Over the Horizon
(Last Updated: Saturday, February 27, 2021 at 1:00 pm EST)
ThisWeekInImmigration.Com's "Over the Horizon" page contains a listing of immigration- or refugee-related hearings, markups, and floor actions that either have been officially scheduled or that are anticipated to occur in the coming weeks and months.
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U.S. House of Representatives
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U.S. Senate
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Bicameral
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Off of the Hill
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Hearings and Briefings
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
10:00 am EST
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Anticipated Witnesses: Scheduled to testify at the hearing are Deborah Berkowitz, Director of the National Employment Law Project's Worker Safety and Health Program; Dulce Castaneda, Founding Member of Children of Smithfield; Iris Figueroa, Director of Economic and Environmental Justice at Farmworker Justice; Carmen Rottenberg, managing director of the Groundswell Group.
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
10:00 am EST
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Anticipated Witnesses: Scheduled to testify at the hearing are Feliciano Reyna, Founder and Executive President of Accion Solidaria; Cynthia J. Arnson, Director of the Wilson Center Latin America Program; Brian Fonseca, Director of the Florida International University Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy; and Ryan C. Berg, Research Fellow for Latin America studies at the American Enterprise Institute.
Friday, March 19, 2021
12:00 Noon EST
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Anticipated Witnesses: At the time of this writing, the witness list for the hearing had not yet been publicly revealed.
Markups and Business Meetings
No Items Noticed or Anticipated
Floor Activity
No Anticipated Immigration-, Human Trafficking, or Refugee-Related Floor Activity
Passed by the Senate and Awaiting Action in the House
Immigration- and Refugee-Related Bills and Resolutions
Bill Number |
Title |
Senate Floor Action |
House Committee Action |
Hearings and Briefings
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
9:00 am EST
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Background on Deputy Attorney General. The Deputy Attorney General is the second-highest-ranking official in a Department of Justice. He or she oversees the day-to-day operation of the Department, and may act as Attorney General during the absence of the Attorney General.
From an immigration perspective, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) reports to the Deputy Attorney General.
Background on Associate Attorney General. The Associate Attorney General is the third-ranking official in the U.S. Department of Justice. The Associate Attorney General advises and assists the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General in policies relating to civil justice, federal and local law enforcement, and public safety matters. It oversees a number of entities within the Department.
From an immigration perspective, the position oversees the Office of Immigration Litigation (OIL) and the Community Relations Service.
Markups and Business Meetings
Monday, March 1, 2021
1:00 pm EST
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Department of Justice Jurisdiction Over Migration Matters. The Department of Justice is the parent agency of several entities with jurisdiction over immigration matters. The most significant of these is the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), which has as its primary mission the adjudication of immigration cases by interpreting and administering the nation's immigration laws. Under delegated authority from the Attorney General, EOIR conducts immigration court proceedings, appellate reviews, and administrative hearings.
Outlook. The Committee is almost certain to approve the nomination.
Date To Be Announced
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Department of Health and Human Services Jurisdiction Over Migration Matters. The Department of Health and Human Services operates several specific programs that assist refugees and other vulnerable populations of noncitizens:
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Resettlement Services to Refugees, Including Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URM); Asylees; Special Immigrant Iraqis and Afghans; Cuban/Haitian Entrants; and Certain Amerasians. These programs provide resettlement services to refugees who have been admitted to the United States and aliens, individuals who have been granted asylum in the United States, individuals from Vietnam who are admitted to the U.S. as immigrants pursuant to section 584 of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1988.
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Trafficking Victims. These programs assist aliens found in the United States who are the victims of trafficking (these individuals also receive resettlement services);
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Torture Victims. These programs assist alien torture victims who are found in the United States (these individuals also receive resettlement services); and
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Unaccompanied Alien Children. Unaccompanied Alien Children. These programs provide care and custody and some post-release services for unaccompanied aliens in federal custody while their status is being resolved.
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The Department operates these programs through its Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), an office in the Department’s Administration for Children and Families.
Outlook. The Committee is almost certain to approve the nomination.
Floor Activity
Date To Be Announced
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Parliamentary Situation. At the time of this writing, the parliamentary situation that will govern Senate floor consideration of the budget resolution had not yet been publicly revealed.
Department of Justice Jurisdiction Over Migration Matters. The Department of Justice is the parent agency of several entities with jurisdiction over immigration matters. The most significant of these is the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), which has as its primary mission the adjudication of immigration cases by interpreting and administering the nation's immigration laws. Under delegated authority from the Attorney General, EOIR conducts immigration court proceedings, appellate reviews, and administrative hearings.
