What Regulatory Changes Should We Expect to See if Harris Takes Office?
The Harris-Walz campaign’s “Project 2025”
By Elizabeth Jacobs on September 17, 2024
The Biden-Harris administration last month published its most recent semiannual issue of the “Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions”. The Unified Agenda is a summary of each executive agency’s projected regulations, existing regulations, and completed regulations. It is intended to provide the public with information about the government’s regulatory and deregulatory activity — in part to provide the public with opportunities to participate in the rulemaking process.
Unlike inconsistent campaign rhetoric, the Unified Agenda can provide voters with a clear picture of the reforms and policies a potential future Harris administration will implement. Here is what we can expect to be proposed or finalized during a Harris-Walz administration.
The Biden-Harris administration has kept regulatory amendments for the U nonimmigrant visa program on its agenda for nearly the entirety of its term, but has yet to issue a proposal to amend the program. U visas are given to victims or witnesses of qualifying crimes, and their eligible family members, who are, have been, or are likely to be helpful in the investigation or prosecution of those crimes. U.S. immigration law allows U visa holders to obtain green cards after three years of continuous presence in the United States, making the program a pathway to citizenship.
While a new regulation may expand the class of aliens who are eligible for U visas, Congress capped U visa issuances at 10,000 a year. Accordingly, the new regulation will likely also codify the Biden administration’s practice of providing applicants immigration benefits, such as work authorization, long before their application is adjudicated by the agency. The Unified Agenda indicates that a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) — or regulatory proposal — will be published by the end of the calendar year, meaning that, unless the rule is fast-tracked in January, it will be up to Harris-Walz to finalize the new policies.
https://cis.org/Jacobs/What-Regulatory-Changes-Should-We-Expect-See-if-Harris-Takes-Office
