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Hello all,
The National Immigration Forum's Legislative Bulletin for Friday, March 17, 2023, is now posted.
You can find the online version of the bulletin here: https://immigrationforum.org/article/legislative-bulletin-friday-march-17-2023/
All the best,
Alexandra
LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN - Friday, March 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
Veterans Border Patrol Training Act
This bill would link service members leaving the military with careers at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) through the Department of Defense's SkillBridge program.
Sponsored by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana) (1 cosponsor — 1 Republican, 0 Democrats)
03/09/2023 Introduced in the Senate by Sen. Jon Tester
03/09/2023 Referred to the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
A bill to allow the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate Romania as a program country under the visa waiver program
This bill would encourage the Romanian government to prepare for participation in the U.S. visa waiver program, continue efforts to reduce human trafficking, and let the Homeland Security Secretary designate Romania as a program country for the visa waiver program.
Sponsored by Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Illinois) (2 cosponsors — 1 Republican, 1 Democrat)
03/15/2023 Introduced in the Senate by Sen. Richard J. Durbin
03/15/2023 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Fairness for Immigrant Families Act
This bill would eliminate bars to re-entry, re-establish the 245(i) program, expand access to cancellation of removal, and make other changes to protect immigrant families. It would also fight notario fraud by letting immigration fraud victims file motions to reopen cases, criminalizing fraudulent schemes, and requiring notarios to notify clients that they are not immigration attorneys, among other measures. The bill would create a National Office of New Americans, require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to report to Congress before increasing
immigration service fees, and protect immigrant victims and witnesses from enforcement actions.
Sponsored by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada) (0 cosponsors)
03/15/2023 Introduced in the Senate by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto
03/15/2023 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary
To provide for the renewed availability of funds to construct the border wall upon the deployment of the National Guard to the southern land border of the United States
Sponsored by Rep. Dale W. Strong (R-Alabama) (0 cosponsors)
03/10/2023 Introduced in the House by Rep. Dale W. Strong
03/10/2023 Referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security
Eliminating Backlogs Act of 2023
This bill would provide greater flexibility around existing allotments of employment-based visas.
Sponsored by Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-Indiana) (1 cosponsor — 0 Republicans, 1 Democrat)
03/10/2023 Introduced in the House by Rep. Larry Bucshon
03/10/2023 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
Protecting an Alien child's Reasonable Expectation of No Trafficking (PARENT) Act This bill would require unaccompanied children to be transferred into the custody of a verified parent, legal guardian, or the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Sponsored by Rep. Michael C. Burgess (R-Texas) (4 cosponsors — 4 Republicans, 0 Democrats)
03/10/2023 Introduced in the House by Rep. Michael C. Burgess
03/10/2023 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR
The U.S. Senate will be in session from Tuesday, March 21 through Friday, March 24, 2023.
The U.S. House of Representatives will be in session Wednesday, March 22 through Friday, March 24, 2023.
UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS
Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. ET (Senate Committee on Appropriations)
Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building 138, Washington, D.C.
Witnesses:
The Honorable Antony J. Blinken, Secretary, Department of State
Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 2:30 p.m. ET (Senate Committee on Appropriations)
Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building 138, Washington, D.C.
Witnesses:
The Honorable Xavier Becerra, Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 2:30 p.m. ET (Senate Committee on the Judiciary)
Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226, Washington, D.C.
Witnesses: TBA
Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 2:30 p.m. ET (Senate Foreign Relations Committee)
Location: 419 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.
Witnesses:
The Honorable Antony J. Blinken, Secretary, Department of State
Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. ET (House Foreign Affairs Committee)
Location: 2200 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.
Witnesses:
Félix Maradiaga, J.D., President and Founder, Fundación para la Libertad de Nicaragua
Dr. Juan Sebastián Chamorro, Executive Director, Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy
Deborah Ullmer, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Programs, National Democratic Institute
Bianca Jagger, Founder, President, and Chief Executive, Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation
Date: Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 9:30 a.m. ET (House Appropriations Committee)
Location: TBA
Witnesses:
The Honorable Michael E. Horowitz, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Justice
Date: Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. ET (House Appropriations Committee)
Location: 2359 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.
Witnesses:
The Honorable Antony J. Blinken, Secretary, Department of State
Date: Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. ET (House Homeland Security Committee)
Location: 310 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C.
Witnesses: TBA
THEMES IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK
Federal
Biden Administration Extends Relief for Ukrainians
On March 13, the Biden administration announced it would extend protections for the earliest Ukrainians who fled to the United States amid Russia’s invasion last year, providing much-needed relief for thousands of people at risk of losing legal status.
Around 25,000 Ukrainians and their families who arrived in the U.S. between Feb. 24 and April 25, 2022 and were granted humanitarian parole for just one year may now be eligible for a one-year extension. Over the next month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will review such cases, without any need to file additional paperwork.
