Legislation
Comparing the House and Senate Plans to Fund Immigration Agencies
The House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committees unveiled and passed out of committee their budgets for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which begins on October 1, 2016. Although the House and Senate have proposed funding some of the requests made by the President in… Read More
Why California’s Bill Allowing Undocumented Immigrants to Purchase Health Insurance is Good Policy
Governor Jerry Brown of California signed a historic law which could make his state the first to allow undocumented immigrants to purchase health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. SB10 directs the state to negotiate a waiver with the federal government to allow this population to purchase insurance on the… Read More
House Judiciary Marks Up Criticized Visa Security Act
This week, the House Judiciary Committee marked up and passed bill H.R. 5203, the Visa Integrity and Security Act of 2016 (VISA Act). The stated goal of the legislation introduced by Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA) is to enhance the security procedures for the processing of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas. Some… Read More
Senators Introduce Bill to Provide Children in Immigration Proceedings a Lawyer
Every day children, some as young as toddlers, are sent into immigration courts all around the country. They can be asked to make their own immigration cases before a judge, often while a government attorney argues that they should be deported. This is because the government maintains there is no… Read More
Is It Time to Change our Cuban Immigration Policy?
In December of 2014, President Obama restored full diplomatic relations with Cuba and, for the first time since 1961, opened an embassy in Havana. Many believe that normalizing relations with Cuba may prompt Congress to change the current laws regarding the treatment of Cuban migrants. Perhaps in anticipation of… Read More
What to Expect From Congress on Immigration in 2016
As members of Congress make their way back to Washington, D.C. this week, the prevailing wisdom is that nothing substantive will happen on Capitol Hill because we have officially entered an election year. On immigration, there is little hope that lawmakers will take up comprehensive reform, but that does not… Read More
Congress Funds Government and Extends Immigration Programs for Ten Months
This week, the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed a $1.15 trillion omnibus spending bill that funds the federal government for the rest of the Fiscal Year (FY), through September 30, 2016, as well as a package of tax breaks worth around $620 billion. The spending bill, which was seen… Read More
House Passes Visa Waiver Program Bill that Excludes Nationals of Syria, Iraq, Iran and Sudan
While Congress may be backing away from targeting the refugee resettlement program in reaction to recent terrorist attacks, lawmakers appear to have found a new target: the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). The VWP allows travelers from certain countries to enter the United States without obtaining a visa in advance. Currently, 38 countries, including France, the United Kingdom and Taiwan, are part of this program, with over 20 million visitors utilizing it each year. It was created to facilitate more efficient inbound travel to the U.S. and requires pre-screening of travelers who are pre-approved through the program. In designating a country to participate, the Department of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, considers only those the U.S. holds "the best law-enforcement and security relationships with." Read More
Efforts to Pass Anti-Refugee Legislation Slows
In the days after the Paris attacks, fear took hold of many across the United States, and some politicians proposed shutting our doors to refugees, particularly those from Syria and Iraq. This knee jerk reaction resulted in the House of Representatives hastily passing a misguided bill, which, if signed… Read More
Will the Immigration Court Backlog Finally Go Down?
Although our nation’s immigration courts currently have record backlogs, there may be some help on the way. That was the message from Juan Osuna, Director of the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR)—a division within the Department of Justice (DOJ) department which houses the immigration courts—at an oversight hearing… Read More
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