LegiStorm

Summary:

This report discusses immigration-related bills that have received congressional action in the 118th Congress as of the report’s cover date. For the purposes of the report, bills receiving congressional action are the measures that have been enacted into law, passed by one chamber, or reported by a committee. The 118th Congress has enacted a number of bills containing immigration provisions. These include a series of continuing appropriations measures and the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (P.L. 118-47). These bills extend the authorizations for three immigration programs—the E-Verify employment eligibility verification program, the Conrad State Program for foreign medical graduates, and the special immigrant religious worker program—as well as for a provision concerning supplemental H-2B nonagricultural worker visas. P.L. 118-47 authorizes these provisions through the end of FY2024. It also extends through the end of FY2024 other H-2B-related provisions and refugee provisions known as the Lautenberg Amendment, and amends the temporary Afghan special immigrant visa program. In addition, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (P.L. 118-42) and P.L. 118-50, an FY2024 emergency supplemental appropriations act, contain language on noncitizen eligibility for federal benefits. Other measures enacted by the 118th Congress are the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (P.L. 118-31), which makes additional visas available for a special immigrant classification for long-term employees of the U.S. government abroad, and the END FENTANYL Act (P.L. 118-43), which concerns inspections at U.S. ports of entry (POEs). Another set of immigration-related bills has passed only one chamber. Many of these measures address immigration enforcement and unauthorized immigration. The Senate has passed the Northern Border Coordination Act (S. 2291). The House has passed the Secure the Border Act of 2023 (H.R. 2), the Schools Not Shelters Act (H.R. 3941), the DHS Border Services Contracts Review Act (H.R. 4467), the Protecting our Communities from Failure to Secure the Border Act of 2023 (H.R. 5283), the Detain and Deport Illegal Aliens Who Assault Cops Act (H.R. 7343), and the Laken Riley Act (H.R. 7511). The House has also passed the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2025 (H.R. 8752). Measures concerning the Immigration and Nationality Act’s grounds of inadmissibility and deportability have also passed one chamber. The House has passed the POLICE Act of 2023 (H.R. 2494), the Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act (H.R. 5585), the Consequences for Social Security Fraud Act (H.R. 6678), the No Immigration Benefits for Hamas Terrorists Act (H.R. 6679), and the Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act (H.R. 6976). The Senate has passed S.J.Res. 18, which would nullify a 2022 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) final rule. Additional immigration-related bills have been reported by congressional committees. House committees have reported Sarah’s Law (H.R. 661), the Standing Up to the Executive branch for Immigration Enforcement Act of 2024 (H.R. 7322), the Emerging Innovative Border Technologies Act (H.R. 7832), and the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025 (H.R. 9029). Senate committees have reported the Combating Cartels on Social Media Act of 2023 (S. 61), the International Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2023 (S. 920), the Protecting the Border from Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act (S. 1443), the Enhancing DHS Drug Seizures Act (S. 1464), the Non-Intrusive Inspection Expansion Act (S. 1822), the Department of State Authorization Act of 2023 (S. 2043), and S. 243, which concerns maintenance projects at POEs. This report discusses these immigration-related measures. DHS appropriations are addressed in other CRS reports, including CRS Report R47663, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations: FY2024 Provisions, and CRS Report R48126, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations: FY2025 Provisions; for the most part, they are not covered here.