The 118th Congress has been sworn in and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (CA-22), who presides over the House with a slim four-person majority, has completed his House Chair and Committee assignments. While there is a shift in power in Washington D.C., this immigration policy update will show that when it comes to immigration policy in 2023, things are much the same.

We all want to live in safe communities with our families and friends, and our faith compels us to help our neighbors when they are in distress. Recent activity and policy proposals from Congress and the Administration will lead to harm for our siblings fleeing violence in their communities (and hoping for a chance to thrive in the U.S.) as well as people without legal status. In this blog, I will look at immigration policy activity in Congress, the Administration, and give you next steps.  

Congress 

A Win for Immigration Activists and Just and Humane Policy 

This year, the House led off with a bill aimed at discouraging people from certain countries from seeking asylum in our country. Republican Congressman Chip Roy (TX-21) sponsored H.R.29, The Border Safety and Security Act as the first of ten pieces of legislation to go to the floor. H.R.29 would effectively seal the southern border to all asylum seekers.  

Due to the slim majority in the House, this bill, that is an affront to our sacred call to welcome the stranger, would have will most likely passed in the House, but Democratic control of the Senate made it highly unlikely that it would pass in that chamber. 

Immigration advocates knew that H.R.29 would set the stage for attacks on immigration – especially those thinly veiled with racism, like this one. Faith-based and secular immigration advocates aggressively lobbied against Roy’s bill. Several letters were sent to Congress noting that this bill would kill the right to seek asylum at our southern border and breach U.S. and international law, including letters signed by:   

• 300 immigrant advocacy organizations (including NETWORK)   
• Faith-based organizations (including NETWORK)
• Bishop Mark Seitz, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Migration Committee, a ministry started 100 years ago, which got the attention of several members of the House Republican Caucus. 

Justice-seekers united to stand up to power guided by the knowledge that a fair asylum process can only be built on just and humane policies. A significant number of Republican legislators signaled that they would not support H.R.29, and realizing that there were not enough votes to pass the bill, House Leadership pulled the harmful legislation from the floor,  

This was a huge victory for people seeking asylum and activists who support their freedom to seek asylum under U.S. law. And for NETWORK advocates, and all concerned with the common good, this win is evidence that when we work together to protect vulnerable people seeking a better life, we can defeat harmful, racist policy proposals. 

Interestingly enough, after the failure to pass H.R.29, some House Republicans tempered their anti-immigration rhetoric. Even Rep. Chip Roy took a pause. In public remarks he said, “Nobody is against asylum.” Friends, we cannot rest on our laurels. This is a momentous but, temporary, victory.

H.R.29 is not dead, it has limped off to the House Homeland Security Committee, where amendments can be made. As part of the legislative process, if it passes out of committee, we can see it again (that is, it receives enough yes votes in the smaller group that it is passed along for a full chamber vote). And NETWORK, and our coalition partners, will be ready to act against it if it returns to harm our siblings in the borderlands. 

Impeachment Talk for Secretary Mayorkas 

The Republican-led House has vowed to impeach Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. As a first step, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing called “Biden’s Border Crisis – Part I” on February 1st and the House Oversight Committee also held a hearing the first week of February. The purpose of these hearings is to gather evidence to impeach Secretary Mayorkas.  

On the other side of the aisle, the Democrats are working to stop President Biden from enacting rules banning asylum and an expanded Title 42 policy. More on that below. 

The Administration

On January 5, President Biden announced four policies that affect persons seeking safety in our country: 

1. A parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans that sets up a series of ‘hoops to jump through’ for nationals from these countries – to find safety in our country’s borders. If they have a passport, can pay for their own ticket to the U.S., have not crossed into Panama or Mexico without papers, and fulfill eligibility criteria (including having a sponsor who can support them financially for two years), they may be granted a U.S. visa. It’s more of a lottery than a legitimate program, since the total number of visas granted across all nationalities is capped at 30,000 per month. 
2. Expanded Title 42 expulsion policy to include Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.
3. Increased use of a Customs and Border Protections app (called CBP One) for asylum seekers waiting at the border to get an appointment at the port of entry. This is for land border crossers only.  
4. A proposed update to the asylum ban similar to a Trump-era policy. The new rule prevents people from presenting their case for asylum if they enter between ports of entry at the southern border, and if they do not seek asylum in a third country that they have crossed through, to reach the United States. When President Trump issued a similar rule, it was deemed illegal in court because under U.S. law, anyone can ask for asylum regardless of how they enter the country. They are not guaranteed asylum but are guaranteed a right to seek asylum. It is appalling that President Biden is seeking to re-instate this ban that destroys due process at our southern border. Congressional Democrats are in opposition and are trying to discourage President Biden from officially proposing the rule. 

NETWORK opposes these proposals.

The expansion of Title 42 expulsion policy keeps vulnerable people in dangerous conditions as they wait to plead their case for immigration status. And attaching Title 42 to narrow parole programs that favor immigrants with the most resources does not support fair American values, and it fails to protect those most in need.  

