Policy Update - 5/8/15

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Congressional

  • The US Senate confirmed Loretta Lynch as Attorney General. The confirmation had previously been held up by Republicans due to her support of Administrative Relief and until the Senate voted on a trafficking bill which passed without anti-immigrant amendments.
  • The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Central American Minors Refugee/Parole Program on 4/23.
  • The House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, held a hearing on “birthright citizenship on 4/29; Rep. Steve King (R-IA) and Sen. Vitter (R-LA) have both introduced bills on this issue.
  • The Senate Homeland Security Committee to take up S. 750 (Arizona Borderlands Protection and Preservation Act) which facilitates CBP’s ability to conduct surveillance.
  • The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is drafting a CIR bill, similar to the 2013 Senate bill; it is not expected this would pass.
  • Rep. Denham may revitalize efforts around the ENLIST Act (previous versions would have allowed certain DREAMers who served in the military a pathway to a green card) in May.
  • There are ongoing efforts to obtain Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Nepalis affecting by recent earthquake.

Administrative Relief & Lawsuit

  • The 5th Circuit heard oral arguments on the stay on Administrative Relief on April 17; the next oral arguments are tentatively scheduled for the week of July 6; the White House submitted  documents to the District Court in Texas, at its request, regarding issuance of 3-year deferred action/work authorization.
  • DHS expects the number of Unaccompanied Children entering the U.S. to be lower this year due to increased border enforcement.
  • DHS states that the number of deportations has reportedly slowed down.
  • A federal district court judge in California has tentatively ruled that family detention violates administrative policy, that children and their mothers cannot be held in insecure facilities, and it is inappropriate to hold children and accompanying parents unless they are flight risk; both parties in the court case will have 30 days to negotiate an agreement.
  • DHS Secretary Johnson testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that he would review the agency’s family detention policy.
  • The White House has released immigrant integration plan; Click here for the report and fact sheet
  • There are delays reported in the processing of DACA renewals by USCIS

State/Local

  • The Budget Subcommittee hearings (Health and Human Service subcommittees) on the OneCA budget proposal took place on April 27 (Assembly) and on May 7 (Senate) and it is expected to be taken up again after the May revise. The OneCA budget proposal allocates $20 million to organizations for outreach, education, and legal services for naturalization and DACA/DAPA.
  • Health4All passed out of Senate Health Committee and was heard in the Senate Health Appropriations Committee on May 4 where it was placed on suspense.
  • The San Jose City budget meetings are commencing; the City Manager released the city’s Operational Budget which includes $200k for Administrative Relief funding.