Senate Passes Toomey-Van Hollen Bill to Sanction Chinese Authorities Over Hong Kong Friday, June 26, 2020 The U.S. Senate has passed legislation containing provisions that would deny or cancel visas to businessmen from China involved in persecuting freedom of expression in Hong Kong. The Senate acted on Thursday, June 26, 2020, in connection with S. 3798, the “Hong Kong Autonomy Act”, passing the measure by unanimous consent. As passed by the Senate, S. 3798 would impose sanctions on foreign individuals and entities that materially contribute to China's failure to preserve Hong Kong's autonomy. Introduced in the Senate by Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) and cosponsored by Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), the bill permits the President to waive or terminate the imposition of sanctions under this bill. However, Congress would be permitted to override such a waiver or termination by passing a joint resolution of disapproval.
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House Passes Policing Reform Legislation Containing Several Provisions Relevant to Immigration Enforcement Thursday, June 25, 2020 The full U.S. House of Representatives has passed a broad measure aimed at reforming the way federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies engage communities of color. The House acted on Thursday, June 25, 2020, in connection with H.R. 7120, the "George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020", approving the measure by a bipartisan vote of 236-181, with all participating Democrats and three of the chamber's 184 participating Republicans voting in favor of the bill. An uncertain fate awaits Thursday's House action, however. One day earlier, the Senate rejected an attempt to take up a competing bill that had been written by Senate Republicans. And the White House has signaled that President Trump would veto H.R. 7120 if it was presented to him. Introduced by Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass (D-CA) and cosponsored by 230 of the 233 sitting House Democrats, the measure is a reaction to the deaths over the last several weeks of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Atlanta, Georgia, and the widespread protests and civil unrest that those killings have spawned.
The House Committee on Judiciary had acted on the measure a week earlier, approving it on Thursday, June 18, 2020, by a party-line vote of 24-14. The committee reported the bill to the full House one day later with a written report. While the measure has few explicit references to immigrants, it is believed that its provisions relating to federal law enforcement agencies and officers would apply to federal immigration authorities, and the measure deals with racial profiling at both the federal and local levels. Trump Administration Extends and Expands General Suspension of Immigration Through the End of 2020 Tuesday, June 23, 2020 ![]() Citing the economic collapse caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the White House has extended through the end of 2020 restrictions on immigration that it first imposed earlier this year, expanding them to also include foreign workers that often are hired by high technology companies and other employers. The announcement, implemented in a June 22, 2020, presidential proclamation, continues the suspension of most immigration to the United States that was first announced in an April 22, 2020 presidential proclamation. However, it expands the previously announced suspension so that it also includes workers on H-1B visas, which are most often used for employing foreign nationals in the technology sector, but also in academia and health care. The restrictions contained in Monday's proclamation are the latest in a series of steps that the Administration has taken to halt most forms of immigration to the United States. The Administration also has virtually stopped admitting refugees to he country, blocked the entry of unaccompanied alien children, and moved to make if much more difficult for person seeking asylum to apply for and receive that form of relief.
Dueling House and Senate Policing Bills Highlight the Congressional Agenda During the Week Ahead Monday, June 22, 2020 ![]() Now that the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has finally issued its long-awaited ruling on the legality of the Trump Administration's efforts to rescind the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, immigration policymakers and stakeholders have slowly begun to turn their attention back to the more mundane aspects of immigration law and policymaking in Washington, such as poring through and examining the contents of appropriations and authorization bills and writing questions to be asked by legislators during tedious oversight hearings.
Discussions about Immigration and Xenophobia Occur on All Five of This Weekend's Major Sunday
Morning Public Affairs Programs
Sunday, June 21, 2020
Click the Play Button, above, to see excerpts of instances in which the subjects of immigration or xenophobia were discussed during the June 21, 2020, Sunday public affairs programs.
News coverage of the events surrounding the killing of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Atlanta, Georgia, and the widespread protests and civil unrest that those killings spawned, have continued to dominate news coverage on the cable news networks and in newspapers across the country. Notwithstanding that, however, because of last Thursday's decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that temporarily blocked the Trump Administration from rescinding the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA), there was plenty of talk about immigration and xenophobia during the June 21, 2020, editions. of the five most prominent Sunday morning public affairs programs.
