Week of June 15–21, 2022

A US federal judge has blocked a Biden administration memo that would limit the ability of federal immigration agents to deport illegal aliens. In September 2021, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued the memo, which was the latest in a series of similar guidance documents that attempted to limit the ability of federal agents to deport illegal aliens. The order was challenged by Louisiana and Texas, which both argued that it was unconstitutional. Judge Drew Tipton of the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas agreed, saying that the DHS did not have the legal authority to issue the memo. The order comes as the Biden administration continues to face legal challenges over its immigration policies.

At the Summit of the Americas, President Joe Biden signed a joint declaration on migration along with 18 Latin American countries and Canada, which included many mechanisms to regulate the flow of migrants across the Americas, however, experts note that it largely focused on migration from Venezuela to other countries in South America, rather than northward migration towards the United States. The deal's failure to address this issue will likely hurt Biden's credibility on immigration policies ahead of the midterm and 2024 presidential elections, and with voters consistently unimpressed with his handling of immigration, the administration seems to be stuck in a bind. While the summit did make commitments to resettle millions of migrants and expand temporary work visa programs, the reforms needed to fix the US immigration system have fallen victim to Washington deadlock. Meanwhile, the US government's attempt to regulate migration from Central America has drawn faint praise from experts, but due to the political reality ahead of tense election cycles, meaningful reform is unlikely to occur.

Canada's backlog of immigration applications has grown by nearly 260,000 people over the past month, largely due to an increase in temporary residence applications, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The backlog now stands at 2.4 million people, with the temporary residence inventory growing to 1.47 million, and the citizenship inventory at 394,664. However, the inventory of the three Express Entry programs has improved over the past month, standing at 31,603 compared to 40,889 at the end of April. The inventory of Quebec skilled workers has also declined, as has the Provincial Nominee Program. The work permit inventory, however, has increased, with extensions up to 171,998 people compared to 144,842 people. IRCC is investing in technology and hiring staff to manage its inventory and modernize the immigration system.

Immigration doesn’t have to spell demographic doom for Republicans.

Since 2016, a rising number of first- and second-generation Americans have been gravitating to the political right, particularly among voters of Latin American origin, which is proving less an obstacle to conservative political ambitions than an opportunity to expand the conservative coalition. Immigration, and the incorporation of immigrants and their descendants into American civic life, could offer ambitious Republicans a chance to embrace an immigration strategy that can move America in a more conservative direction, rather than to halt or reduce immigrant inflows. This new political realignment suggests that "selectionism," or the defense of the American people's right to choose whom to admit and whom to exclude, based on promoting the national interest, could replace "restrictionism." Ambitious Republicans can assuage the concerns of their base while promoting the interests of the country and potentially chart a path out of the current immigration deadlock that would appeal to a broad, multiracial majority of Americans.

The current disruptions in supply chains for essential goods such as semiconductors and infant formula have exposed consumers to supply chain risks, highlighting the need for a more diverse and resilient supply chain. Policymakers are considering new ways to ensure this, while still protecting the gains from international trade. For semiconductors, the CHIPS for America Act has been proposed, creating a $52 billion tax credit for semiconductor equipment or manufacturing facility investments in the U.S. However, firms still need to find thousands of workers with specialized skills to scale the industry, which could take years to redevelop the domestic semiconductor workforce.

Highly skilled immigrants could provide a substantial amount of this expertise immediately and could help retrain the domestic semiconductor workforce at the same time. Immigrants already constitute a large presence in nearly all occupations in the semiconductor industry, regardless of degree levels and skill requirements. Doubling or tripling the size of this workforce will be challenging if current congressional ambivalence about immigration policy continues. Even new semiconductor fabrication plants in locations such as Texas and Arizona, which have existing manufacturing facilities, are facing a shallow pool of potential employees for the semiconductor industry due to tight labor markets. In Ohio, where Intel has announced a $20 billion investment to build two new plants, the share of foreign-born workers in chip-making occupations is double the state's average immigrant share.

At a congressional trip to southern Texas, Republicans accused Democrats of ignoring the border

Members of the House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth traded partisan barbs during a hearing on living conditions and infrastructure for southern Texas residents. The trip to McAllen, Texas, led the Democrats to visit poor "colonia" settlements near the border and listen to residents of the neighborhoods. Republicans, meanwhile, went to the border itself to witness what they say is a major crisis and fault of the Democrats. The Republicans' focus on the border led to annoyance among the Democrats, who sought to keep their questions narrowly focused on the hearing's purpose of improving infrastructure quality and helping the poor. After the hearing, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, lit into Republicans, saying they used the unique opportunity to paint South Texas as a lawless and unsafe community. The select committee will hold another hearing this week on tax policy.

The Home Office in the UK has been criticized for launching a pilot scheme to electronically tag asylum seekers arriving in the country. The 12-month trial, which began last week, will tag some of those arriving aboard small boats from France or in the back of lorries. The Home Office has said the scheme will examine whether electronic monitoring can help maintain regular contact with migrants and help to progress their claims, as well as collect data on how many people abscond from immigration bail. However, critics have said there is no evidence that asylum seekers are absconding, and accused the government of victim-blaming. Labour leader Keir Starmer accused the government of “chasing headlines”. Alistair Carmichael, home affairs spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, called the policy a “farce” and accused the government of wasting taxpayers’ money.

Several bills have been proposed in Congress to address the challenges faced by employers and employees in terms of high-skilled immigration. One of the critical challenges is the backlog in the permanent residence process. The country cap, which states that no more than 7% of available immigrant visas may go to immigrants from any one country, has resulted in extreme backlogs for individuals from countries such as India and China, and there are currently over one million people affected by this backlog. With this in mind, members of Congress have proposed various bills aimed at improving the immigration system, attracting highly skilled workers to American employers, and increasing the supply of talented workers to the market. The bills include The Jumpstart our Legal Immigration System Act, The RELIEF Act, The Bipartisan Innovation Act, The Preserving Employment Visas Act, The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, and The EAGLE Act. However, it is unlikely that these proposals will advance through committee and be put up for a vote before the full House and Senate.

The UK government's attempt to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda has become a "culture war" issue, designed to rally Conservative supporters, according to John Harris writing in The Guardian. Rightwing populists, he says, always need enemies, and the campaign to expel people from the UK provides a handy target. Last week's aborted deportation flight to Rwanda has given Downing Street an opportunity to stoke anti-immigrant sentiment among Tory supporters, with The Mail, The Times and The Sun among those backing the government's stance. The incident has also revealed Labour's nervousness about its own position on asylum, with leader Keir Starmer's spokesman failing to commit to scrapping the policy. Harris argues that a more enlightened approach, offering asylum processing facilities in France, for instance, could help build a broader coalition in favour of a fair asylum system.

The Philippines Bureau of Immigration (BI) is facing high expectations from the public as new officials fill different government positions ahead of the 2022 inauguration. The BI is responsible for enforcing immigration, citizenship, and alien admission and registration laws in accordance with the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940. It has focused on technology advancements and process innovations in recent years, including the Bureau of Immigration Information System, Fixed Interpol Network Database, and E-Gates Project, aimed at making assessments faster and more efficient, and strengthening border control. The BI was awarded ISO certification for quality standards in conducting entry and exit formalities and was among the top-performing agencies on the eFOI Portal. The agency has faced corruption issues, pandemic-related challenges, and public scrutiny, including for the pastillas bribery scheme and abuses in the visa-upon-arrival system for Chinese travelers. The public and employers must assess the impact of anticipated changes in the immigration landscape and provide feedback to improve immigration processes.