New Congress starts with immigration

Happy New Year!

Immigration policy played a major role during the first full week of the 119th Congress. The House of Representatives passed the Laken Riley Act, and the Senate jumped a procedural hurdle, allowing Senate Majority Leader John Thune to bring the Senate version of the bill to the floor for consideration.

The Laken Riley Act -- H.R. 29 in the House, introduced by Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), and S. 5 in the Senate, introduced by Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) -- would require the Department of Homeland Security to detain certain noncitizens who have been arrested for burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting. Further, it authorizes states to sue the federal government for violating or failing to enforce federal immigration law.

In the House, the bill passed 264 to 159, with 48 Democrats joining all Republicans to vote in favor of the bill. The Senate overwhelmingly approved a cloture motion to bring the bill to the floor by a vote of 84 to 9. Some Senate Democrats are hoping to amend the bill to weaken it, so its path to passage is still somewhat unclear.

Also this week, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) reintroduced the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, H.R. 22. (See our fact sheet.) The SAVE Act would require proof of citizenship when registering to vote, preventing noncitizens from being added to the voter rolls. The bill passed the House in the previous Congress, but the Senate Leadership refused to bring it to the floor for a vote.

Republicans in the House also adopted their rules package for the 119th Congress, which includes a list of bills they intend to bring to the floor for a vote. The list includes Roy's SAVE Act, Collins' Laken Riley Act, and legislation to strengthen interior enforcement and to block certain federal grants to sanctuary jurisdictions.

Unfortunately, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is doing all he can during his final days in office to protect illegal aliens in the United States from being deported by the Trump Administration. Mayorkas extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) this week for approximately 950,000 illegal aliens from El Salvador, Venezuela, Sudan, and Ukraine. Under TPS, illegal aliens are protected from deportation and can obtain a work permit.

Immigration News

Mayorkas extends deportation shield for eye-popping number of immigrants ahead of Trump admin
Fox reports that with only 9 days left until the next administration, impeached Secretary of DHS Alejandro Mayorkas isn't done with his executive amnesty plans. Last night, he announced 18-month extensions of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador, Venezuela, Sudan and Ukraine. With a stroke of his pen, 946,900 aliens in the U.S. who were going to have to be prepared to leave in 2025 will now have work authorization and quasi-legal status until the fall of 2026.

Rep. Roy reintroduces bill to protect the integrity and sanctity of American elections
This week, Congressman Chip Roy (R, TX-21) reintroduced the SAVE Act (H.R. 22), the gold standard of election integrity legislation which passed the House of Representatives last Congress 221-198. Federal agencies and state DMVs offer voter registration forms to everyone with whom they come in contact, regardless of their citizenship. That dramatically increases the chances that some of the estimated 30 million noncitizens living in the United States—including illegal aliens—will register to vote and vote in upcoming elections. The SAVE Act, which would require proof of US citizenship when registering to vote, is a common-sense solution to ensure that noncitizens are not allowed to register to vote, and thus cannot dilute the votes of American citizens. You can read more about the bill on our fact sheet here.

Representative Roy reintroduces the Border Safety and Security Act
In addition to the SAVE Act, Congressman Chip Roy (R, TX-21) reintroduced his Border Safety and Security Act, H.R. 318, which was an important piece of the Secure the Border Act (H.R. 2) last Congress. This bill would finally put teeth in the law’s requirement that illegal aliens be detained, returned, or denied entry. By giving the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security an explicit mandate to deny entry to illegal aliens who cannot be detained or returned, the bill puts a clear end to the catch-and-release policies that have devastated American communities. Equally important is the bill’s grant of standing to state Attorneys General to sue the Secretary for failure to enforce the law. You can read more about it here.

Congressman Brandon Gill’s First Bill Codifies Trump’s Border Policy
Freshman Congressman Brandon Gill (R, TX-26) introduced his first bill as a Member of Congress this week, the REMAIN in Mexico Act. The Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), commonly called ‘Remain in Mexico’, was one of the most consequential actions taken by the Trump Administration when it faced a surge of illegal aliens in 2019. As fraudulent asylum seekers realized they would no longer be released into the interior, they simply stopped coming. Unsurprisingly, the Biden Administration’s cancellation of the program led to a historic four-year border surge. The REMAIN in Mexico Act would restore MPP.

Red state AGs welcome Trump crackdown on illegal immigration after four years battling Biden
Twenty State Attorneys General, led by our friend and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, issued a statement pledging support for the incoming Trump Administration’s efforts as it carries out immigration enforcement. These AGs were central in suing the Biden Administration to stop its illegal abuse of immigration law.

"President Trump has all the statutory tools he needs… They are already in the federal code, and that's what we're saying too. As lawyers who have been trying to stop the Biden administration from violating the law, we are saying, ‘President Trump, you have our support, and you have a wide open runway ahead of you to renew the enforcement of our federal immigration laws.’”

After record highs, illegal immigration plummets at US-Mexico border
USA Today reports on how illegal border crossing numbers continue to plummet as we approach the promised crackdown on illegal immigration by the incoming Trump Administration. Nationwide encounters data hasn't dropped for December, but if Customs and Border Protection follows its usual schedule, we may know by next week’s newsletter if that trend downward has continued. As of November, 531,670 illegal aliens have entered the country through the illegal CHNV Parole Program, and 904,500 have entered using the CBPOne app. We’re hopeful that the Trump Administration will immediately end these unlawful programs.

Deep Dive: Elon Musk Is Right about H-1Bs- ‘I’ve been very clear that the program is broken and needs major reform’
One of the most newsworthy items on immigration over the Christmas break was the debate on social media, particularly X, over H-1B visas. Our friend George Fishman from the Center for Immigration Studies does a great job breaking down problems with the H-1B program and how to fix them.

Next week

Both the House and Senate are in session. The Senate should begin consideration of the Laken Riley Act early in the week.