|  |  | |
|
Top Immigration, Asylum, and Refugee Legislative and Political Developments
|
New on MicEvHill.Com
|
Special Note on MicEvHill.Com During
the August Recess
By Micheal E. HillMonday, August 6, 2012 -- 8:45 am EDT
Congress has begun a five week-long August recess. The House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate will return to Washington on Monday, September 10, 2012.
Upon its return from the August recess, the House of Representatives is scheduled to be in session for only eight days in September (from September 10 through September 14 and from September 19 through September 21) and another five in October (from October through October 5) before leaving Washington for the runup to the November general election. The Senate's post-August recess is less certain. However, it is not expected to be in session more than about 11 days in September.
MicEvHill.Com will be taking a breather during the duration of the August recess from daily updates in this space, as well as a breather from its "Today on the Hill" and "This Week on the Hill" pages.
Users of MicEvHill.Com can keep up with any breaking immigration- or refugee-related legislative developments that occur during the August recess by following MicEvHill on Twitter, the popular microblogging platform.
|
The House and Senate Begin a Five Week-Long Recess with a Crowded Immigration- and Refugee-Related Legislative Agenda
Awaiting their Return in September
By Micheal E. Hill
Monday, August 6, 2012 -- 8:45 am EDT
The House and Senate have begun their five week-long August Recesses.
Upon their return to Washington on Monday, September 10, 2012, the House will be in session for eight days and the Senate will be in session for as many as 11 days before the beginning of fiscal year 2013 on October 1, 2012. The House is likely to be in session for the first week of October before leaving Washington until after the November 6 election. At the time of this writing, the Senate's October schedule was not certain.
The relatively few number of legislative days that are left before the election and the increasingly political nature of everything that is occurring in Washington will make for a light immigration- and refugee-related legislative schedule when Congress return in September.
From an immigration and refugee perspective, there are four categories of measures that could see action on Capitol Hill between now and Election Day:
- First are items that Congress absolutely must act on in order to prevent a shutdown of vital executive branch functions. This category includes such items as funding for the Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, Department of Justice, and Department of Health and Human Services.
- Second are items that Congress may feel compelled to act on because of expiring (or expired) provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This category includes such expiring programs and authorities as the E-Verify System, the EB-5 Regional Centers Program, the Conrad 30 Visa Waiver Program, and the Special Immigrant Non-minister Religious Worker Visa Program.
- Third are items that Members or Senators feel compelled to act out of principal or political necessity. This category includes such authorities as those found in the expired and expiring provisions of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) and the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
- Fourth are relatively easy items that don't require the exercise of much political capital. This category includes such matters as legislation to clamp down on fraud in the issuance of student visas.
A more detailed write-up on the likely post-recess immigration- and refugee-related legislative agenda can be found after the jump.
|
Will the Subjects of Immigration or the Latino Vote Be Topics of Discussion on the Coming Weekend's Sunday Public Affairs Programs?
By Micheal E. Hill
Saturday, August 5, 2012 -- 10:27 am EDT
 |
The 2012 presidential campaign is the big issue that will be discussed during the August 5 Sunday public affairs programs, with guestlists that include Obama advisers David Axelrod and Robert Gibbs, as well as Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Reince Priebus, who chair the Democratic National Commitee and the Republican National Committee, respectively.
From a pure immigration perspective, the guestlists for the programs include former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz (R-TX), a Cuban American who won the 2012 Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in Texas, in part, by running campaign ads accusing his primary opponent of supporting amnesty and in-state tuition for illegal immigrants; Representative Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), one of the few Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives with a record of support for the pro-immigrant advocacy community's legislative agenda; and Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC), who once was a leader among Republicans pushing for the enactment of comprehensive immigration reform legislation before backing away from the issue during the 2008 campaign of his close friend, Senator John McCain (R-AZ).
The programs also will be packed with present and former officeholders from key swing-states, as well as political journalists who are covering the 2012 campaign.
Will any of the various guests discuss the subjects of immigration or the Latino vote during the August 5 Sunday public affairs programs?
We'll find out on Sunday!
