Immigration in the News 5/10/2021
Caitlyn Jenner outlines pro-legalization stance, good news for the Diversity Visa Program, DHS rolls back biometrics for U.S. citizens and H1B and L-1 spouses
Comments
Caitlyn Jenner is by no means a shoe-in for California Governor in the upcoming recall, but seeing her come forward with a pro-legalization/path to citizenship stance in a media interview is a noteworthy step forward for Republicans in a state where the issue is not at all theoretical. I’ll let the articles speak for themselves but one thing that stuck out to me is that roughly 65% of California Republican voters also support some kind of legalization plan. It is often the case that real progress on an issue only comes when it ceases to be a reliable wedge issue that generates votes for both sides, and we may be approaching this point with legalization, at least in California and other border states. Call it progress of a sort.
Getting the Diversity Visa program back on track is a good thing in its own right and also a good indicator that DOS is making progress getting things back on track in general. They wouldn’t be pushing forward with the lottery if they weren’t somewhat confident they would be able to get those visas approved before the end of the fiscal year, especially considering how much they were sued last year for failing to do so. Buried in that news item is another interesting tidbit, people who were refused immigrant visas under various Trump-era Presidential Proclamations will be given a second look for their visas (diversity or otherwise). It will be interesting to see if they challenge those rules in court once they enter the U.S. and whether they have standing (assuming the PPs haven’t already been rolled back by Biden).
The abandonment of biometric collection for H4s and L2s and the curtailing of collection for U.S. citizen petitioners is a big win for privacy advocates. The Trump administration had a habit of introducing immigration policies that were designed to inconvenience AND infringe on privacy rights, and it’s nice to see the new administration recognize that both goals are not worth pursuing. The rollback of Trump-era policies continues apace, but we have yet to see what new direction Biden and Mayorkas (and Blinken, though I feel Secretaries of State yield less influence over immigration policy than they should) will take our immigration apparatus.
There are also some comments below regarding specific stories of interest or recommendations. Going forward if there are any stories you would like to see featured here please reach out via email at immiwonk@gmail.com or shoot us a DM on Twitter at @immiwonk. Thanks for reading!
Big Topics this Week:
Caitlyn Jenner supports path to citizenship
Biden and the border
Undocumented Immigrants
Department of Homeland Security/Department of State
Refugee and Asylum Policy
Caitlyn Jenner’s “path to citizenship” stance
Caitlyn Jenner says she favors path to citizenship for California immigrants
“I am for legal immigration, okay. What’s been happening on the border was honestly one of the reasons I decided to run for governor,” Jenner said in the interview. “I was watching people dying come across the river, kids in cages – whatever you want to call them.”
“They should have a chance at citizenship?” Bash asked.
“Absolutely, yeah. They should. I mean, there’s a lot of people, but personally I have met some of the most wonderful people who are immigrants, who have come to this country and they are just model citizens. They are just great people and I would fight for them to be US citizens,” Jenner replied.
Caitlyn Jenner favors a pathway to citizenship, says border crisis prompted run for governor
Jenner said deportations should be focused on those with criminal records, affiliations with the MS-13 gang and, as she said, "the list goes on."
"It's a lot of bad people that are trying to cross our border illegally," she said. "I don't want those people in our country."
Caitlyn Jenner says she favors path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants
When asked by CNN’s Dana Bash if she supports a path to citizenship for the 1.75 million undocumented immigrants in California’s labor force, Jenner said she she would "hope so," adding “I am for legal immigration.”
She said the surge of migrants, particularly unaccompanied minors, at the southern border during the first months of the Biden administration was one of the reasons why she decided to enter the race for governor.
This looks like the new Republican stance: “Citizenship for the good ones and deportation for the bad ones!” Pay close attention to the criteria they propose for each category.
Biden and the border
Democrats eye a creative approach to passing immigration reform
But what if the Democratic majority could circumvent a GOP filibuster by using the budget reconciliation process -- the same method the party used to pass the COVID relief package?
In early April, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) suggested Dems are prepared to do exactly that. Two weeks later, a group of Hispanic lawmakers met privately with President Joe Biden, and after the discussion, Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.) told Politico that Biden told the group he generally "supports passing certain immigration reforms by reconciliation if we can't get the 10 Republican votes."
As Biden Shifts On Immigration, Some Advocates See Him Giving Up Without A Fight
"The balancing act here is between the art of what is necessary and the art of what is possible," Noorani said.
