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
S. 3719
Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act of 2018
The bill expands U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) rescue and apprehension capabilities and authorizes the use of grant funds to cover certain costs incurred in border communities since fiscal year (FY) 2017 for the transportation, identification, and reporting of missing persons and unidentified remains, among other provisions. The House companion bill is H.R. 7218.
Sponsored by Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) (5 cosponsors – 2 Republicans, 3 Democrats)
12/06/2018 Introduced in the Senate by Senator Cornyn
12/06/2018 Referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary
H.R. 7218
Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act of 2018
The bill expands CBP’s rescue and apprehension capabilities and authorizes the use of grant funds to cover certain costs incurred in border communities since FY 2017 for the transportation, identification, and reporting of missing persons and unidentified remains, among other provisions. The Senate companion bill is S. 3719.
Sponsored by Representative Vicente Gonzalez (R-Texas) (1 cosponsor – 1 Republican, 0 Democrats)
12/06/2018 Introduced in the House by Representative Gonzalez
12/06/2018 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary and on Homeland Security
LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR
The U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives will be in session for part of the week of Monday, December 17, 2018.
UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS
Oversight of the Department of Homeland Security
Date: Thursday, December 20, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. (House Judiciary Committee)
Location: 2141 Rayburn House Office Building
Witness: TBA
THEMES IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK
Federal
President Trump “Proud” to Shut Down Government for Border Security Funding
President Trump threatened to shut down parts of the federal government in an unprecedented and heated discussion in the Oval Office on December 11. President Trump told Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Chuck Schumer (D-New York) that he would be “proud to shut down the government for border security” if Democrats refuse to include $5 billion in additional border security funding in the fiscal year (FY) 2019 spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). President Trump said he would “take the mantle” and would “be the one to shut it down.”
President Trump’s comments came after he tangled with Pelosi and Schumer on who would be blamed for a partial government shutdown absent an agreement before current funding expires for certain government departments on December 21. President Trump also debated with Pelosi on whether there are enough votes in the Republican-controlled House to pass a spending bill with an additional $5 billion in border security funding. Pelosi said such a bill would not pass the House. During the meeting, President Trump made a number of misleading comments and claims without evidence.
Later in the meeting, Pelosi and Schumer reportedly presented President Trump with two options to move forward on the remaining seven spending bills of FY 2019. Pelosi and Schumer suggested Congress could pass six less controversial spending bills and extend funding for DHS at the current funding levels, or extent current funding levels for all seven bills. The proposals would both provide DHS up to $1.6 billion in additional border security funding. Pelosi and Schumer said President Trump indicated he would consider the two proposals.
Following the Oval Office meeting, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said that he hoped a government shutdown “will be avoided.” Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) said he did not “understand the strategy” from the president, while Senator John Thune (R-South Dakota) said that “it’s just simple math…you’ve to got to get 60 votes in the Senate, and that’s going to require Democrats.” In contrast, Senator Lindsay Graham (R-South Carolina) said President Trump “needs to dig in” and suggested he “challenge the Democrats to work on DACA plus the wall” by putting “DACA on the table.”
Meanwhile, House Republicans claimed they have the votes to pass President Trump’s request for $5 billion in additional border security funding, but after some struggles did not commit to bringing up the legislation without an assurance that it could get the necessary 60 votes in the Senate. DHS followed the Oval Office meeting by releasing a press statement stating the department is “committed to building wall and building wall quickly.”
ICE Apprehends 170 Potential Unaccompanied Children Sponsors
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) apprehended 170 individuals without legal status who came forward to sponsor unaccompanied migrant children in government custody. The apprehensions, which occurred between July and November 2018, followed a new policy by the Trump administration to examine the criminal background and legal status of any individual who comes forward to sponsor an unaccompanied migrant child and any other adult living in their household. Potential sponsors are generally parents or close relatives living in the U.S. ICE stated that roughly 80 percent of sponsors for unaccompanied migrant children are in the U.S. without documentation.
Previously, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is responsible for the care and housing of unaccompanied migrant children, would release migrant children into the custody of a qualified adult. In April, HHS and DHS signed an information-sharing memorandum on unaccompanied minors providing “HHS with information necessary to conduct suitability assessments for sponsors from…immigration sources,” which permits the department to share information with ICE. Under the new directive, ICE conducts additional background checks and fingerprinting of potential sponsors when they apply to take a migrant child out of government custody.
Advocates who work with migrant children note that the increased background checks and apprehensions will scare away potential sponsors, resulting in more children detained in long-term federal custody while their asylum cases go through the immigration court system. Already, the number of migrant children in government custody is at 12,800, the highest level recorded. The increase is driven in part by a reduction in the number of children being released to live with their families and other sponsors.
Nearly 64 percent, or 109, of potential sponsors ICE apprehended between July and November had no criminal record. ICE did not specify if the other 61 individuals arrested had violent or nonviolent offenses.
Seven-Year-Old Girl Dies in Border Patrol Custody
CBP stated that a seven-year-old girl from Guatemala died of dehydration and shock in Border Patrol custody last week, according to the Washington Post. CBP records indicate that the girl and her father entered into Border Patrol custody on December 6 south of Lordsburg, New Mexico as part of a group of 163 individuals who turned themselves in to the Border Patrol. About eight hours later, the girl began to have seizures. Emergency personnel arrived soon after and measured her body temperature at 105.7 degrees. She was flown to Providence Children’s Hospital in El Paso, but died at the hospital less than 24 hours after being transported. CBP said the girl “reportedly had not eaten or consumed water for several days.” It was not immediately clear if the girl received food, water and a medical exam while in Border Patrol custody. Food and water are typically provided to individuals in Border Patrol custody. CBP said it is investigating the incident to ensure appropriate policies were followed.