Among those discussing, mentioning, or alluding to immigration, immigrants, or xenophobia during the programs this week were Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, ABC News's Cecilia Vega, Trump campaign Aide Mercedes Schlapp, Republican strategist Al Cardenas, and Trump economic advisor Peter Navarro. A summary of the discussions that took place during the June 21, 2020, Sunday morning public affairs programs, along with a link to video of those discussions, follows:
Trump Suggests He Will Try Again in the
Coming Days to Rescind DACA
Saturday, June 20, 2020
Click the Play Button, above, to see excerpts from the June 19, 2020 White House press briefing, during which the White House press Secretary responds to questions about DACA.
President Donald J. Trump and members of his Administration on Friday suggested that, notwithstanding a decision against him by the Supreme Court of the United States (the Court), his Administration will soon make another attempt to rescind a popular program that has protected as many as 800,000 young persons who have lived in the United States most of their lives after being brought illegally to the country as children. The President implied that he would soon act to bring the program to an end the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) via a series of posts on Twitter, a widely used microblogging platform, and his suggestion was reinforced later in the day by the White House Press Secretary.
The Supreme Court's Decision on DACA Makes it Likely that Discussions about Immigration Will Be Included on This Weekend's Sunday Morning Public Affairs Programs Friday, June 19, 2020 News coverage of the events surrounding the killing of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Atlanta, Georgia, and the widespread protests and civil unrest that those killings spawned, have begun to recede, leaving room for reporting on other major stories, such as the resurgence in the United States of the COVID-19 pandemic, legislative efforts to reform policing, and the 2020 presidential and congressional elections. Add to that mix the June 18, 2020, decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that temporarily blocked the Trump Administration from rescinding the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA), and it seems likely that there will be discussions about immigration during the June 21, 2020, editions. of the five most prominent Sunday morning public affairs programs.
Among the guests on this weekend's programs who could participate in discussions about immigration are Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, who appears on two of the five programs; conservative leader Al Cardenas; Biden campaign aide Symone Sanders; and Trump campaign advisor Mercedes Schlapp.. A sneak peek at the guest lists for the upcoming June 21, 2020, editions of each of the five major broadcast and cable Sunday public affairs programs appears after the jump, along with previews of the likely or possible discussions on those programs about immigration and, refugees. House Judiciary Committee Approves Policing Reform Legislation Friday, June 19, 2020
Introduced by Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass (D-CA) and cosponsored by 230 Members of Congress (all Democrats), the measure is a reaction to the deaths over the last several weeks of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Atlanta, Georgia, and the widespread protests and civil unrest that those killings have spawned.
While the measure has few explicit references to immigrants, it is believed that its provisions relating to federal law enforcement agencies and officers would apply to federal immigration authorities, and the measure deals with racial profiling at both the federal and local levels. Supreme Court Rules that Trump Improperly Attempted to Rescind the DACA Program, Allowing it to Continue in Effect For Now Thursday, June 18, 2020
The Administration has the option of trying again right away to bring the program to an end, waiting until after the election to do so, or permitting the program to continue in place for the remainder of the Trump presidency.
Joining the Chief Justice in the 5-4 decision were the four Court liberals, Associate Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Steven G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elana Kagan. In the ruling, Roberts wrote that the Administration violated the Administrative Procedures Act when it attempted to rescind the program, saying that it did not properly weigh how ending the program would affect those who had come to rely on its protections against deportation, and the ability to work legally. He wrote in his opinion that the Administration had not "complied with the procedural requirement that it provide a reasoned explanation for its action. Here the agency failed to consider the conspicuous issues of whether to retain forbearance and what if anything to do about the hardship to DACA recipients. That dual failure raises doubts about whether the agency appreciated the scope of its discretion or exercised that discretion in a reasonable manner.” President Signs Bill to Protect the Human Rights of Uyghurs Wednesday, June 17, 2020 President Trump has signed legislation addressing the human rights situation facing Uyghurs in the People’s Republic of China. The President quietly signed the measure into law on Wednesday, June 17, 2020, just hours before leaks from a book authored by his former National Security Advisor alleged that Trump had expressed to the President of the Peoples Republic of China his support for the imprisonment of more than a million Uyghurs in Chinese concentration camps. The President's action today occurred in connection with S. 3744, the "Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020", legislation championed by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), The House passed the bipartisan measure on Wednesday, May 27, 2020, by a vote of 413-1, clearing it for the President's consideration by a veto-proof majority. The Senate had passed S. 3.744 on May 14, 2020, by unanimous consent.
The Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act was developed amid growing congressional frustration with what members on both sides of the aisle have perceived as President Trump’s unwillingness to make the human rights practices of foreign governments a priority, as well their perception that the President has been unwilling to challenge China, specifically, over its human rights abuses. As signed into law, the measure imposes sanctions on foreign individuals and entities responsible for human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region and require various reports on the topic.. |
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