The White House doesn't see it as an either/or situation. As Biden said, he remains committed to his comprehensive plan as a way to address thorny issues that Congress has fought over for decades. But in the meantime, he wants to move on legislation to protect DREAMers and farmworkers, measures that have drawn bipartisan support in the past.
Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, who was involved in crafting those bills, insists her party is not giving up on the broader package. But she said there is no reason not to get parts of it done in the meantime.
Dreamers and farmworkers. That’s what we will get.
He was the first to show photos of what the inside of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility in Donna, Texas, looked like, with children shown crowded and lying on mats on the floor with foil blankets. He has been critical of the Biden administration’s message to migrants early on, when it told migrants it's not a good time to come to the U.S. "right now." . And Cuellar still says the border is not under control — despite Biden’s recent assertion it is.
Most recently, he disputed photos released by CBP this week showing few migrant children at the once-crowded border facility in Donna, Texas.
"We cannot ignore the fact that they are essentially moving them from one tent to another tent within the same location," Cuellar said in a statement. "We are doing a better job about the outflow factor at the border, but we still need to address the inflow factor at the border."
Form a bipartisan border task force with Cuellar at the helm. I have said many times here that the conversation needs to be lead by border representatives and senators.
Undocumented Immigrants
Undocumented Immigrants Losing Homes during Pandemic
The Migration Policy Institute compared jobless rates for Hispanic immigrants between January 2020 and February 2021. In one year, the number of immigrants without jobs doubled. Activists and social workers in states like New York or California say the undocumented immigrants who cannot receive government aid are finding themselves without a home.
Yessenia Benitez is a 30-year-old social worker who helps immigrants in Queens, NY. She says she has seen more and more groups of immigrants living on the street. They earn small payments from returning empty bottles, but they would rather be working.
Nearly 6,000 undocumented immigrants apprehended daily at US-Mexico border in April
Throughout April, Customs and Border Protection has encountered an average of just under 6,000 people daily at the southern border, according to a Department of Homeland Security official, which is in line with the March average of around 5,560 people daily.
During the first three weeks of April, around 122,000 people were encountered by US border authorities on the southwest border, another signal that the month will likely be similar to March, according to preliminary data obtained by CNN.
The Washington Post first reported that the April numbers were leveling off.
Looks like the early border rush is tapering off. Hopefully this will open up some more space in the political sphere to address immigration rather than just reacting.
More than 90 people found in Houston home in suspected smuggling case
Police responding to reports of a kidnapping said on Friday they had found more than 90 people crammed into a two-story suburban Houston home and suspected it was being used in a human smuggling operation.
The 90 victims, all but about five of them men, were removed from the house and given food and water, said Daryn Edwards, assistant chief of the Houston Police Department.
"They basically (were) in there in their basic clothing and all, all huddled together. So that's what we saw when we got in," he said. No children were found among them.
DOS/DHS
Immigration Courts Aren’t Real Courts. Time to Change That.
If the goal was to empty the United States of all those asylum seekers, Mr. Trump clearly failed, as evidenced by the huge backlog he left Mr. Biden. But the ease with which he imposed his will on the immigration courts revealed a central structural flaw in the system: They are not actual courts, at least not in the sense that Americans are used to thinking of courts — as neutral arbiters of law, honoring due process and meting out impartial justice. Nor are immigration judges real judges. They are attorneys employed by the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which is housed in the Department of Justice. It’s hard to imagine a more glaring conflict of interest than the nation’s top law-enforcement agency running a court system in which it regularly appears as a party.
This is actually a really interesting suggestion that I think people should think about. Even for those who are well versed in immigration policy, the immigration court system is hard to understand. In a country where we consider “due process” so important it’s bizarre we have a sort of “kangaroo court” for asylum seekers and other recent immigrants.
State Department announces winners of Diversity Visa Program
On his first day as president, Biden issued a new presidential proclamation -- "Ending Discriminatory Bans on Entry to the United States" -- that ended the restrictions under Presidential Proclamation 9645.
"Pursuant to President Biden's proclamation, the State Department will undertake a review to ensure that individuals whose immigrant visa applications were denied on the basis of the suspension and restriction on entry imposed by P.P. 9645 or 9983 may have their applications reconsidered," the department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, which handles visas, says on its website.
