Welcome to the National Immigration Forum’s weekly bulletin! Every Friday, our policy team rounds up key developments around immigration policy in Washington and across the country. The bulletin includes items on the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, as well as some coverage at the state and local levels.
Here’s a breakdown of the bulletin’s sections:
DEVELOPMENTS IN IMMIGRATION THIS WEEK
BILLS INTRODUCED AND CONSIDERED
SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES
DEVELOPMENTS IN IMMIGRATION THIS WEEK
Immigration policy is a dynamic field subject to constant change. Here, we summarize some of the most important recent developments in immigration policy on the federal, legal, state, and local levels.
Content warning: This section sometimes includes events and information that can prove disturbing.
Federal
Biden Signals Openness to ‘Significant Compromises’ on Border in Exchange for Ukraine Aid
On December 6, President Joe Biden (D) said he was willing to make “significant compromises” on policy changes at the United States-Mexico border, claiming that the current system is “broken.”
Reports in recent days have indicated that the White House is open to sweeping restrictions that would affect both asylum eligibility and immigration enforcement writ large. For one, the Biden administration is allegedly considering raising the “credible fear” standard used during initial screenings of some asylum seekers, often within days of them reaching the U.S. — with limited time to gather evidence or obtain lawyers.
The consequences of failing these interviews or reviews are a fast-tracked deportation, risking returning people with meritorious claims to imminent danger.
In addition, the Biden administration has shown a willingness to codify transit ban provisions like the ones in its “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways” rule, which makes people seeking refuge ineligible for asylum in the U.S. if they passed through another country en route and did not unsuccessfully seek protection there first.
Finally, Biden’s White House is signaling support for expanding quick deportations under an authority known as “expedited removal” nationwide, instead of its current use only near the border. Through expedited removal, migrants can be rapidly removed by low-level immigration officers, often with no opportunity to make their case in front of an immigration judge or even hire an attorney.
These details of how far the White House is willing to move on immigration restrictions come after weeks of GOP lawmakers insisting that any aid for Ukraine be tied to substantive border policy changes.
Now, Senate negotiators are trying once again to cut a deal. One of their reported potential compromises: a cap on asylum, despite the fact that such a policy could deny protection to people with legitimate claims — who have already made it to the U.S. in search of safety — based on an arbitrary ceiling.
Senate Republicans on Thursday also unveiled a new offer, including severe parole restrictions, an expulsion authority similar to the Title 42 public health order, and an automatic border shutdown provision, according to Politico.
Second Month In a Row that U.S. Refugee Arrivals Exceed 7,000 for Fiscal Year 2024
The United States resettled 7,468 refugees in November, 106 more than those resettled in October. If the U.S. were to resettle the same number of refugees for the remaining ten months of this fiscal year, it would resettle an annual total of 89,510 people. That would be the highest number of refugee arrivals for 29 years.
But the Biden administration’s commitment to increasing refugee numbers from Latin America and the Caribbean to between 35,000 and 50,000 in FY 2024 may prove to be a bottleneck for reaching the 125,000-refugee target for the year. In FY 2023, only 6,312 refugees were resettled from that region. The combined total for refugees resettled from Latin America and the Caribbean in October and November of FY 2024 is 2,060.
The overall strong arrival numbers in the first two months of FY 2024 are a positive sign, but to reach the refugee ceiling for the year, the Biden administration would need to fortify its pipeline and increase its output to over 10,000 people on average resettled per month.
Legal
Fifth Circuit Orders Texas Border Buoys Removed, Stays Lower Court Decision on Cutting Concertina Wire
On December 1, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit required the Texas government to remove its controversial floating barriers from the Rio Grande after a three-judge panel sided with an earlier decision that the buoys violated federal law.
The roughly 1,000-foot string of barriers has caused outcry since its installation, as Texas officials use increasingly aggressive and dangerous tactics to try to deter migrants from crossing into their state. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said he and Texas’s Attorney General Ken Paxton would ask for a rehearing by the entire court, and “we’ll go to SCOTUS if needed to protect Texas from Biden’s open borders.”
Separately, U.S. District Judge Alia Moses gave Border Patrol agents the legal greenlight to continue cutting through concertina wire placed by Texas around its border with Mexico to deter migrants. The Biden administration has said that federal officials sometimes must cut the wire so they can reach migrants to offer medical help or apprehend those on U.S. soil.
The Fifth Circuit stayed that decision on Monday.
State and Local
Massachusetts Passes Budget, Including Migrant Shelter Funding
On December 4, a $3.1 billion spending bill with funds for Massachusetts’ emergency shelter system received quick sign-off from Gov. Maura Healey (D), after weeks of disagreements and delays from state lawmakers.
