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Legislative Bulletin – Friday, April 26, 2019

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

H.R. 2347

Border and Refugee Assistance Act of 2019

This bill would direct Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to expand in-country refugee processing centers within Northern Triangle countries, allowing family units and minors in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador to apply for refugee protections within their country of origin.

Sponsored by Representative Filemon Vela (D-Texas) (2 cosponsors – 2 Democrats)

4/18/2019 Introduced in the House by Representative Vela

4/18/2019 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR

The U.S. Senate will be in session the week of Monday, April 29, 2019.

The U.S. House of Representatives will be in session Monday, April 29, 2019 through Thursday, May 2, 2019.

UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS

FY2020 Budget Hearing – Department of Homeland Security

Date: Tuesday, April 30, 2019 at 9 a.m. (House Appropriations Committee)

Location: 2359 Rayburn House Office Building

Witnesses:

Chip Fulghum, Acting Under Secretary for Management, Department of Homeland Security

Kevin McAleenan, Acting Secretary, Department of Homeland Security

The Impacts of Trump Policies on Border Communities

Date: Tuesday, April 30, 2019 at 10 a.m. (House Homeland Security Committee)

Location: 310 Cannon House Office Building

Witnesses:

Jon Barela, Chief Executive Officer, The Borderplex Alliance

Efrén Olivares, Racial and Economic Justice Director, Texas Civil Rights Project

Mark Seitz, Most Reverend Bishop, Catholic Diocese of El Paso, Texas, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Mark Napier, Sheriff of Pima County, Southwestern Border Sheriff’s Coalition

THEMES IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK

Federal

Trump’s Administration Considers Fast-Track Deportations; “Binary Choice” under Consideration

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reportedly considering new regulations to dramatically expand expedited removal, allowing its agencies to speed up deportations of undocumented immigrants. Under the draft proposal, immigrants who cannot prove two or more years of continuous presence in the U.S. would be eligible for expedited removal, without a full immigration hearing in front of an immigration judge. Under current rules, these fast-track deportations are applicable only to immigrants arrested within 100 miles of a land border and detained within two weeks of arriving in the U.S.

The draft proposal followed Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan’s comments from April 23, suggesting that the Trump administration won’t resume its “zero tolerance” policy of criminally prosecuting all migrants apprehended along the Southern border. When formally implemented in 2018, the policy led to separation of over 2,000 migrant families. McAleenan stated that from an enforcement perspective, the results of the policy were “not worth” the following loss of public trust in DHS. However, it remains unclear whether the administration is considering other measures that could separate families, including a policy known as “binary choice,” that would force migrant parents to choose between remaining with their children in long-term immigration detention or accepting separation to keep their children out of detention.

In addition, CNN reported that U.S. Border Patrol agents at the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, and Yuma, Arizona, have started fingerprinting children below 14 years old. The agency claims the change in policy comes amid its concerns over fraud and children trafficking in the regions. CBP had not previously fingerprinted kids younger than 14, because its fingerprint algorithms depend on features that become consistent after that age. Questions have been raised about potential privacy or legal concerns stemming from the change in policy.

Trump to Send Even More Troops to Border and Threatens Border Closures after Incident with Mexican Forces

On April 24, President Trump resumed threats about closing parts of the U.S. Southern border, saying he will send more troops to defend it unless Mexico blocks migrants who are nearing the U.S. in a new caravan. In a separate tweet, the President said he will send “armed soldiers” to the border, following an incident in which Mexican troops confronted two U.S. National Guardsmen out of confusion, believing that had they crossed the border into Mexico. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador promised to look into the incident.

Reuters reported that DHS is expected to request deployment of several hundreds of additional troops to the border to join the about 5,000 active duty and National Guard troops, who are already there. The Pentagon is also reportedly considering new rules that would permit troops to take on additional duties along the border, including serving as lawyers, cooks, and drivers. The new rules under consideration require a waiver to long-standing prohibitions that prevent troops from directly engaging with migrants.

The U.S.-Mexico incident followed efforts by Mexico to begin detaining Central American migrants traveling by caravan toward the U.S. On April 22, the Mexican government detained 371 migrants, one-third of whom were minors, representing the largest single raid on a migrant caravan since 2018. The majority of the Central American migrants detained were from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. The immigration enforcement agency in Mexico reported that total of 1,200 people had been deported in April, characterizing the latest raid as normal enforcement activity.

On April 20, U.S. authorities arrested a member of civilian militia that began stopping migrants along the Southern border in New Mexico. The arrest of  Larry Mitchell Hopkins for the possession of firearms and ammunition as a felon followed reports that the militia, which identifies as United Constitutional Patriots, detained as many as 300 people.

Trump Signs Memo Targeting Certain Countries with Elevated Visa Overstays

On April 22, President Trump signed a memorandum penalizing certain countries with elevated visa overstay rates. The order directed authorities to work with countries with overstay rates on visitor visas exceeding 10 percent (as reported in the latest DHS Entry/exit Overstay Report) to reduce their overstay levels or face losing access to these visas. Visitor B1 and B2 visas are granted to certain foreign individuals to come to the U.S. temporarily for business or tourism.