According to State Department data, tens of thousands of applicants for immigrant visas -- including diversity visa applicants -- were refused visas in fiscal years 2017, 2018 and 2019 under the Trump administration's policy.
I doubted that Biden’s people would follow through on reuniting deported parents with their separated children, but I was wrong on that (see last week’s newsletter). I am skeptical on this one also but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt this time.
USCIS will suspend Trump-era biometric screening rule for work-permit applicants
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it would suspend biometric screening requirements for H-4 and L-2 derivative visa holders as of May 17 while it reviews them, in a filing late Monday in a proposed class action claiming the agency's delays in issuing work permits are illegal.
The March lawsuit in Seattle federal court claims a 2019 rule requiring applicants to schedule an interview and submit to a screening had made it impossible for many visa holders' spouses to avoid gaps in their employment when their one-year work authorization expired.
Biden to withdraw Trump rule collecting DNA from immigrants, citizen sponsors
Under the Trump proposal, anything from palm prints to voiceprints could be collected from those seeking green cards or U.S. citizenship. Such information could also be required from U.S. citizens if DHS needed to establish a family relationship.
The proposal also would have eliminated any age restrictions for collecting biometrics. Under current regulations, biometrics collection is typically restricted to those 14 and older.
"As those technologies become available and can be incorporated as appropriate, it gives the agency the flexibility to utilize them. And then it also would give the agency the authority down the road, as new technologies become available and are reliable, secure, etc., to pivot to using those, as well," a DHS official said when the rule was first proposed.
Do Restrictions on H-1B Visas Create American Jobs?
Interviews with immigration lawyers and H-1B visa applicants suggest that when the Trump administration introduced additional scrutiny of H-1B applications, companies often shifted workers or hired elsewhere instead of filling the roles with American workers.
This is consistent with research by Britta Glennon, an assistant professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In a working paper last year, she analyzed the data on U.S.-based multinational companies between 2004 and 2014 and found that those dependent on H-1B visas were more likely to expand overseas when facing immigration restrictions, like when the cap on visas was lowered in 2004.
There are various tax and fee rules in place that favor companies who maintain a certain ratio of American to foreign workers. I guess Congress could do more to make hiring foreign workers more punitive, but as this article explains that may not have the intended effect.
Refugee and Asylum Policy
How confusion around Biden policies birthed a new refugee camp on the U.S. border
Tijuana's director of migrant affairs, José Luis Pérez Canchola, said officials were trying to find a safe space for the migrants, but there was no concrete plan yet.
Migrants said they feared that if they moved away from the encampment they might lose their place in a line that does not really exist, or that conditions in shelters would be worse than in the camp. Some were afraid to leave their tents for safety.
Some had lived elsewhere in Tijuana for months, while others had arrived only recently. Others said they had crossed into Texas and been expelled into Tijuana, and came to the camp because they did not know where else to go.
In Another Reversal, Biden Raises Limit on Number of Refugees Allowed Into the U.S.
President Biden on Monday reversed himself and said he would allow as many as 62,500 refugees to enter the United States during the next six months, eliminating the sharp limits that President Donald J. Trump imposed on those seeking refuge from war, violence or natural disasters.
The action comes about two weeks after Mr. Biden announced that he was leaving Mr. Trump’s limit of 15,000 refugees in place, which drew widespread condemnation from Democrats and refugee advocates who accused the president of reneging on a campaign promise to welcome those in need.
Mr. Biden quickly backtracked, promising only hours later that he intended to increase refugee admissions. With Monday’s announcement, the president formally bowed to the pressure.
This flip-flop was pretty well telegraphed so it comes as no surprise, but it leads one to wonder why they floated the lower number in the first place only to get dragged through the mud by the advocates and media. Best case interpretation is that Biden and his team are listening and people need to speak up when they are going in the wrong direction.
Canada taken to court over COVID policy that pushes asylum-seekers to U.S.
Even though Canada said they could return at a later date to make refugee claims, the legal action argues Canada is not ensuring that the turning away of refugees is temporary.
Canada has previously said the turn-back policy, which it has been renewing monthly, is a necessary public health measure. Canada also says it has assurances from the United States that "most" asylum-seekers will be returned to Canada to pursue refugee claims.
But the United States deported at least one asylum-seeker turned back under this policy, according to the man's lawyer and correspondence seen by Reuters. Others were held in a detention centre.