of whether a number of
Republican-led states could belatedly intervene in related litigation
concerning the legality of Title 42. In that related case,
**Huisha-Huisha v. Mayorkas**
<[link removed]>, a D.C.-based
federal judge found
<[link removed]> the
use of Title 42 to be "arbitrary and capricious" and unlawful and set an
end date of December 21 for the policy. The states, which were not
parties to

**Huisha-Huisha**, subsequently filed suit in December to intervene in
that litigation so that they could argue for the extension of Title 42.
After being rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals fo the D.C. Circuit,
the Supreme Court voted 5-4
<[link removed]> to
hear arguments on the narrow issue of state intervention in the
litigation March 2023, allowing Title 42 to remain in effect
<[link removed]> as
that litigation pended. The legality of Title 42 itself is not before
the Supreme Court in the

**Arizona** case.

****Ninth Circuit Will Revisit Petition Filed by TPS Holders and Their
US-Citizen Children****On February 10, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Ninth Circuit granted
<[link removed]>
a petition for an

**en banc** rehearing in

**Ramos v. Mayorkas**. This case was brought
<[link removed]>
on behalf of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders and their
U.S.-citizen children in 2018 to prevent the Trump administration from
rescinding TPS for individuals from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and
Sudan. A later case,

**Bhattarai v. Maryorkas**, was similarly brought in 2019 to prevent the
revocation of TPS from Honduras and Nepal. These two cases have been
combined.

The Trump adminsitration determinations to end TPS for those countries
were initially enjoined
<[link removed]>
by a federal judge. Subsequently, a three-judge panel of the Ninth
Circuit lifted
<[link removed]>
the injunction, holding that courts cannot revisit executive branch TPS
determinations, allowing termination of TPS for those six countries to
go forward. The plaintiffs requested an

**en banc** hearing in front the entire Ninth Circuit and the plaintiffs
entered into settlement talks with the Biden Administration.

In October 2022, those settlement talks broke down leaving more than
300,000 TPS holders
<[link removed]>
at risk of deportation. The Biden Administration did, however,
redesignate Haiti and Sudan for TPS. Additionally, it provided an
automatic extension of TPS through December 31, 2022 during the
settlement talks. In November 2022, the Biden Administration extended
<[link removed]>
TPS for the affected countries until June 30, 2024, or 365 days after
the conclusion of the litigation, whichever comes later. The Biden
administration can extend or redesignate a country for TPS at any time,
if the country faces a severe ongoing emergency such as a natural
disaster or war. If nationals from that country are already physically
present in the U.S. as of the designation date, TPS grants them
short-term protection from deportation (usually 12-18 months), which can
be extended repeatedly if cunry conditions do not improve . Fifteen
countries are currently designated for TPS, with some designations
having been continuously renewed since the 1990s.

****Texas Requests Federal Judge to Block Parole Program for Cubans,
Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans****On February 14, Texas filed a
motion
<[link removed]>
for preliminary injunction to block the Biden administration's use of
parole
<[link removed]> in
its recent border plan
<[link removed]>
that allows up to 30,000 Haitians, Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans
per month to legally enter the United States on a temporary basis.

In the motion, Texas argued
<[link removed]>
that the parole program - described as "arbitrary and capricious" -
was issued in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. Texas
argued the administration "failed to engage in required
notice-and-comment rulemaking." It also argued that the program "is not
for urgent humanitarian reasons and advances no significant public
benefit" as required by law. Texas alleged that unless preliminarily
enjoined, the parole program would continue to harm the 20 GOP-led
states
<[link removed]>
challenging the program irreparably. The lawsuit does not challenge
other aspects of the border policy, including the expanded use of Title
42 for migrants from the covered countries.

The U.S. has used humanitarian parole
<[link removed]> to
welcome groups of vulnerable migrants for decades, including to provide
parole protections to Ukrainians
<[link removed]>
fleeing the Russian invasion and Afghans evacuated
<[link removed]>
from Afghanistan in 2021. The use of parole in those instances have not
drawn a legal challenge.

****State & Local****

****Florida Enacts Law to Transport Migrants Within the US****On
February 15, Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Florida) signed a bill
<[link removed]>
passed by the GOP-controlled Florida state legislature
<[link removed]>
last week that formally establishes a new Unauthorized Alien Transport
Program
<[link removed]>
to transport migrants from any state in the country to so-called
sanctuary jurisdictions
<[link removed]>.
The transport program - for which $10 million dollars will be
appropriated - will have broad authority
<[link removed]>
to relocate migrants across the country who have been processed and
released by the federal government. The law also retroactively would
approve prior transports carried out by Florida. For the implementation
of the law, Governor DeSantis issued an executive order
<[link removed]>
declaring a state of emergency in Florida and detailing the duties of
the governmental agencies in charge of implementing the order.

The new law
<[link removed]> was
approved five months after Florida's government financed
<[link removed]>
two charter flights transporting 48 Venezuelan migrants from San
Antonio, Texas, to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. Several reports
noted the migrants were coerced into boarding the flights with false
promises
<[link removed]>
of open jobs and a lack of clarity about where they would be arriving.
As a consequence, the migrants filed a class action lawsuit
<[link removed]> against
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and other state officials. In addition,
Sheriff Javier Salazar of Bexar County, Texas, certified
<[link removed]>
that the Venezuelan migrants were victims of a crime and opened
<[link removed]>
a criminal investigation into the flights.

Governor DeSantis first proposed
<[link removed]>
 transporting migrants from Florida to "progressive" jurisdictions in
April 2022, when he expressed his desire to relocate immigrants to
Martha's Vineyard, Delaware, or other similar localities.

**GOVERNMENT REPORTS**

There were no immigration-related government reports the week of
February 13, 2022.

**SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES****Explainer: The
Biden Administration's January 2023 Border Plan**
<[link removed]>This
explainer describes the various elements of the border plan announced
and implemented by the Biden administration on January 5. It also
discusses concerns associated with the plan and some of the plan's
initial impacts over the last couple weeks.

**Bill Summary: Dream Act of 2023**
<[link removed]>This
bipartisan bill would provide Dreamers - young undocumented immigrants
who were brought to the United States as children and have lived in the
U.S. for most of their lives - with protection from deportation and an
opportunity to obtain legal status if they meet certain requirements.

**The Reasons Behind the Increased Migration from Venezuela, Cuba, and
Nicaragua**
<[link removed]>This
paper explores the reasons behind the increased migration from
Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua. While irregular migration from these
three countries ruled by autocratic governments is not new, the
situation in these countries has worsened in recent years. Commonalities
include domestic political crises, weakening economies, Covid-19,
natural disasters, and strict U.S.-led economic sanctions. Facing
precarious conditions and the threat of political persecution, a growing
number of people from these nations have opted to seek safety in the
United States.

* * *

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

 

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