The memo orders the U.S. Secretary of State and Secretary of Homeland Security to suggest recommendations for these countries, such as shorter duration of future visas, requirement for additional supportive documentation to grant the visa, or complete suspension or bar on visitors’ entry, and to engage with government of the affected countries on addressing conditions contributing to the overstays. The memo would impact 20 primarily African nations, including Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea and Yemen, but also others such as Afghanistan.

Critics noted that the order singled out largely poor African countries with comparatively few visitors, some of which President Trump controversially disparaged in early 2018. While the administration focused its memo on countries with “unacceptably high” percentages of overstays, the actual numbers of overstays from each of the affected nations, with exception of Syria and Nigeria, are below 1,000, meaning that it  is unlikely to have a significant impact on total visa overstays in the U.S.

Report: Family Detention Facilities Left Below Capacity despite Increase in Migrant Families

According to a report in the Associated Press, the Trump administration is electing to leave the three existing federal family detention centers largely unfilled even as the federal government faces increasing flows of migrant families along the Southern border.

The AP reported that the administration has stopped detaining families in the Karnes County Residential Center in Texas, which can hold up to 800 parents and children.  Instead, the administration is using this facility, one of only three in the U.S. designed to hold immigrant families together – to hold 400 adult women. At the same time, the administration has only filled a fraction of the available beds in the remaining two family detention facilities – the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas and the Berks Family Residential Center in Leesport, Pennsylvania.

ICE claims that it is overwhelmed by the influx of migrants, making it difficult to transport families from the border to the Karnes and Dilley facilities. Some immigration advocates believe that the government is closing off family detention centers for political reasons and to add to public perception of a border crisis.

Legal

Supreme Court Holds Oral Argument over Adding Citizenship Question to 2020 Census

Holding oral arguments on April 23, the Supreme Court appeared divided along ideological lines as to the legality of adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The Trump administration has claimed the citizenship question was added at the request of the Department of Justice to better enforce the 1965 Voting Rights Act, a narrative undercut by internal communications and a post-hearing tweet from President Trump, who said the question should be included because “The American people deserve to know who is in this Country.”

The five conservative justices appeared inclined to accepting the decision of Commerce secretary Wilbur Ross to add the question, while, the four liberals sounded skeptical, pointing out studies showing the citizenship question would discourage immigrants from responding to the Census.

Advocates have expressed concern about the inclusion of the question, which they argue is intended to drive down the response rate of immigrant communities, which in turn will reduce federal funding and legislative representation of undercounted areas. While many seen the addition of the question as an effort to hurt Democratic-leaning “blue” states, the question is also likely to harm Republican-leaning “red” states with growing immigrant populations.

A federal judge previously blocked the Trump administration from including the citizenship question, calling the plan “unlawful for a multitude of independent reasons” including being in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case through an expedited appeal. The census has not contained a citizenship question since 1950, although surveys of sample populations in the Current Population Survey and the annual American Community Survey have included that question more recently.

House Lawyers Move to Block Funds for Trump’s Border Wall

Lawyers for The House of Representatives filed a motion asking a federal judge to block President Trump’s plan to use $6 billion in Defense Department funds to build a wall along the U.S. Southern border. While the motion doesn’t directly challenge President’s emergency declaration from February, over half of the $6 billion in funds from Defense Department’s military construction and counter-drug accounts was redirected under the emergency declaration. The legal filing followed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement in early April that the House would file a lawsuit to challenge President Trump’s decision to transfer funds for construction of the wall.

State and Local

Florida House Approves Bill Banning “Sanctuary Jurisdiction”

On April 24, the Florida House of Representatives passed a bill barring “sanctuary jurisdictions,” forcing local law enforcement agencies to use their “best efforts to support federal immigration law” and requiring that they honor federal immigration detainers.

By a 69-47 vote, Republican in the lower chamber approved the measure largely along party lines. The bill is now on its way to the state Senate. Although Florida doesn’t have any official “sanctuary jurisdictions,” H.B. 527’s sponsors assert that at the bill will enhance overall respect towards U.S. immigration laws. A similar bill, S.B. 168, has been already pending in the Florida Senate.

Critics of the bill have noted that it is likely to create a hostile environment for Florida immigrants,  undermine community safety by discouraging immigrants from cooperating with local law enforcement, and hurt Florida businesses.

GOVERNMENT REPORTS

There were no immigration-related government reports published in the week of Monday, April 22, 2019.

SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES

Red States Will Feel Impact of Census Citizenship Question

This article discusses the impact the citizenship question is likely to have on red states, including its impact congressional representation and federal funding.

Polling Update: American Attitudes on Immigration Steady, but Showing More Partisan Divides

This polling update discusses recent public opinion polls published by mainstream media or public opinion research organizations.

Why are they coming? The Central American migrant caravan explained

This webinar explains myths and reality around how our nation can respond to the caravan of people fleeing Central America.

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*This Bulletin is not intended to be comprehensive. Please contact Zuzana Cepla, National Immigration Forum Policy and Advocacy Associate, with comments and suggestions of additional items to be included. Zuzana can be reached at zcepla@immigrationforum.org. Thank you.

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