News

Once again, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) asked for unanimous consent from the Senate this week to pass the Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act, S. 386 in the Senate and H.R. 1044 in the House, that would lift per-country caps for employment-based green cards, but Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) objected. Sen. Durbin used his objection to introduce new legislation, the RELIEF Act, which would substantially increase the number of green cards issued each year, including clear the existing backlog of employment-based green cards over five years.

The House of Representatives passed a mass amnesty bill on Tuesday evening, H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act, that would grant lifetime work permits to approximately 3.5 million illegal aliens who claim that they entered the country under the age of 18 and meet certain other conditions and to approximately 450,000 foreign citizens (mostly illegal aliens) whose countries have been given Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

The Trump Administration has filed a briefing with the Supreme Court, urging the high court to quickly decide if it will hear arguments on the legal challenges to Pres. Trump's decision to end the Obama-era executive DACA amnesty that has given work permits to approximately 900,000 illegal aliens. The briefing asked the Court if it would decide before the end of the month, which marks the end of the current session, if it would hear arguments in the fall.

Freshman Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Texas) introduced legislation this week aimed at ending sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts. Earlier this week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement accused officials in Prince Georges County in Maryland for releasing two illegal aliens suspected of murder after ICE had issued a detainer request.