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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: https://immigrationforum.org/article/legislative-bulletin-friday-february-17-2023/
All the best,
Arturo
LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN - Friday, February 17, 2023
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
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 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
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 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
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 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
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 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
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 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
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 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
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 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
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 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
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 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
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.
Sponsored by Senator Ted Budd (R-North Carolina) (9 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
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 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
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 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
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 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
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to fentanyl
Sponsored by Representative Andrew Ogles (R-Tennessee) (0 cosponsors)
02/09/2023 Introduced in the House by Representative Ogles
02/09/2023 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
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 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
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 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
To establish the Virgin Islands visa waiver program
Sponsored by Delegate Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) (0 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
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 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 the decline in border crossings to the recently-announced parole program 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 so far through the month of February.
President Biden announced 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 — 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 the agency's Policy Manual to protect some "Documented Dreamers" from aging out of status if they turn 21 while their parents' green card applications are pending. Documented Dreamers 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. The Policy Manual update will allow the agency to "freeze" the child's age based on when a parent's first employment-based green card application was initiated. This will prevent 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 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 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 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 the oral arguments in the Title 42 litigation initially scheduled for March 1. Title 42 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 urging the U.S. Supreme Court to dismiss the Title 42 litigation currently pending before Court. DOJ argued that the end of the public health emergency on May 11 — announced 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, a D.C.-based federal judge found 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 to hear arguments on the narrow issue of state intervention in the litigation March 2023, allowing Title 42 to remain in effect 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 a petition for an en banc rehearing in Ramos v. Mayorkas. This case was brought 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 by a federal judge. Subsequently, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit lifted 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 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 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 for preliminary injunction to block the Biden administration's use of parole in its recent border plan 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 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 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 to welcome groups of vulnerable migrants for decades, including to provide parole protections to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion and Afghans evacuated 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 passed by the GOP-controlled Florida state legislature last week that formally establishes a new Unauthorized Alien Transport Program to transport migrants from any state in the country to so-called sanctuary jurisdictions. The transport program — for which $10 million dollars will be appropriated — will have broad authority 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 declaring a state of emergency in Florida and detailing the duties of the
governmental agencies in charge of implementing the order.
The new law was approved five months after Florida's government financed 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 of open jobs and a lack of clarity about where they would be arriving. As a consequence, the migrants filed a class action lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and other state officials. In addition, Sheriff Javier Salazar of Bexar County, Texas, certified that the Venezuelan migrants were victims of a crime and opened a criminal investigation into the flights.
Governor DeSantis first proposed 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
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.
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.
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.
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*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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