In recent months, a large number of migrant families have arrived in Massachusetts and relied on the state’s unique right-to-shelter law, putting pressure on emergency housing capacity there. But despite a desperate need for more resources, Democrats in the state legislature were initially unable to reach a consensus on the budget bill to provide an additional $250 million for shelters, which in turn gave Republicans who opposed the migrant support a chance to use procedural moves as a stalling tactic.
Nevertheless, the budget legislation eventually passed both chambers of the Massachusetts General Court and — on top of emergency shelter funding — will give money for state employee raises, school districts’ special education efforts, Massachusetts’ pension liability, and other issues.
New York Mayor Adams No Longer Has Authority to Quickly Enter Emergency Contracts
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) has lost his emergency powers to contract costly migrant services without first obtaining case-by-case approval from the city comptroller’s office.
Scandal has surrounded some of the mayor’s emergency contracts, including most notably a $432 million deal with a for-profit company that has allegedly mistreated migrants in its care. On Monday, a spokesperson for City Comptroller Brad Lander also noted “extensive failures to report subcontractors despite problems that surfaced with many of them.”
“In response, we concluded that the most prudent course for the city’s fiscal health and integrity would be to require City Hall to seek prior approval before using emergency procurement on a case-by-case basis,” the spokesperson told the New York Daily News in a statement. “We will continue to conduct fast and thorough reviews of emergency contracts.”
The Adams administration decried Lander’s office for pulling its previous blanket approval for emergency contracts relating to migrant services that had been in place for over a year, saying the policy change “will unquestionably slow down every step in the process.”
BILLS INTRODUCED AND CONSIDERED
It can be challenging to keep up with the constant barrage of proposed legislation in Congress. So, every week, we round up new bills. This list includes federal legislative proposals that have recently been introduced and that are relevant to immigration policy.
Please follow this link to find new relevant bills, as well as proposed legislation from past weeks.
LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR
The U.S. Senate is expected to be in session from Monday, December 11, through Friday, December 15, 2023.
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to be in session from Monday, December 11, through Thursday, December 14, 2023.
UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS
Here, we round up congressional hearings and markups happening in the field or in Washington.
H. Res. 918 – Directing certain committees to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Joseph Biden, President of the United States of America
Date: Tuesday, December 12, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. EST (House Rules Committee)
Location: H-313, The Capitol, Washington, D.C.
Related Items: H. Res. 918, H. Res. 917
Censorship Laundering Part II: Preventing the Department of Homeland Security’s Silencing of Dissent
Date: Wednesday, December 13, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. EST (House Homeland Security)
Location: 310 Cannon House office Building, Washington, D.C.
GOVERNMENT REPORTS
Reports by bodies such as the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the Congressional Research Service, and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General provide invaluable information on immigration policy and practice. Here, we give brief summaries of new immigration-related reports, with links to the resources themselves in case you want to learn more.
There are no relevant reports this week.
SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES
The Forum is constantly publishing new policy-focused resources that engage with some of the most topical issues around immigration today. Here are a few that are particularly relevant this week:
Environmental Migration: Finding Solutions for the 21st Century
This new paper explores environmental migration as a potential method of adaptation. First, it analyzes environmental migration as a phenomenon, focused on some of the nuances that make weather- and climate-related forces complicated yet influential factors in the decision to move. Then, it considers existing international mechanisms and U.S. laws that could potentially relate to environmental migration. It briefly discusses how immigrant and diasporic communities are especially vulnerable to environmental harms, even after they have already migrated. Finally, it concludes with policy recommendations on how the U.S. (and other countries) could effectively respond to environmental migration in the 21st century.
Q&A: What to Know About the Biden Administration’s New Asylum Restrictions
This explainer provides an overview of the “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways” rule. It explains in simple terms what the rule does, how it affects asylum seekers, and where it interacts with other border enforcement policies post-Title 42.
Bill Analysis: The Secure the Border Act of 2023
H.R. 2 would severely restrict the right to seek asylum in the U.S., curtail other existing lawful pathways, place unnecessary pressure on border communities, intensify labor shortages faced by small businesses and essential industries, establish new criminal penalties, and make other significant changes to U.S. immigration law.
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*This Bulletin is not intended to be comprehensive. Please contact Alexandra Villarreal, Senior Policy and Advocacy Associate at the National Immigration Forum, with comments and suggestions of additional items to be included. Alexandra can be reached at avillarreal@immigrationforum.org. Thank you.