The Senate began a number of votes this morning on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill, including on one amendment to strip House-passed language that defunds the president’s executive amnesties. The existing DHS continuing resolution expires at midnight tonight. The House is scheduled to take up another continuing resolution today to avert a funding gap.
H.R. 1147, The Legal Workforce Act, would require most employers to use E-Verify within two years of enactment. Large employers, federal, state, and local agencies and federal and state contractors would need to comply within six months. The bill would also make the E-Verify program permanent.
2015: Senate vote on Sens. Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) and Thad Cochran's (R-Miss.) Amdt. 255 to H.R. 240
2015: Senate vote on Sens. Jeff Sessions' (R-Ala.) and Mike Lee's (R-Utah) motion to table the Cochran/McConnell Amendment to fund executive amnesties
H.R. 1148, the Michael Davis, Jr. in Honor of State and Local Law Enforcement Act, would prevent cities from providing sanctuary to illegal aliens and would provide funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) that reimburses states for incarcerating illegal aliens. The legislation would help reduce rewards for illegal immigration by preventing cities from providing a safe harbor for illegal aliens.
H.R. 1153, the Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act of 2015, represents one of the most thorough responses to the surge of unaccompanied alien children (UACs) at the Southwest border. Aside from repealing the requirements that resulted in UACs from contiguous countries receiving differing treatment than those from noncontiguous countries, this bill requires immigration officers to order all illegal entrants removed upon screening, absent an asylum claim. In order to encourage cooperation with return, foreign countries who resist repatriation will face cuts to foreign assistance.
H.R. 1149, the Protection of Children Act of 2015, would remove the requirement that only UACs from contiguous countries receive expedited removal. In addition, children are no longer required to make their own independent decision to withdraw their applications for admission, and immigration officers who determine such children are inadmissible may withdraw their applications and return them to their home countries. The transfer time of UACs to HHS is extended to allow for review, and various improvements are made to the SIJ visa and asylum programs.
Senate Democrats accepted Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) deal yesterday to end their filibuster of the House-passed DHS funding bill, H.R.240. By a 98-to-2 margin, the Senate approved a procedural motion, allowing the bill to come to the floor. McConnell is expected to offer an amendment today that would strip out the two immigration amendments inserted by the House before moving to a final vote on the bill.
Reports from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) show that they have not been able to fill the 34,000 detention beds with illegal aliens as the law requires. The department, which serves as the interior enforcement and deportation arm of the Department of Homeland Security, was averaging just 27,000 detainees a day for fiscal 2015 as of Jan. 25. That means that over 20% of ICE's capacity is going unused thus far.
