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House of RepresentativesImmigration Bills

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Every year, bills are introduced in the House of Representatives to control illegal immigration, build fences on the U.S.-Mexican border and to grant benefits in the form of temporary visas and permanent residence.

On January 7, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation targeting undocumented immigrants for deportation if they’re charged with nonviolent crimes such as shoplifting.

A majority of Democrats and immigrant rights groups criticized the bill, saying that it is an anti-immigrant proposal disguised as a public safety measure.

“Mandatory detention has always been reserved for people who are convicted of crimes and actually commit crimes,” Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin said. “Expanding the requirement to include people who have been accused of – and not charged for — minor crimes such as shoplifting collapses the distinction” between those offenses and more serious crimes.

The bill is expected to be voted on by the Senate on Friday.

Here is what the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) had to say about the bill which was passed by the House of Representatives:

The death of Laken Riley is tragic and ensuring public safety and the effective operation of and compliance with immigration laws should be a top priority for the nation’s elected leaders. Unfortunately, the Laken Riley Act does not accomplish these aims. Despite its purported aims, S.5 will impede local criminal law enforcement and create chaos in enforcement by empowering states to challenge federal immigration policy.

The bill authorizes individual states to bring costly and time-consuming litigation against the federal government whenever a state believes the federal government is improperly implementing many federal immigration laws.

The bill would also mandate the unnecessary apprehension and detention of undocumented immigrants convicted of or only arrested for certain crimes, including low level misdemeanor offenses such as shoplifting.

AILA recommends you vote NO on the Senate version of the Laken Riley Act:

• The provisions in this bill would allow individual states to dictate immigration policy for the nation by allowing states to sue the government. Further, a state could sue to cease visa issuance to entire countries.
• By allowing states to sue the federal government over immigration policy, the bill would overwhelm the courts with litigation from states. The bill raises constitutional concerns by providing automatic standing to states who file politically motivated lawsuits against the federal government.
• The bill will interfere with criminal prosecutions and individuals will not be able to attend criminal court hearings while detained.
• The bill is unnecessary. Immigration law already mandates detention of people who have committed serious crimes.

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Summary of the Fairness to Freedom Act

This bill, which was introduced in the House of Representatives on April 18, 2023, would:

● Establish a right to representation in removal proceedings, at government expense for people who cannot afford it. The bill amends Section 292 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. § 1362) to provide that any person in any removal, exclusion, deportation, bond, or expedited removal proceedings who is financially unable to obtain representation in those proceedings is entitled to representation at government

● Ensure early, continuous, and full-scope representation. The Act requires counsel to be appointed at or before the start of proceedings and provided continuously at every stage of proceedings, including on any related matters before USCIS or in state or federal court, until all proceedings conclude.

● Enable representatives to provide high-quality, holistic representation. Representation under the Act includes interpretation and translation services, and other services necessary for effective representation. The Act also requires the government to automatically produce all information in its custody pertaining to the person in proceedings, including their “A-file.”

● Require the government to facilitate access to counsel for people in its custody. The Act would require the government to ensure that counsel can meet with clients detained in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) custody in a confidential setting within the first twelve hours of the person’s detention.

●  Establish the Office of Immigration Representation to ensure high-quality, universal representation. The Act creates the Office as an independent nonprofit to provide high- quality legal representation to all eligible people. The Office will establish and maintain standards for the provision of high-quality, full-scope representation for people facing removal, including ongoing training and professional development standards, and set reasonable, manageable, and sustainable appointed counsel caseloads.

●  Work with existing state and locally-funded removal defense programs to provide universal representation. The Office may provide grants or reimbursements to states and municipalities that fund representation for people facing removal, prioritizing those where representation is provided without exception for past interaction with the criminal legal or immigration systems, or similar exceptions. The Office may also establish Immigration Public Defender Organizations, contract with Community Defender Organizations, and establish private attorney panels to ensure universal representation.

●  Ensure representation for people facing removal at the border. The Office’s Representation plans for areas covering the U.S.-Mexico border region must include legal representation, and may include Attorney of the Day, attorney fellowship models, and other models to provide limited representation at the border and coordinate case transfers and referrals for people who are released or transferred within DHS or HHS.

GENERAL IMMIGRATION RESOURCES – HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

IMMIGRATION PRACTICE ADVISORIES – HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES