National & State Immigration
Issues
Nora Skelly
Acting Director for Advocacy
LIRS Advocacy Work
• Engage Congress and the Administration
– Educate staff on issues
– Develop and maintain
relationships
– Urge them to take
targeted actions
• Work with NGOs, Lutheran church
partners, and constituents
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Coalitions
Stand for Welcome campaign
Support targeted actions
Advocacy gatherings
Broken Immigration System
 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S
 In 2011, 396,906 migrants were deported, the largest
number in history
 Estimated 100,000 parents of U.S. citizen children
 Countless families separated
 5,100 children in foster care
 Billions of dollars spent on immigration enforcement
and detention
 Immigrants waiting for a family visa wait years, even
decades to reunite
 Passage of misguided state laws
National issues - Congress
• House of Representatives
– Republican majority
– Trying to advance bills that add
more enforcement measures
(mandatory employer verification,
increased detention, etc.) and
restrict legal immigration
to the United States
• Senate
– Democrat majority
– Passage of modest bills, seek to stall objectionable bills
passed by the House
• 2012 elections likely to stall progress
in remainder of year
National issues - Congress
• Trafficking Victims
Protection Reauthorization
Act
• SSI assistance for refugees
• Religious worker visas
• Violence Against Women
Act
• Child tax credit
• Harmful detention
proposals
Violence Against Women Act
 Senate version:
o Increases visas available for victims of serious
crimes who collaborate w/ law enforcement
 House version:
o Deny vulnerable immigrants many protections
originally created by VAWA
o Deter victims from cooperating with law
enforcement
o Hold victims of abuse to a higher standard than
other applicants for immigration benefits
 Two versions of VAWA have been passed and now
need to be reconciled before the bill can be
passed into law, but no plans yet announced to do
so
Child Tax Credit
 Additional Child Tax Credit = families with
children to receive approx $1,800 for
taxpayers earning $21,240/year
 Individualized Tax Identification Number
users = People without Social Security
numbers, such as undocumented
immigrants
 Proposals revoking ITIN eligibility for ACTC:
- way to offset costs of other proposals
- Independent legislation by Sens.
Vitter (R-LA) and Rubio (R-FL)
 Legislation has the potential to harm 1.3
million children
Harmful Enforcement
Proposals
• Keep Our Communities Safe Act
– Remove judicial review and prolong
detention
– Harmful impacts for asylum seekers,
stateless individuals and other
vulnerable migrants
• Spending for Department of
Homeland Security
– Increase in detention spending
– Increased collaboration between
federal and state law enforcement
– Prohibiting funds for family unity
waiver or prosecutorial discretion
National issues Administration
• President Obama
– Supports comprehensive immigration reform and the DREAM Act and
has criticized Arizona and Alabama state laws
– Has devoted limited political capital to build public support and
advance legislation
• Department of Homeland Security
– Deports ~400,000 immigrants per year
– Announced immigration detention reforms, though little progress
– Continues to expand Secure Communities nationwide
– Announced a review process to allow the government to suspend the
deportations of certain immigrants
– Announced policy to protect DREAMers from deportation
• Department of Justice
– Suing Alabama, Arizona, South Carolina and Utah
– Cooperating with deportation review
National issues Administration
 Prosecutorial
Discretion
- Case-by-case
review
 Stateside processing for
family unity waiver
 Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals
- “Live” on August 15
Prosecutorial Discretion
 Prosecutorial discretion = the long-established authority of law
enforcement to decide what charges to bring and how to pursue each case.
 In August 2011 DHS announced a new process to utilize prosecutorial
discretion in a nationwide review of 300,000 cases of migrants currently in
deportation proceedings and close cases of migrants who are a “low
enforcement priority:”
 strong ties to the United States
 have made significant contributions
 have not committed any serious crimes.
 Administrative closure = Migrants are allowed to remain in the United
States. They are not be provided legal status, a work permit, or a guarantee
that their case will not be reopened at a later date.
Prosecutorial Discretion in
Practice
 As of May 29, ICE attorneys had found 20,648 cases eligible for
administrative closure, or approximately 7.2% of those reviewed.
 Offers of administrative closure were accepted in 4,363 cases and
rejected in 3,998 cases, for an acceptance rate of 52.2%.
 In 3,000 cases, these migrants may be eligible for a more permanent
form of relief
Family Unity Waiver
• Waiver for undocumented immigrants to reunify with
U.S. citizen parent/spouse in cases of extreme hardship
• Current process means leaving the country and risk
short- or long-term separation
• Proposed change:
– Begin process within United States
– Shorten separation
– Increase transparency and likelihood people will come forward
• Administration has announced a proposed change,
solicited public comment, and could make change
operational in a few months
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
 Announcement of relief from deportation and work authorization for
DREAMers on June 15
 Guidelines announced for Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
on August 3
o Be under the age of 31 as of June
15, 2012;
o Have come to the United States
before reaching the age of 16;
o Be currently enrolled in or
completed high school;
o Not have been convicted of certain crimes
 Application process began August 15
State Issues – Arizona v.
United States
 The Department of Justice challenged the constitutionality of SB 1070.
 In June 2012, U.S. Supreme Court invalidated three out of four of the
law’s challenged provisions:
o Making it a crime for immigrants without work permits to seek
employment
o Making it a crime for immigrants to fail to carry registration
documents
o Authorizing police to arrest without a warrant any immigrant they
believe has committed a deportable offense
 Court suggested an openness to considering the remaining provision in
the future:
o “Papers please” - allows police to verify the immigration status of
anyone they detain if there is “reasonable suspicion” that the person
is without proper documentation
State Issues - Legislation
• Harmful SB 1070 “copycat”
legislation
– AL, GA, SC, UT, IN
– Many being litigated or
amended
• Tuition equity or state
“DREAM Act”
– CA, CT, MD, RI
• CA Trust Act
- Pushing back on Secure
Communities
Photo credit: Wingchi Poon
State Responses to Deferred Action
 Eligibility for state benefits
 AZ, NE – no state benefits
or driver’s licenses
 TX – no state benefits
 CA – driver’s licenses will be
issued
 Some reiteration of existing
law, others new policy
What about comprehensive
immigration reform?
History of Comprehensive
Immigration Reform
• 2005/2006: House and Senate pass
different CIR bills, but unable to agree
on final bill
• 2007/2008: Senate rejects CIR and
then the DREAM Act on the Senate
floor
• 2009/2010: Bipartisan work on Senate
CIR proposal begins but negotiations
break down
• 2009/2010: House of Representatives
passes DREAM Act, but it falls 5 votes
short in Senate
Future of Comprehensive
Immigration Reform
• Priority elements for LIRS:
o
o
o
o
o
Earned pathway to citizenship
Protection for families and speedy family reunification
Humane enforcement and alternatives to detention
Protections for migrant and U.S. citizen workers
Protection for refugees, children and vulnerable migrants
• Congress and the Administration need to hear from
YOU that immigration reform is a TOP priority and
that YOU EXPECT them to support fair and humane
policies
Questions?
Nora Skelly
Acting Director for Advocacy
nskelly@lirs.org
(202) 626-7934