Monday’s announcement has relieved Ukrainians’ short-term anxieties about whether they would be kicked out of the U.S. and forced to seek refuge elsewhere if their parole expired. Long term, however, Ukrainians — as well as Afghans, Venezuelans, Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Haitians also granted parole — face an uncertain future, as many of them do not have a clear path to citizenship outside of the U.S.’s beleaguered asylum system.
With so many vulnerable populations facing imminent deadlines, advocates are urging the Biden administration not to wait to announce extensions and solutions.
Democrats Call for Improvements to CBP One Amid Continued Frustrations With the App
On March 13, a number of House Democrats wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas expressing concerns over the Biden administration’s continued reliance on the CBP One
app to process vulnerable migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.
As the app has increasingly become a required resource for asylum seekers to access protection, despite widespread glitches, the 35 members of Congress who signed the letter said they "have received numerous reports of unusability, inaccessibility, and inequity that have already resulted in grave harm to asylum seekers." They urged federal officials not to turn away asylum seekers who are unable to use CBP One, and they suggested updates to the app that might help keep families together and avoid discrimination.
The lawmakers also asked DHS to "reverse course" on a new proposed rule advanced by the Biden administration in February, warning that its implementation would "undermine the fundamental right to asylum, violating the letter and spirit of the law."
Meanwhile, frustrations at the U.S.’s southern border have grown in recent days, as migrants have been forced to navigate a complicated system and buggy technology to exercise their statutory right to seek asylum. Last Sunday, hundreds of mostly Venezuelan migrants tired of waiting on the app to work walked up to the top of the Paso del Norte Bridge between El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, causing disruptions and blocking the bridge.
"We’ve been trying to use the application for three months," a man named Alián told the Texas Tribune. "Every day we try (the application), and nothing. When we have money, we rent a place to sleep. When we don’t, we sleep on the street."
U.S. Losing International College Grads to Canada
On March 14, a new report by the Niskanen Center found that the United States is losing international students educated stateside to jobs in Canada, largely because of the U.S.’s byzantine immigration system.
The Niskanen Center found that between 2017 and 2021, around 45,000 invitations for Canada's Express Entry — a recruitment tactic for global skilled talent — went to applicants with postsecondary educations from the U.S. Nearly nine in ten of those applicants were not U.S. citizens, demonstrating a clear connection between the U.S.’s antiquated immigration system and the departure of top-tier talent who could fill much-needed gaps in the U.S. economy. Here, H-1B visas for high-skilled employment are hard to obtain and partly a game of chance, as aspiring workers are selected through a lottery. With a low capacity for applicants, "the most recent rate of selection was about one in four," the report found, "meaning that nearly 75 percent of H-1B hopefuls never had a chance to put their credentials before U.S. immigration officials."
State and Local
Texas Lawmakers Propose New ‘Border Protection Unit’ to ‘Repel’ Migrants at Border
On March 10, Texas State Representative Matt Schaefer (R-TX) filed House Bill (H.B.) 20, the Border Protection Unit Act, which would create a state unit of officers with the ability to arrest and return migrants to Mexico if they cross the border between a port of entry or are seen trying to cross unlawfully into the United States. Texas House Speaker Dan Phelan (R-TX) announced his support of the legislation and included it in his package of priority legislation.
The "Border Protection Unit" would include officers who could arrest, detain, and remove those who cross the border unlawfully with the use of "non-deadly force" and would require its officers to be U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, or individuals with law enforcement experience. The bill would also allow the unit chief to employ "law-abiding citizens without a felony conviction to participate in unit operations and functions," although they would not have the ability to arrest anyone unless authorized by the governor.
Schaefer’s bill would make trespassing by migrants entering from Mexico onto Texas private property a felony and would grant the state the ability to remove migrants quickly if the federal government ever declares another national public health emergency over COVID-19. If passed, the legislation would represent a major test of states’ abilities to enforce immigration laws — a responsibility that the courts have historically categorized as falling under federal purview.
Meanwhile, in the State Senate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R-TX) announced that he will support legislation introduced by State Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-TX) to make it a state crime for people to enter Texas unlawfully. Migrants could face up to a year in prison – or two years if they unlawfully enter a second time.
GOVERNMENT REPORTS
This report details U.S. reconstruction activities in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. It focuses on the U.S. Agency for International Development's work on infrastructure and development and the U.S. Department of State's efforts to develop the Haitian National Police.
SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES
This paper details Mexico’s asylum system — its progress and deficiencies — amid the Biden administration’s proposed rule that would push migrants to apply for asylum elsewhere, including in Mexico.
This bill analysis summarizes legislation that was recently introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina). The Secure and Protect Act of 2023 would make significant changes to the asylum process, remove limits on the length of time children can be held in family detention, limit the ability of the executive branch to use humanitarian parole, and try to mitigate the immigration court backlog by providing additional funding for staff, among other reforms.
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 Alexandra Villarreal, Policy and Advocacy Associate at the National Immigration Forum, with comments and suggestions of additional items to be included. Alexandra can be reached at [email protected]. Thank you.
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