Authorities in the US are reducing the length of time in which they will postpone the deportation of undocumented immigrants who are waiting for decisions on individual cases in ‘private bills’ from Congress. Thomas Homan, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), wrote to lawmakers last week, to tell them that the agency will only refrain from the deportation of such immigrants for six months, plus one possible extension of 90 days.
Homan added that key sub-committees or judiciary committee chairs must ask for individual deportations to be held off by authorities. Lawmakers offer a bare handful of private bills per annum, usually relating to particularly compelling cases. Deportation has sometimes been considerably delayed in such cases by immigration authorities, occasionally by years.
Immigrant advocates claim that the capping of reviews will harm the chances of passing bills before the deportation of many undocumented immigrants. Around 50 percent of the 4200 private bills that have been carried out grant legal immigration status to a particular individual, according to Congressional data. Previously, Immigration and Customs Enforcement were willing to wait to see the outcome of such bills before pressing forward with deportation plans.
Around six such bills have been passed into law in 34 years, since 1983. Deportations have been postponed for years in some cases by the private bills being reintroduced by members of Congress in each Congressional session.