The CBP One app favors asylum seekers with a phone and a data connection. The majority of people fleeing their homes and communities don’t have the means for such a luxury. And the app is fundamentally racist. It has consistently not recognized the faces of Haitian and other Black migrants, because it does not allow them to take their photographs. Effectively, racism in the technology has meant that a majority of Black migrants do not get CBP appointments.  

What’s Happening in the Courts? 

On March 1, the Supreme Court will hear (and hopefully decide) if states have the right to intervene at this late stage in the Title 42 case that has been working its way through lower courts. If they rule yes – the case will continue if they rule no it will be the end of Title 42 in April.  

There also might have DACA ruling that might come down. Read JoAnn’s blog for the present state of DACA in the courts (as of February 3, 2023) DACA is Under Immediate Threat from my NETWORK colleague, JoAnn Goedert. 

What’s Next for NETWORK? 

The Government Relations team is focused on the Biden proposals mentioned above, and I spend considerable time tracking committee action, keeping an eye out for bills in the making. This work to defend our freedom and justice is not ours alone. We are in coalition with secular and religious groups, and we follow the lead of Pope Francis. 

“Through his deeds and messages, the pope has placed the issue of migration—and the human rights of persons forced to migrate—at the center of his papacy.” America Magazine 

And, of course, NETWORK will call upon you for your advocacy to help us stop harmful bills and polices that violate the dignity of people seeking a life where they can work to pay their bills and raise their children in peace. We will also ask for your help to promote policies restore the right to seek asylum at the border.  

Major Developments in the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Program

For immigrants from countries beset by violence, natural disasters and other turmoil, TPS provides protection from deportation and other benefits–at least temporarily. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimates that over 504,170 immigrants from 15 countries have or are eligible for TPS in the U.S. The program has been much in the news lately and, in recent weeks, the news has been good.

What is Temporary Protected Status? 

DHS grants TPS to immigrants in the U.S. from countries that it identifies as unsafe due to political unrest, natural disasters, and other hazardous conditions. Immigrants with TPS can remain in the U.S. temporarily without fear of deportation and can work and travel regardless of their immigration status, even if they were otherwise here without lawful authorization.  Typically, DHS grants TPS for 18-month periods that are often extended, and it applies it to immigrants already in the U.S. at the time of their home country’s TPS designation. TPS is not a direct path to permanent residency or citizenship, but it temporarily provides solid protection from deportation and a means of employment for hundreds of thousands of TPS recipients.

TPS Re-Designation for Haiti

On December 5, DHS announced the TPS re-designation of Haiti, a country struggling with government upheaval, widespread gang violence, the aftermath of hurricanes and earthquakes and, now, a cholera outbreak. The TPS status of approximately 100,000 Haitian immigrants who arrived in the U.S. in recent years was scheduled to expire on February 3, 2022 unless the Biden Administration took action. With the new re-designation, Haitian nationals who arrived in the U.S. by November 6, 2022 will be eligible for TPS through August 3, 2024.

The Biden Administration’s TPS Expansion

The Biden Administration’s expansion of the use of TPS was especially welcome, and a departure from Trump Administration efforts to dismantle the program (which were impeded by court action). The Biden Administration tried to legislate permanent protections for TPS recipients, but that failed when Republican Senators refused to consider immigration reform.

The Biden Administration has extended prior TPS protections for immigrants from South Sudan, Sudan, and Syria. It also added eight new countries—and more than 175,000 newly eligible immigrants–to the TPS list, including Venezuela, Myanmar, Somalia, and Yemen in 2021, and Afghanistan, Cameroon, Ukraine, and Ethiopia earlier in 2022.

A Crisis Averted

On October 25, a threat to long-standing protections for TPS holders from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal abruptly surfaced, resulting from the revival of a 2018 court challenge to Trump Administration efforts to dismantle TPS. While immigration advocates initially succeeded in federal district court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision and held that Trump’s actions were lawful. When the Biden Administration took over in 2021, the parties entered into many months of settlement negotiations that stayed further court action. But those talks broke down in late October with no settlement, leaving the future of nearly 370,000 immigrants whose TPS was scheduled to terminate on December 31, 2022 at serious risk.

On November 11, that crisis was averted when DHS announced an 18-month extension—to June 31, 2024 for existing TPS recipients from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal who were subject to the December 31 deadline. This extension was an act of simple humanity, especially since most of the individuals caught up in the court case have been in the United States for decades. NETWORK joined with the TPS-DED Administrative Advocacy Coalition, a coalition of over 100 representatives of faith-based and secular organizations, in urging the Administration to take quick action to announce a prompt TPS extension.  (https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60b79f3630f94f1039bd0125/t/635a9dde506660168de54139/1666883038701/2022-10-27+Press+Release+re+Ramos+Settlement.pdf).  To the great relief of the faith community and all people of good will, that call was answered.

The Future of TPS

At this time, more than 500,000 immigrants in the U.S. are secure in their TPS protection, but TPS remains only a temporary benefit, and any future extensions or expansions of the program will be decided by whoever is in the White House. NETWORK will monitor future developments in the TPS program and continue to advocate for TPS holders and all of our immigrant neighbors.