A little after 10 a.m. Wednesday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi began a one-minute speech on the House floor. Eight hours later, she was finished. According to the House historian’s office, she delivered the longest floor speech in record. Leaders such as Pelosi are granted the courtesy of speaking beyond the usual minute allotted to House members for floor remarks.
Pelosi’s marathon Senate-filibuster-style speech is a protest against the fact that negotiations over the future of the expiring Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program have stalled.
“Our Dreamers hang in limbo, with a cruel cloud of fear and uncertainty above them. The Republican moral cowardness must end,” Pelosi said near the beginning of the speech. “So I’m going to go on as long as my leadership minute allows.”
Bipartisan Group of Senators Scrambling to Draft Immigration Bill
A bipartisan group of roughly 20 senators that’s been huddling behind closed doors for weeks is furiously working to draft a bill that they can propose during an expected floor showdown on immigration next week.
If they are successful, it would mean at least one-fifth of the Senate would have established an influential voting block to shape the debate over immigration and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Emerging from one of their closed-door meetings Thursday, senators said multiple members are drafting language for compromise legislation, though they acknowledged they still don’t have a consensus yet.
House Speaker Says Will Move On Immigration Bill After Budget
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday said Republicans will move on immigration legislation backed by President Donald Trump after lawmakers finish with the current budget deal.
“To anyone who doubts my intention to solve this problem and bring up a DACA and immigration reform bill, do not,” Ryan told reporters, referring to the program that protects immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children. “We will bring a solution to the floor, one that the president will sign.”
Trump Administration May Target Immigrants Who Use Food Aid, Other Benefits
The Trump administration is considering making it harder for foreigners living in the United States to get permanent residency if they have received certain public benefits such as food assistance, in a move that could sharply restrict legal immigration.
The Department of Homeland Security has proposed new rules seen by Reuters that would allow immigration officers to scrutinize a potential immigrant’s use of certain taxpayer-funded public benefits to determine if they could become a public burden.
The draft rules are a sharp departure from current guidelines, which have been in place for nearly two decades, and specifically bar authorities from considering such non-cash benefits in deciding a person’s eligibility to immigrate to the United States or stay in the country.
After The “Trump Effect” Slowed Illegal Immigration, Numbers Rise Again as Central Americans Fear Conditions at Home
Illegal crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border, after declining in early 2017, began an unexpected upturn last spring that only recently receded, according to new government figures. The figures reflect the up-and-down nature of illegal immigration and are reminders that multiple factors, from politics to weather to conditions in home countries, influence who tries to come to the United States and when.
Apprehensions on the southern border in October 2016, a month before Donald Trump’s election, topped 66,000. After Trump’s victory, the number of migrants trying to enter the U.S. illegally reached a 17-year low.
Monthly apprehensions continued to drop into 2017, hitting 15,766 in April, when the downward trend reversed. Apprehensions rose each month to 40,513 in December. Migrant advocates said the “Trump effect” discouraging illegal immigration might be wearing off. But last month, apprehensions decreased again. It’s not clear whether the post-holiday decrease is seasonal, or whether it will continue.
Federal Immigration Agents Would Need Warrants to Enter Schools and Courthouses Under This State Bill
The state Senate on Monday approved a bill that would prohibit federal immigration agents from entering schools, courthouses and state buildings to arrest or question people without a warrant. Sen. Ricardo Lara introduced Senate Bill 183 as part of a broader move by Democrats to counter President Trump’s calls for increased immigration enforcement and deportations.
On the Senate floor Monday, Lara said his legislation would help assuage the fears of hardworking immigrant parents dropping off their children at school, serving as court witnesses or paying their traffic tickets.
At the same time, Sen. Joel Anderson argued the bill would put court bailiffs and other law enforcement officials in a difficult position, forcing them to intervene with federal arrests. “This is to ensure they have warrants,” Lara countered. “This bill isn’t requiring anyone to interfere with anyone trying to make an arrest.”
One of those questioned reached out to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maine. Lawyers for the organization find the practice troubling. “None of us want to live in a society where we’re consistently being told we need to show our papers,” said Zachary Heiden, legal director for the ACLU of Maine.
Though they declined our request for an interview, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials confirm their agents routinely engage in operations at transportation hubs throughout the state.
