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
As Congress goes on recess in August, so will the bulletin. We will still be publishing every other week, with the next edition on Thursday, August 8, 2024.
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 Withdraws from 2024 Presidential Race
On July 21, President Joe Biden announced via a letter on social media that he is withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race. Biden subsequently endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who quickly consolidated support and is now the overwhelming frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. Within a few days, Harris secured backing from the majority of delegates for her party’s convention.
Immigration will likely remain a central issue in the election. The former president, Donald Trump, highlighted immigration repeatedly at the Republican National Convention (RNC) and in recent campaign speeches. In addition, newly-announced Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance is considered an immigration skeptic.
Meanwhile, Republicans are linking Harris to the challenges at the U.S.’s southern border, labeling her as the Biden-Harris administration’s “border czar.” On Thursday, all House Republicans and six Democrats voted in favor of a resolution condemning Harris’s work on migration at the U.S.-Mexico border during her tenure as vice president.
While Harris was tasked with leading diplomatic efforts around regional cooperation and the root causes of migration in Central America, her role did not directly deal with the U.S.-Mexico border. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has primary responsibility for establishing policies and managing resources at the border.
Legal
Justice Department Alleges Pervasive Sexual Abuse at Major Shelter Provider for Unaccompanied Children
On July 17, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) sued Southwest Key Programs, a nonprofit organization and the largest operator of unaccompanied migrant children’s shelters in the U.S.
The lawsuit accuses Southwest Key of “severe, pervasive, and unwelcome sexual abuse and harassment” of migrant children, whose ages ranged from 5 to 17 years old. The DOJ alleges that between 2013 and 2023, Southwest employees “raped, touched, or solicited sex and nude images of children,” with over 100 incidents of abuse documented.
Southwest Key employees also reportedly threatened the victims with violence against them and their families if they came forward about the abuse.
Southwest Key responded that it would continue to review the claim and that the accusations “[do] not present the accurate picture of the care and commitment [Southwest Key] employees provide to the youth and children.”
Judge Rejects Texas Attorney General’s Bid to Depose Shelter Leader
On July 24, a state judge in Hidalgo county, Texas, denied Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s attempt to depose Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director for Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley.
The lawsuit is part of the state leadership’s efforts to investigate migrant-serving nonprofits, while leveling unfounded allegations of criminal acts. Paxton’s office similarly targeted Annunciation House — a migrant shelter network in El Paso, Texas — in an effort to obtain sensitive documents involving the organization’s migrant clients. A state judge in El Paso blocked the attorney general’s efforts to close down Annunciation House for failing to produce those records.
Attorneys for Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley called Paxton’s petition implicating the nonprofit “a fishing expedition into a pond where no one has even seen a fish.”
State and Local
Chicago Expects Thousands of Newcomers From Texas Ahead of DNC
Chicago officials are preparing for up to 10,000 or even 25,000 more migrants to come to the city ahead of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on August 19 through 22, as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) threatened to send more buses from Texas to Democratic-led areas in the coming days.
Last December, Chicago sheltered around 15,000 migrants, costing local authorities $1.5 million a day. Those numbers have fallen significantly in recent weeks to 5,621 migrants and $677,000 a day. The city has around 5,000 shelter beds open.
At the Republican National Convention (RNC) earlier this month, Abbott said,“We have continued busing migrants to sanctuary cities all across the country,” and “those buses will continue to roll until we finally secure our border.”
Yet, the number of border crossings has been much lower in recent weeks after the Biden administration’s June proclamation and interim final rule severely restricting asylum access and eligibility. Abbott’s ability to send migrants from Texas to Chicago in time for the DNC could be compromised by how few newcomers are actually arriving and planning to go to the Windy City.
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, July 29, through Friday, August 2, 2024.
The U.S. House of Representatives was expected to be in session from Monday, July 29, through Thursday, August 1, 2024, but decided to break for August recess this week and will not return until September 9.
UPCOMING HEARINGS AND MARKUPS
Here, we round up congressional hearings and markups happening in the field or in Washington.
Business meeting to markup an original bill entitled, “Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act”, an original bill entitled, “Department of Defense Appropriations Act”, an original bill entitled, “Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act”, an original bill entitled, “Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act”, and an original bill entitled, “Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act”
Date: Thursday, August 1, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. EDT (Senate Appropriations)
Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building 106, 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.
U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO); Immigration Enforcement: Arrests, Removals, and Detentions Varied Over Time and ICE Should Strengthen Data Reporting; Published July 23, 2024
This report focuses on data regarding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests, removals, and detentions from 2019 through 2022, while also exploring changing priorities within the agency during those years.
Congressional Budget Office (CBO); Effects of the Immigration Surge on the Federal Budget and the Economy; Published July 23, 2024
This report considers the effects of an increase in immigration from 2021-2026 on budget and economic projections for 2024-2034.
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:
D-3 Waivers for the Three- and Ten-Year Bars of Dreamers
On June 18, 2024, the Biden administration announced administrative actions to make it easier for Dreamers and DACA recipients who have earned a degree at an accredited U.S. institution of higher education to become eligible for work visas in the United States.
Explainer: The Biden Administration’s “Securing the Border” Interim Final Rule and Implementation of Border Policies
This explainer describes the “Securing the Border” interim final rule and its most significant changes to the U.S. asylum system, while providing context on how the policies are being implemented on the ground.
Explainer: The Biden Administration’s Announcement to Protect American Families
This explainer provides an overview of President Joe Biden’s executive actions to keep American families together.
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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.