The American Immigration Council does not endorse or oppose candidates for elected office. We aim to provide an analysis of the election’s impact on the U.S. immigration system.
A “bipartisan border bill” has become a front-runner in the presidential election, but it is often presented to the public without clarity on what the bill would actually do. In May, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) introduced S.4361, the Border Act of 2024. The bill contains nearly identical provisions to a bipartisan immigration proposal introduced earlier this year. These provisions were negotiated jointly by a group of Republican and Democratic senators as a compromise for additional government funding. Although nearly all Senate Republicans ultimately voted against the border law, most of the bill’s provisions previously had bipartisan support. Future border legislation, if passed, would make significant changes to the U.S. immigration system.
This bill would take important steps to address the challenges posed by the increasing number of people arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. It would shorten the processing time for immigrants arriving at the border and infuse funding into immigration authorities. Expanding the path to legal status would also provide overdue protection to some vulnerable immigrant communities.
But the bill would also severely restrict the right to seek asylum by quickly expelling immigrants in a way that could endanger their safety and lead to further mismanagement. It also funds the expansion of a broken immigration detention system without increasing oversight. While this bill offers a glimpse of what an effective bipartisan solution to the U.S. immigration system might look like under a future administration, it also borrows from failed policies of the past.
1. Create a new border deportation authority for the president.
The border law would give the president the power to deny access to asylum or quickly deport anyone entering the United States between ports of entry unless they meet narrow exceptions. . The expulsion powers are similar to those currently in place under recent rules issued by the Biden administration, which also expel most people arriving between ports of entry if border crossings reach a certain number. It is. Under current U.S. law, anyone physically present in the U.S. has the right to apply for asylum, regardless of where or how they enter the country, so this rule will not affect ongoing litigation in the courts. facing. This bill would change that. Under the Borders Act, Congress would statutorily authorize the president to exercise this expulsion power against persons entering the country between ports of entry.
This new expulsion power will be triggered if border encounters reach a set level. If the daily level reaches a seven-day average of 4,000 people, the President and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will have discretion to use this new deportation power. However, if the number of encounters reaches a seven-day average of 5,000 people, or 8,500 people per day, the president would be required to invoke this expulsion power. Migrants arriving between ports of entry will be expelled unless they “express” a fear of persecution or torture if they return home. The Biden administration’s recent rules would similarly expel people unless they meet this vague and difficult-to-enforce “obvious” exception. In reality, for a variety of reasons, this test cannot identify people who have true anxiety about returning. Deportation authorities will not “close” the border. Ports of entry will remain open for people with U.S. passports, valid visas, and other forms of entry documentation. These ports will continue to process at least 1,400 people each day through the CBP One app. People expelled under this authority could be sent to Mexico regardless of their country of origin. This could force large numbers of deported asylum seekers to wait on the Mexican side of the border in dangerous and unsanitary conditions, allowing cartels to intervene and threatening the safety of migrants and Americans in the U.S. border region. It means having sex. For this to happen, Mexico also needs to agree.
The president and executive branch will have significant discretion in how to implement this new expulsion power, and new rapid expulsions will not be subject to review. In practice, this means that asylum seekers may not know until that day whether their asylum claims in the United States will be barred.
2. Speed up asylum processing at the border and create more restrictive standards
The bill aims to reduce the overall time it takes to process asylum and humanitarian protection claims for people who arrive at the border but are not immediately expelled. This is to address the delays and holdups that have historically increased pressure and mismanagement at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Under the bill, nearly everyone who arrives at the border without being expelled would be subject to a faster asylum review process and would have to meet higher standards. Immigrants will receive an initial asylum review through a new process called “protection determination” or an existing process called “expedited removal.” Under both systems, the bill would tighten the legal standards that must be met to advance to the next stage of a protection claim, ultimately preventing more people from applying for asylum. Those who fail are quickly eliminated. The new asylum review process, a “protection decision,” is made over a short period of 90 days. Those with a positive determination will be eligible to obtain a work permit and their refugee applications will proceed. A new “protection determination” process would eliminate judicial review and oversight by immigration judges. The process is overseen almost entirely by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials, with no role for immigration courts and little judicial review of final decisions, speeding up the appeals process. On the other hand, government errors increase the likelihood that people will be deported. persecution.
Although these provisions will speed up the processing of asylum screenings for people arriving at the border, they will also make it more difficult for eligible asylum seekers to obtain status and reduce humanitarian protection for many in need. may increase the number of rejections.
3. Preserve the President’s Humanitarian Parole Authority
The Border Act maintains the president’s authority to grant humanitarian parole on a case-by-case basis, and includes recent programs such as those created for Ukrainians, Cubans, Haitians, Venezuelans, and Nicaraguans. Approved to apply. These parole programs have become an important tool for reducing the number of migrants at the border and providing humanitarian protection.
4. Provides important new legal tools and protections
The bill also includes important measures to expand pathways to legal immigration. Expanding routes and protections will help reduce the number of people arriving at the border and pressure on the U.S. asylum system. bill:
It would create a new legal path for some Afghans. More than 70,000 Afghan allies who entered the country on parole starting in 2021 could qualify for conditional permanent resident status, potentially shortening the wait time to become citizens. There will be a slight increase in the number of green cards. The proposal would also provide 50,000 additional immigrant visas per year over five years, including 32,000 family-based petitions and 18,000 employment-based petitions. This is the first increase in immigrant visas since 1990. However, an increase of 250,000 visas over five years would be small, given that more than 7.6 million people are waiting for unpaid visas as of November 2023. It would create protections for children who age out of H-1B status. The bill would allow noncitizens who have been dependent on a parent’s H-1B visa for at least eight years to receive a work permit and have their age “frozen” while their green card application is pending. .
5. Increases funding for several key agencies, but also includes dollars to expand immigration detention and build a border wall.
The bill provides approximately $20 billion to several federal agencies to strengthen border control and immigration processing capacity and reduce excessive case backlogs that are delaying employment, family, and humanitarian visas. It is something. These dollars will support the hiring of new CBP officers, asylum officers, and immigration judges. Supporting dedicated efforts to combat fentanyl and other drug trafficking. and $930 million to cities serving new immigrants. This funding will significantly strengthen the refugee system and could have a significant impact on reducing backlogs and reducing waiting times.
But the bill would also expand the immigration detention system to 50,000 beds, up from the current 41,500 beds, even though more than 30 people have died in custody this year alone due to poor conditions. It would give ICE $3.2 billion to help. This is a 47 percent increase from the 34,000 beds allocated in 2023, 2022, and 2021. The bill also calls for continuing construction of the Trump administration-era border wall.
Regardless of its future, border legislation will address issues such as the expedited processing of asylum claims, expanded legal protections for certain vulnerable immigrants, and the urgent need to more effectively manage current challenges at the border. It has identified a number of key policy areas of need. our southern border. But given the risks, there is no need to cut corners on due process or adopt overly restrictive policies at the border in order to increase efficiency.
Application subject: Immigration law
