This Week in Immigration

This Week on the Hill


Week Beginning February 12, 2018
(Last Updated: February 12, 2018 at 10:25 am EST)
ThisWeekInImmigration.Com's "This Week on the Hill" page lists the immigration-, human trafficking-, and refugee-related hearings, markups, and floor actions that either have been officially scheduled or that are anticipated to occur during the current week.
  • U.S. House of Representatives
  • U.S. Senate
  • Bicameral
  • Non-Governmental
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This Week's Hearings
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
  • Hearing on FY '19 Budget for Department of Health and Human Services:  The House Committee on Ways and Means has scheduled a hearing for this week to examine the Administration's FY '19 Budget submission for the Department of Health and Human Services. The hearing is scheduled for 10:00 am EST on Wednesday, February 14, 2018, in Room 1100 of the Longworth House Office Building.
Anticipated Witnesses.  At the time of this writing, the sole witness scheduled to testify at the hearing is Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar.
  • Hearing on FY '19 Budget:  The House Committee on the Budget has scheduled a hearing for this week to examine the Administration's FY '19 Budget submission. The hearing is scheduled for 10:00 am EST on Wednesday, February 14, 2018, in Room 1334 of the Longworth House Office Building.
Anticipated Witnesses.  At the time of this writing, the sole witness scheduled to testify at the hearing is Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney.
Thursday, February 15, 2018
  • Hearing on Sanctuary Cities and the Opioid Epidemic:  The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security has scheduled a hearing for this week titled, "The Effect of Sanctuary City Policies on the Ability to Combat the Opioid Epidemic."  The hearing is scheduled for 9:00 am EST on Thursday, February 15 2016, in Room 2141 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
Anticipated Witnesses.  At the time of this writing, the witness list for the hearing included Detective Nick Rogers, Denver Police Officer, President of the Denver Police Protective Association; Matt Albence, Executive Associate Director of the ERO, Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Sheriff AJ Louderback, Jackson County, TX; and Keith Humphreys, Professor, Stanford University.​
  • Hearing on Border Patrol Access:  The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations has scheduled a hearing for this week titled,, "The Costs of Denying Border Patrol Access: Our Environment and Security." The hearing is scheduled for 10:)0 am EST on Thursday, February 15 2016, in Room 1324 of the Longworth House Office Building.
Anticipated Witnesses.  At the time of this writing, the witness list for the hearing included Andrew R. Arthur, resident fellow in law and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies, Washington, DC; Dan Bell, President of the ZZ Cattle Corporation, Nogales, AZ; Brandon Judd, President of the National Border Patrol Council, Tucson, AZ; and Scott Nicol, Co-Chair of the Sierra Club Borderlands Campaign, the Sierra Club, McAllen, TX.
This Week's Markups
No Scheduled Immigration-, Human Trafficking, or Refugee-Related Markups
This Week's Floor Actions
No Scheduled Immigration-, Human Trafficking, or Refugee-Related Floor Activities
This Week's Hearings
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
  • Hearing on FY '19 Budget:  The Senate Committee on the Budget has scheduled a hearing for this week to examine the Administration's FY '19 Budget submission. The hearing, which is titled, "Review of the FY2019 State Department Budget Request and Redesign Plans," is scheduled for 10:00 am EST on Tuesday, February 13, 2018, in Room SD-608 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Anticipated Witnesses.  At the time of this writing, the sole witness scheduled to testify at the hearing is Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney.
Thursday, February 15, 2018
  • Hearing on FY '19 Budget for Department of Health and Human Services:  The Senate Committee on Finance has scheduled a hearing for this week to examine the Administration's FY '19 Budget submission for the Department of Health and Human Services. The hearing is scheduled for 9:00 am EST on Thursday, February 15, 2018, in Room SD-215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Anticipated Witnesses.  At the time of this writing, the sole witness scheduled to testify at the hearing is Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar.
This Week's Markups
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
  • Markup of Homeland Security Authorization Act:  The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has scheduled a business meeting for this week during which it will mark up a number of measures.  Among the measures scheduled to be marked up is H.R. 2825 the "Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act of 2017", which the U.S. House of Representatives passed on July 20, 2017. The business meeting is scheduled for 10:00 am EST on Wednesday, February 14, 2018, in Room SD-342 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Summary of Immigration Provisions.  As passed by the House, H.R. 2825 would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a Headquarters, which, among other things, would be charged with establishing an overall strategy to successfully further the mission of DHS, and ensuring that DHS successfully meets operational and management performance objectives.

The measure also would set forth the responsibilities of Chief Privacy Officer, the Chief Financial Officer, and the Chief Information Officer of DHS; establish the positions of Chief Procurement Officer and Chief Security Officer; and include acquisition management with the responsibilities of the Under Secretary for Management.
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The measure would establish an Acquisition Review Board to strengthen accountability and uniformity within the DHS acquisition review process, review major acquisition programs, and review the use of best practices.​
Outlook.   At the time of this writing, there appears to be no opposition to the measure.
This Week's Floor Actions
Monday, February 12, 2018 and Balance of the Week
  • Senate Floor Consideration of Legislation to Provide Relief to DACA Beneficiaries:  The Senate this week is expected to take up H.R. 2579, a shell vehicle to permit the Senate to consider legislation that would provide relief to DACA Beneficiaries and make other changes to immigration law.
Parliamentary Situation.  At the time of this writing, the precise parliamentary situation that will govern Senate the eventual floor consideration of H.R. 2579 was not yet known.  It is anticipated that Republicans and Democrats will alternate offering immigration-related amendments to the measure, that the Republican and Democratic Leadership will attempt to limit the number of amendments that can be offered to it, and that any amendments offered will have to receive 60 votes in order to be passed by the Senate.

Summary of Immigration Provisions.  The shell bill does not contain any underlying immigration provisions.

Background.  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has committed to putting legislation before the Senate that could serve as a vehicle for considering measures to provide immigration relief for DACA beneficiaries. as well as to make other changes to U.S. immigration law.  

Possible Immigration- or Refugee-Related Floor Amendments.  At the time of this writing, it was not known what amendments will be offered to H.R. 2579.
Hearings and Briefings
Thursday, February 15, 2018
  • Hearing on Human Rights:  The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission has scheduled a hearing for this week titled, "Defending Prisoners of Conscience,"  The hearing is scheduled for 2:00 pm EST on Thursday, February 15, 2018, in Room 2255 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
Anticipated Witnesses.  Scheduled to testify at the hearing are Andrew Fandino, Senior Program Officer, Amnesty International; Kristina Arriaga, Vice Chair, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
  • Melina Milazzo, DC Director, Freedom Now; Margaux Ewen, North American Director, Reporters Without Borders; and Annie Boyajian, Advocacy Manager, Freedom House.
This Week's Activities
No Scheduled Immigration-, Human Trafficking, or Refugee-Related Events