The New Way Forward Act () is a proposed legislation introduced in the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

and House on December 10, 2019 by

Jesús "Chuy" García Jesus ( AD 30 or 33) was a Jewish preacher and religious leader who most Christians believe to be the incarnation of God and Muslims believe was a prophet. Jesus may also refer to: People Religious figures * Elymas Bar-Jesus, a Jew in the ''Ac ...

, which focuses on

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

reform. The bill would repeal sections 1325 and 1326 of the immigration law to decriminalize unauthorized border crossing whilst maintaining civil deportation procedures. The bill intends to give immigration judges discretion when deciding immigration claims for immigrants with criminal records in the United States, changes immigration enforcement by ending mandatory detention in specific cases and intends to remove private detention centers for immigrants. The bill was reintroduced in the 117th congress in 2021 ().

Background

The bill's supporters have introduced a bill roughly divided into seven parts. *The bill aims to close private prisons or private detention centers for immigrants beginning three years after the bill's possible enactment. *The

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

officials including

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration tha ...

(ICE) would be prohibited from using national origin, race, ethnicity, or fluency in English when interrogating immigrants. *Redefines the categories of "serious crimes" which currently bar immigrants from qualifying for asylum. Only felonies with a jail sentence of at least five years would be prohibited from applying for asylum. *Repeals or limits laws which limits the discretion immigration judges', instead allowing the immigration judge an exercise of discretion suitable in pursuit of humanitarian purposes, assuring family unity, or when it is in the public interest. *There would be a prohibition on the involvement of state/local law enforcement involvement in the apprehension, investigation, transport, or detention of undocumented immigrants. *Illegal border crossing would be enforced under civil rather than criminal law procedures.

Support

The has received support from some Democratic Party members including

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of th ...

Karen Bass Karen Ruth Bass (; born October 3, 1953) is an American politician, social worker and former physician assistant who is serving as the 43rd mayor of Los Angeles since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, Bass had previously served in the U.S. ...

, Ilhan Omar,

Pramila Jayapal Pramila Jayapal ( ; born September 21, 1965) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she represents ...

and 30 Members of Congress. The bill has also received support from over 145 advocacy organizations and community representatives.

Opposition

The bill has received strong opposition from the Republican Party on claims that it would increase crime and weaken the country. The bill would remove low-level drug crimes as deportable offenses and would require that certain criminal convictions come with a prison sentence of at least five years.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Congress Bill
Immigration to the United States United States immigration law Proposed legislation of the 116th United States Congress Proposed legislation of the 117th United States Congress