Washington, D.C. - Today, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5376, the Build Back Better Act, transformative legislation that invests in our people and in our communities, by a vote of 220-213.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) issued the following statement on the Committee’s provisions in the Build Back Better Act:
“I am extremely proud that the Build Back Better Act, once-in-a-generation legislation that invests in our economy and will strengthen our communities for years to come, passed the House of Representatives today. The Judiciary Committee provisions in the Build Back Better Act will make our country stronger by protecting long-term immigrant residents, including millions of Dreamers, TPS holders, and essential workers, including farmworkers, who have been vital to sustaining our nation’s economy throughout the COVID19 pandemic. The Committee also worked to include crucial funding for community violence intervention programs, which will help improve public safety, as well as funding to enhance antitrust enforcement, which will protect consumers and ensure robust competition throughout the economy. I am grateful to all who helped shape the Build Back Better Act, and I urge my colleagues in the Senate to send this transformational legislation to President Biden’s desk without delay.”
The Judiciary Committee worked with Democratic leadership, in addition to fellow Committee Chairs and Members of Congress, to include the following key provisions:
Community Violence Intervention:
- Provides $2.5 billion to fund community violence intervention (CVI) programs at the Department of Justice:
- Funds would support training, technical assistance, research, evaluation, and data collection on the strategies that are most effective at reducing community violence and ensuring public safety
- Community violence intervention programs apply, localized, community, and evidence-informed approaches to violence by:
- Identifying and supporting those who are at risk of being victims, perpetrators, or both; and
- Working to reduce violence through targeted interventions, programs, and strategies.
Immigration Provisions:
Protections and Work Permits
- Gives the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to grant temporary protection from deportation and employment authorization to those who entered the United States prior to January 1, 2011, if they pass a background check to the satisfaction of the Secretary and are not inadmissible to the United States on criminal, national security, or other grounds.
- These protections are only available to individuals who have set down roots here—those who have lived and worked in service to our country and our communities for more than 10 years
Visa Recapture
- Amends the INA to prevent future loss of unused employment-based visas and ensure that they roll over to the family-based categories in subsequent years as Congress intended. This section also recaptures unused immigrant visas from 1992 through 2021 and would result in the recapture of—
- Approximately 222,000 unused family-sponsored visas; and
- Approximately 157,000 employment-based visas.
- Allows an estimated 40,000 individuals who were selected for the diversity visa lottery and completed certain steps but were unable to finalize the process or enter the United States due to various executive orders or COVID-related office closures and restrictions, to reapply for such visas.
Enhancement to Green Card Processing
- Allows individuals who are in the United States and eligible for a green card but for the lack of an available visa number to apply for a green card, upon paying a fee. This will allow individuals to receive work authorization while they wait for a visa number to become available and will prevent dependent children from aging out of eligibility for permanent status.
- Allows certain immigrants who are in the United States to receive an exemption from the numerical limits on immigrant visas and adjust their status to permanent resident if their immigrant visa petition has been approved for 2 years and they pay a supplemental fee.
Funding for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
- Appropriates $2.8 billion to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in fiscal year 2022, to remain available until expended, for purposes of adjudicating requests for relief as provided in the legislation and reducing case processing backlogs.
Antitrust Enforcement:
- Appropriates $1 billion for the Department of Justice Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Bureau of Competition.
Enforcement Relating to Federal Income Tax Evasion:
- Provides $498 million to the Department of Justice Tax Division to enforce federal laws against tax evasion, including by pursuing civil cases or prosecuting criminal violations.