See a more detailed breakdown of the guest lists and possible immigration discussions on the August 5, Sunday public affairs programs after the jump.
|
Congress Faces a Light Agenda of Scheduled Immigration Legislative Activity Before Beginning a Five Week-Long August Recess, But Significant Unscheduled Action Could Occur, As Well
By Micheal E. Hill
Monday, July 30, 2012 -- 12:01 am EDT
--Updated in Thursday, August 2, 2002 at 6:15 am EDT--
Congress convenes this week for a final push of legislative activity before begnning its five week-long August recess.
The recess that follows this week's legislative action will be eventful. A number of states, including such immigration-centric states as Arizona, Texas, and North Carolina, will decide their nominees for several highly contested House and Senate races. Former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA), the presumptive 2012 Republican presidenital nominee, will unveil his Vice Presidential running mate during the August recess and there is a significant possibility that his choice will come with a significant record on immigration matters. And Republicans and Democrats will hold their respective 2012 presidential nominating conventions.
But before Congress leaves for what promises to be an eventful August recess, it will have to get through this week's legislative activity.
Congress faces a light agenda of scheduled immigration and refugee-related activity during the week to come, with just one hearing, one markup, and one floor action on the official calendar. However, the most eventful immigration actions during the week to come could turn out to be events that are not on the official schedule
For some time now, Immigration advocates have expected that before Congress leaves the Nation's Capitol for its August recess, three actions might occur:
-
Increased STEM Visas. First, they have been awaiting word on whether House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) will reach agreement with key players in the House and Senate on legislation that would provide additional immigrant visas to foreign graduates of American universities in high-tech fields and offset the increased visas by eliminating the Diversity Visa program.
-
Violence Against Women Act. Second, advocates have eagerly awaited word on whether a compromise might be reached that would allow the House and Senate to formally begin talks to resolve differences between their respective versions of legislation reauthorizing and revising programs under the umbrella of the Violence Against Women Act.
- Expiring Immigration Provisions. And third, advocates have eagerly awaited word on whether an agreement can be struck in the Senate to pass legislation extending four expiring immigration programs: the E-Verify System, the Conrad 30 Visa Waiver Program, the Special Immigrant Non-Minister Religious Worker Visa Program, and the EB-5 Investor Visa Regional Centers program.
A more detailed look at the likely immigration- and refugee-related legislative agenda during the week of July 30, 2012, can be found after the jump.
|
Associate Justice Scalia Talks immigration During the
July 29th Sunday Public Affairs Programs
By Micheal E. Hill
Sunday, July 29, 2012 -- 11:00 pm EDT
For the first time in weeks, the subject of immigration was discussed on the Sunday public affairs programs.
This week's discussion came from Supreme Court of the United States Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, who talked about his dissent in the Court's decision in the Arizona v. United States case regarding the constitutionality of portions of Arizona's SB 1070 immigration enforcement law.
See a summary of and video excerpt from the mentions of immigration and the Latino vote that were made during the July 29, 2012, Sunday public affairs programs after the jump.
|
|
| New in August! |
| MicEvHill.Com has posted a write-up previewing the likely immigration and refugee agenda upon Congess' return from its August recess -- Click Here to See a Sneak Peek at the Likely Post-August Recess Return of Congress |
| MicEvHill.Com has posted a brief write-up previewing the likely immigration discussions that will take place during the August 5, 2012, Sunday public affairs programs -- Click Here to see a sneak peek at the possible immigration discussions during the August 5 Sunday public affairs programs |
| MicEvHill.Com has posted the July 30, 2012, edition of its "This Week on the Hill" page, which presents a detailed look at the immigration- and refugee-related legislative activity that will likely occur during the week of July 30, 2012. -- Click Here to See the July 30, 2012, edition of "This Week on the Hill" |
| MicEvHill.Com has posted a brief write-up previewing the likely immigration- and refugee-related legislative activity that Congress will face during the week of July 30, 2012. -- Click Here to See a Summary of the Likely Immigration- and Refugee-Related Legislative Activity for the Week of July 30, 2012 |
| MicEvHill.Com has posted video excerpts of the immigration-related comments made by guests on the July 29, 2012, Sunday public affairs programs. -- Click Here to See Video of the Immigration-Related Comments Made on the July 29, 2012, Sunday Public Affairs Programs |
|
|
|
|