Outlook. The Senate is almost certain to confirm the nomination.
At the time of this writing, no unanimous consent agreement was in place providing for floor consideration of the nomination.
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Parliamentary Situation. At the time of this writing, the parliamentary situation that will govern Senate floor consideration of the budget resolution had not yet been publicly revealed.
Department of Health and Human Services Jurisdiction Over Migration Matters. The Department of Health and Human Services operates several specific programs that assist refugees and other vulnerable populations of noncitizens:
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o
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Resettlement Services to Refugees, Including Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URM); Asylees; Special Immigrant Iraqis and Afghans; Cuban/Haitian Entrants; and Certain Amerasians. These programs provide resettlement services to refugees who have been admitted to the United States and aliens, individuals who have been granted asylum in the United States, individuals from Vietnam who are admitted to the U.S. as immigrants pursuant to section 584 of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1988.
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Trafficking Victims. These programs assist aliens found in the United States who are the victims of trafficking (these individuals also receive resettlement services);
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o
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Torture Victims. These programs assist alien torture victims who are found in the United States (these individuals also receive resettlement services); and
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Unaccompanied Alien Children. Unaccompanied Alien Children. These programs provide care and custody and some post-release services for unaccompanied aliens in federal custody while their status is being resolved.
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The Department operates these programs through its Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), an office in the Department’s Administration for Children and Families.
Outlook. The Senate is almost certain to confirm the nomination.
Passed by the House and Awaiting Action in the Senate
Bill Number |
Title |
House Floor Action |
Senate Action |
Meetings, Hearings, and Briefings
Monday, February 11, 2019
- Conference Committee Deliberations on Fiscal Year 2019 Border Security Funding: The conference committee established to develop a border security package for inclusion in the Fiscal Year 2019 Homeland Security Appropriations Act could meet as soon as Monday, February 11, 2019, to conclude its consideration of the differing versions of H.J. Res. 31, a Fiscal Year 2019 continuing appropriations resolution for the Department of Homeland Security.
When it formally meets again, it will do so in Room HC-5 of the U.S. Capitol Building.
As a technical matter, the conference committee was established to resolve the differences between the House Amendments and Senate Amendments to H.J. Res. 31. In reality, for all practical purposes, the conferees have been tasked with negotiating the final versions of seven pairs of appropriation bills that were approved last year by the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations but that were not enacted into law. Should they do so, that could pave the way for concluding action on all of the Fiscal Year 2019 appropriations bills.
Three of seven pairs of bills that conferees are negotiating contain significant appropriations for the federal government's immigration-, refugee-, and human trafficking -related functions:
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House Conferees. Appointed as House conferees on H.J. Res. 31 are Representatives Nita Lowey (D-NY), Lucile Roybal-Allard (D-CA), David Price (D-NC), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Pete Aguilar (D-CA), Kay Granger (R-TX), Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), Thomas Graves (R-GA), and Steven Palazzo (R-MS).
Senate Conferees Appointed as Senate conferees on H.J. Res. 31 are Senators Richard Shelby (R-AL); Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV); John Hoeven (R-ND); Roy Blunt (R-MO); Patrick Leahy (D-VT); Richard Durbin (D-IL); and Jon Tester (D-MT).
Looming Deadline. Conferees are working against a formal deadline of February 15, 2019, to reach an agreement and have that agreement enacted into law. This is because funding expires on that date for the various departments, agencies, and functions of the federal government that have not yet received a full-year Fiscal Year 2019 appropriation.
Outlook. At the time of this writing, the outlook for conferees reaching a settlement that the President can support appears dim.
Monday, March 11, 2019
- Submission of the FY '20 Budget: The President is scheduled to submit his Fiscal Year 20 Budget to Congress to Congress in two stages this year. The first stage will come during the week of Monday, March 11, 2019, when he will submit the main budget volume containing his Budget Message, top priorities and summary tables.
Monday, March 18, 2019
- Submission of the FY '20 Budget: The President is scheduled to submit his Fiscal Year 20 Budget to Congress to Congress in two stages this year. The second stage will come during the week of March 18, 2019, when he submits detailed budget materials, including the Budget Appendix, which contains detailed line-item information for each agency; the "Major Savings and Reforms" volume, which details proposed cuts to mandatory and discretionary programs; and the Analytical Perspectives document, which contains information on a variety of topics ranging from the long-term budget outlook to funding priorities that cut across several agencies like research and development.
Meetings, Hearings, Discussions, and Briefings
- No Scheduled Immigration-, Human Trafficking, or Refugee-Related Activity