House passes bill to suspend Syrian refugee admissions
The House passed a bill Thursday to halt the admission of Syrian refugees into the U.S. Until they undergo the toughest vetting process ever developed for people fleeing a war-torn nation. Supporters say the bill would help ensure that Islamic State terrorists will not slip into the U.S. Along with refugees. The White House has issued a veto threat, saying that the bill would create significant delays and obstacles for refugees without providing meaningful additional security for Americans. The bill still must be voted on by the Senate. Ref. USAToday
The House overwhelmingly passed legislation on Tuesday (407 to 19) that would overhaul the federal visa waiver program and bar those from Iraq, Syria, Iran and the Sudan, or those who have visited those countries in the last five years, from traveling to the United States without a visa. Ref. CNN
The national security debate turned to immigration as Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Ted Cruz, both the children of Cuban immigrants, disagreed.
Rubio defended his previous support for a pathway to citizenship, and Cruz said he did not intend to support legalization.
Cruz has vocally opposed a path to citizenship but had previously taken pains during the campaign to avoid ruling out a path to legal status. Ref. CNN
Paper still dominates immigration process
A decade-long effort by the federal government to modernize how it processes scores of immigration documents from a paper-based system to computers is inadequate, over budget and behind schedule, a federal audit says. Ref. Source 1o.
Illegal Southwest border crossings were down 40% last month, according to Customs and Border Protection, in a sign that President Donald Trump's hardline rhetoric and policies on immigration may be having a deterrent effect.
According to CBP data, the 40% drop in illegal Southwest border crossings from January to February is far outside normal seasonal trends. Historically, the January to February change is typically an increase of 10% to 20%.
It will still take months to figure out if the decrease in apprehensions are indications of a lasting Trump effect on immigration patterns. Ref. CNN.
Ice agents are out of control. And they are only getting worse. The agency is so harmful to civil rights, there's a good argument it should be disbanded altogether. Unfortunately they are only becoming more emboldened
Source 4e.