Week of May 15–21, 2022

The University of Colorado law school's Immigration Defense Clinic is offering free legal services to immigrants who can't afford to pay for them. One of nine clinics at the university, the Immigration Defense Clinic provides hands-on experience representing clients, many of whom come from immigrant families themselves. The clinic has helped almost 139 clients renew their status with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival, an Obama-era law that allowed young people who came to the US as children to remain in the country. The students also work under the supervision of Violeta Chapin, the clinic’s director, and bar license, which enables them to assist on criminal cases. The clinic has also represented more than 20 longtime university employees from El Salvador with temporary protected status, helping them become permanent residents.

Negotiations on China competition bill include provisions to ease pathways to U.S. for some high-skilled workers

Democrats and advocates are pushing for immigration provisions to be included in a sweeping bill aimed at making the US more competitive with China. The House passed legislation with several immigration provisions, including one that would allow more immigrants who have a doctorate degree in science, technology, engineering or math to get green cards to live and work in the US. The Senate passed a much slimmer version of the bill that does not include those provisions, which dozens of conferees from both chambers will now discuss. Democrats say the provisions to exempt STEM advanced-degree holders from annual limits on green cards could attract more international students at a time of declining enrollment and help high-skilled immigrants from countries like India and China avoid lengthy visa application backlogs.

A Republican senator questioned the Department of Homeland Security's capacity to detain illegal immigrants at the southern US border. In response, Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that authorities hold people in detention if there is a belief that they won't attend their court hearings. He added that the detention capacity was limited. The two men disagreed on the number of people attending court, with Lankford stating that the majority of people were released and did not attend court hearings, while Mayorkas argued that data showed the majority did show up. Immigration authorities release immigrants they believe do not pose a threat to public safety and are likely to attend court. They receive a Notice to Appear, which explains why the US government seeks to deport them. Immigrants can tell a judge whether they will contest removal and seek a form of relief, such as asylum, during their first hearing.

Some senators are searching for possible areas of agreement on the notoriously partisan subject of immigration

Democrats are pushing for a path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of documented Dreamers who risk deportation when they turn 21 years old. California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla is promoting a bill to permanently protect around 250,000 immigrants who grew up as dependents on their parents’ temporary visas, graduated from American universities, but aged out of that dependent status. Padilla is among the Republicans and Democrats who have been meeting regularly in recent weeks to find possible areas of agreement on the notoriously partisan subject of immigration. The Senate version of the documented Dreamers bill has four Republican co-sponsors, while the House version of the bill has ten Republican co-sponsors. Democrats hope to capitalize on bipartisan concerns about labor shortages and inflation to build support for immigration legislation as the midterm elections draw closer.

US high-tech industries are facing labour shortages despite many companies suffering from record unemployment at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics April report, the unemployment rates for workers in high-tech industries are far lower than the national average of 3.3%. Computer and electronic products manufacturers reported an unemployment rate of 0.7%, with only 6,000 unemployed. Such low unemployment rates suggest there is constant demand for workers. With the US Congress negotiating bipartisan legislation aimed at increasing US global competitiveness in high-tech industries, including investing $52bn in semiconductor manufacturing and hundreds of millions for telecommunications workforce development, there is a growing demand for high-skilled labour. Semiconductor manufacturing in particular requires highly skilled immigrant labour, and filling this gap will require significant amounts of new "experienced, high-skilled foreign talent". The report recommends that the US immigration system should be updated to meet the needs of the modern economy.

Missouri State Senator Justin Brown has been named the chair of the Senate Interim Committee on Illegal Immigration, a six-member panel tasked with examining the impact of illegal immigration on Missouri and identifying ways to discourage it. The committee also aims to investigate the abuses of out-of-state companies bringing illegal immigrants to work in Missouri without paying state taxes or obeying labor laws. The committee will explore solutions to capture revenue that the state is missing from the underground economy. Brown stated that he wants to work toward commonsense solutions to illegal immigration that will benefit everyone in the state. The goal is to mark a clear path for Missouri for the years to come, and the committee will hear from as many citizens and experts as possible.

Florida's attorney general, Ashley Moody, has asked a federal appeals court to reverse a ruling that blocked key parts of a 2019 law banning sanctuary cities in the state. The brief disputes conclusions by a district judge that the law had "discriminatory motives" behind it. The law prohibited state and local agencies from having sanctuary policies that would prevent law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement and required law enforcement to use "best efforts" to support federal immigration laws. The ruling issued in September 2020 by US District Judge Beth Bloom stated that two major parts of the law violated constitutional equal-protection rights and issued a permanent injunction against them. Moody, DeSantis, and Republican lawmakers have taken a series of steps targeting immigration issues in the past few years.

Advocates for undocumented immigrants in New York are calling on state officials to use additional revenue from the state's tax collections to replenish a fund for workers who did not receive federal pandemic relief and unemployment aid. The Excluded Workers Fund was intended to benefit workers who were ineligible for federal pandemic payments, including undocumented workers. However, state lawmakers and Governor Kathy Hochul agreed on a state budget that did not include new funding for the program. The Fund Excluded Workers Coalition referred to an analysis by the state comptroller's office, which found that New York's revenue was over $3 billion higher than initially projected. Advocates are urging state officials to re-examine the budget's impact on long-standing inequalities, particularly with regards to marginalized communities.

Cook County, the largest county in the US, is providing free legal representation for non-citizens in deportation proceedings through its Defenders for All Act, which took effect at the beginning of this year. The project, which has three attorneys and one paralegal, has taken on over a dozen cases so far, and aims to provide representation regardless of the outcome of the case. Advocacy organisations have long fought for access to free legal representation for non-citizens, as around 70% of immigrants facing deportation do not have an attorney. The Resurrection Project, which supports the project, believes that inadequate legal representation violates the due process rights of non-citizens, who have the right to counsel.

Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, is facing a possible humanitarian crisis, as US federal judge's decision on Friday to continue immediate expulsion of migrants under Title 42, could place a strain on the city's already near-saturated humanitarian shelters. Although Title 42 is intended to prevent the spread of Covid-19, there is growing concern about the mass concentration of migrants within the city. Hundreds of migrants are living in spaces they rent themselves in hotels or homes, while others live in abandoned properties. The surge of migrants has prompted almost 300 Haitian people to gather at the Office of Human Mobility of the Diocese of Ciudad Juárez to seek information on the continuation of Title 42. Some have been in the city for several weeks, while others have been there for months.