Trump Administration Seeks to Deport Vietnamese Immigrants
The Trump administration is reportedly resuming its efforts to deport up to 8,000 Vietnamese immigrants who have lived in the U.S. since before 1995 but have final deportation orders, in most cases for committing a serious crime, or are unauthorized. A 2008 agreement between the U.S. and Vietnam bars the deportation of Vietnamese immigration who arrived in the U.S. before July 12, 1995, the date the two countries established diplomatic relations following the Vietnam War. The Trump administration is reportedly pushing the government of Vietnam to allow the U.S. to deport those individuals despite the agreement.
The Trump administration reinterpreted the 2008 agreement in 2017, claiming that the agreement did not prevent it from deporting Vietnamese immigrants who arrived pre-1995 who had been convicted of criminal offenses or are unauthorized. The Trump administration eventually deported 11 individuals, before it retreated by telling a federal court judge in August 2018 that the policy was on hold because the Vietnamese government was not likely to start accepting more people imminently.
The effort, which has received pushback from advocacy groups and elected officials, is part of the Trump administration’s increasingly enforcement-focused policies to deport individuals, including those who have lived in the U.S. for a significant period of time.
CBP Commissioner Testifies Before Senate Judiciary Committee on Border Policies
CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan testified on December 11 before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he fielded questions on CBP’s border security policies. McAleenan told senators during the hearing that CBP’s use of tear gas at the U.S.-Mexico border on November 25 was a justified response and consistent with the agents’ training, but noted that the agency is nonetheless conducting a review of the use-of-force incident. McAleenan also argued that CBP faced “a difficult situation” and that migrants were throwing rocks at CBP agents. After Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) asked whether CBP agents targeted the children in the group with the tear gas, McAleenan answered “absolutely not.”
McAleenan also noted that additional barriers at the U.S.-Mexico border would be an “important tool” to stop border crossings, but that CBP is not requesting to build an entire 2,000-mile barrier along the border. McAleenan said that CBP wants about 1,100 total miles of a “border wall system” that includes steel bollard-style fencing. He urged lawmakers to also invest in “the entire immigration continuum,” including CBP personnel and technology at the border.
In addition, McAleenan told senators that the U.S. continues to face a “border security and humanitarian crisis” because Central American families and children continue to arrive at the U.S. border to request asylum. McAleenan said that CBP took more than 3,000 people into custody on December 3, including 1,100 children, calling the figure one of the highest day totals “in years.”
USCIS Reaches 33,000 Cap for First Half of FY 2019
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on December 12 that it reached the congressionally mandated cap of 33,000 H-2B nonagricultural temporary workers visas for the first half of FY 2019. The number of petitions surpassed the number of visas available on December 6, requiring USCIS to conduct a computer-generated lottery process on December 11 to randomly select grantees.
Current H-2B holders can petition to extend their stay and, if applicable, change the terms of their employment or change employers without counting against the mandatory cap. USCIS will also continue to accept petitions for other workers exempt from the mandatory cap, including those involved in fish roe processing and workers performing labor in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands or Guam.
Legal
Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Reinstate Asylum Ban, After Ninth Circuit Finds it Likely Violates Federal Law
The Trump administration filed an emergency appeal on December 11 asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate President Trump’s proclamation limiting asylum access for migrants who crossed the U.S. border between ports of entry without documentation. The emergency appeal came after a three-judge panel from the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling on December 7 refusing to reinstate the rules, calling them an attempt to “end-run around Congress.” Judge Jay Bybee, a conservative George W. Bush appointee, wrote for the majority that the Trump administration’s policy to limit asylum likely violates federal law. Bybee noted that Congress provided asylum-seekers with the right to request asylum regardless of how they entered into the U.S., stating “an alien must be allowed to apply for asylum regardless of whether she arrived through a port of entry.”
The Ninth Circuit ruling upheld the lower court’s decision halting implementation of the rules at least until December 19, 2018, when the district court will consider a longer-lasting injunction.
GOVERNMENT REPORTS
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General: Management Alert – CBP Needs to Address Serious Performance Issues on the Accenture Hiring Contract, December 6, 2018
The DHS OIG report examines U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) contract with Accenture Federal Services, a consulting company hired to help CBP satisfy its 7,500-person hiring goal over the next five years. The report found that CBP paid Accenture an estimated $13.6 million in 10 months, which so far has yielded a total of two (2) accepted job offers.
DHS Office of the Inspector General: CBP’s Searches of Electronic Devices at Ports of Entry – Redacted, December 3, 2018
The DHS OIG report reviews CBP’s use of its standard operating procedures for searching, reviewing, retaining, and sharing information in communication, electronic or digital devices at ports of entry. The report found that CBP did not always conduct searches according to its standard operating procedures, among other deficiencies, which limited the agency’s ability to detect and deter illicit activities.
SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES
Dreamer Advocacy Resources
This webpage includes resources to help advocate for a permanent solution for Dreamers, including talking points, data on the economic benefits of Dreamers, and summaries of key legislation pending in Congress.
Finance and Insurance: Immigrants are Indispensable to U.S. Workforce
This infographic focuses on immigrants working in the U.S. finance and insurance sectors, highlighting key facts about their demographics, income and contributions.
Infographic: Immigration Detention
This infographic highlights the escalating costs of immigration detention in light of the upcoming funding deadline for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), while noting that effective and affordable alternatives to detention (ATDs) are a better option for taxpayers.
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*This Bulletin is not intended to be comprehensive. Please contact Christian Penichet-Paul, National Immigration Forum Policy and Advocacy Associate, with comments and suggestions of additional items to be included. Christian can be reached at cpenichetpaul@immigrationforum.org. Thank you.