Contributed by Amber L. Blasingame, Associate Attorney, Colorado Springs
The swearing in of a
Republican-controlled congress significantly diminishes the probability of a
comprehensive immigration reform bill and intensifies the immigration debate on
Capitol Hill. On January 14, 2015, Republicans in the House passed a Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations bill with five different amendments intending
to impede implementation of President Obama’s Executive Actions announced
November 20, 2014. And looking forward, Congress has already begun to introduce
fragmented legislation proposing to reform immigration enforcement measures and
business immigration legislation, while opposing relief to undocumented
individuals presently residing in the United States.
If Congress does not pass an
appropriations or funding bill for DHS with President Obama’s approval, then
DHS may be facing a shutdown on February 27, 2015. In January, the House of
Representatives past an appropriations bill with several amendments attacking
the President’s Executive Actions announced in November 2014. Representatives
Aderholt, Mulvaney, and Barletta introduced an amendment that effectively would
defund the implementation of the President’s Executive Action, including the
enforcement memorandums which went into effect on January 5, 2015.
Representative Blackburn’s amendment to the bill would prevent extension of the
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program and possibly end current DACA
benefits. Representatives DeSantis and Roby proposed an amendment that on the
surface appears to protect victims of domestic violence, but in reality not
only proposes repetitive protections for victims but increases the chances of a
victim’s deportation, limits the agency’s authority to establish enforcement
priorities based on public safety and national security, and prevents the
implementation of the November 20, 2014, Executive Action. Representative Schock’s
amendment accuses US Citizenship and Immigration Services of raising the needs
of undocumented immigrants above those “following proper immigration laws and
procedures,” and encourages the agency to terminate adjudication of all
applications submitted by undocumented aliens. Shock’s amendment, if followed,
would result in hindering benefits for asylees, victims of domestic violence,
trafficking, and serious crimes, inadvertent overstays, and the spouses and
immediate relatives of Military service personnel. As of January 15, 2015, it
is unknown how the Senate will vote on the House’s appropriations bill. While
opposed to the President’s Executive Action, Senate Whip John Cornyn assured
the public that shutting down DHS was “off the table.”
Also, in January, both sides of congress
announced bills addressing enforcement and employment based immigration reforms.
Representative McCaul reintroduced a version of an earlier proposed enforcement
bill, the Secure Our Borders First Act, on January 16, 2015. Congressman McCaul
declared that the administration had thus far “failed” to secure the country’s borders
and “failure is not an option.” His bill offers the “toughest border security
bill ever before Congress.” In addition to building fencing and implementing
technology along the borders, the bill requires 100% “operational control” of
the southwest border within five years at the risk of non-compliance penalties
as affirmed by a government appointed commission. On the other side of the
debate, on January 13, 2015, seven Senators introduced the Immigration
Innovation Act of 2015 (“I-Squared”). As proposed, I-Squared would increase the
H-1B Cap from the current 65,000 to a minimum of 115,000 and permit the cap to
fluctuate based on market demand up to a maximum of 195,000, as well as eliminating
the 20,000 cap for H-1B petitions on behalf of beneficiary’s with advanced
degrees earned in the United States. The bill also proposes to authorize
employment authorization for H-4 dependents, extends “dual intent” to foreign
students, recaptures unused “green card” or visa numbers, exempts certain
individuals from the employment based “green card” quotas including derivative
family members, STEM U.S. advanced degree recipients, aliens of extraordinary
ability, and outstanding professors and researchers, modifies annual
per-country limits for both employment and family based green card petitioners,
and increases fees for H-1B and employment based green cards to create grant
funding for STEM education and training.
While Congress continues to
debate the President’s Executive Action, DHS is pushing forward to meet the
February 20, 2015, deadline to expand DACA, and the May 20, 2015,
implementation of DAPA. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is
reviewing detained removal cases and as of December 2014, released about 600
individuals eligible for DAPA and expanded DACA. Implementation of enforcement
priorities effective January 5, 2015, is unclear at present. Much of the
uncertainty arises from the lawsuit, Texas
v. United States, brought by over 20 state attorney generals and governors
currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Bookmark this post with:
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.