Newcomer immigrant youth in the Bay Area, p3: Legal Defense

NeEddra James: Today on The Radio Show: Will academic student employees authorize a labor strike? We hear what’s at stake from union reps. Then, tear gas, rubber bullets, flash grenades, all labeled less lethal. The research tells a different story. Dr. Rohini Haar explains. And immigrant children aren’t guaranteed legal representation.

Attorney Katie Annand is here to talk about what kids are facing in federal courts. All that is next. I’m your host, NeEddra James, and this is The Radio Show on KALX FM Berkeley. First, the headlines.

Minahil Arif: Good afternoon. I’m Minahil Arif. Today is Friday, February 13, 2026, and these are today’s top headlines. In international news, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party has claimed a landslide victory in the country’s first national election since the student-led 2024 uprising that ousted the longtime leader Sheikh Hasina.

The victory ends nearly two decades of rule by Sheikh Hasina’s party, making a major political real-realignment, with potential effects on Bangladesh’s government policies and its role in regional affairs. Back in Washington, funding for the Department of Homeland Security is on track to lapse early Saturday morning, making a partial DHS shutdown likely this weekend after the Senate failed to advance a funding bill amid stalled talks over immigration enforcement reforms.

Many DHS employees, including airport screeners and disaster response staff, would continue working without pay. And in the Bay Area, San Francisco Unified School District and the teachers’ union, United Educators of San Francisco, have reached a tentative $183 million contract agreement. District and union leaders say the deal includes a significant improvement in pay and working conditions, and classes are expected to resume normally once the agreement is finalized.

Nine schools in San Jose Unified School District are facing potential closure. District officials say the plan aims to address declining enrollment and budget shortfalls, but parents and advocates are pushing back against the potential loss of neighborhood schools. In Berkeley, I’m Minahil Arif.

NeEddra James: And we’re back. You are listening to The Radio Show on KALX Berkeley. I am your host, NeEddra James. Today, I have the honor of talking to one of the union reps for the UC Academic Workers. Um, they’ve been bargaining since last summer with no deal. Today, they’re wrapping up a strike authorization vote.

Iris Rosenblum-Sellers is here in the studio today to chat with us. Thanks for being here. Um, tell us what’s at stake today.

Iris Rosenblum-Sellers: Yeah. Thanks for having me. And, um, yeah, I’m happy to tell you about what’s at stake in this round of negotiations. So like you said, student workers have been negotiating with university management since last July, and this comes at a time when, uh, you know, higher ed is kind of at a crossroads.

There’s been an unprecedented attack from the federal government, and UC management really has to make a choice in this round of negotiations. Are they gonna stand with Donald Trump and his administration in terms of, you know, what their vision for higher education is, or are they gonna stand with, you know, the workers who make the university run and, you know, fight back against, uh, Donald Trump’s attacks on immigrant students, on immigrant workers, and on higher education in general?

And since, you know, we’ve been negotiating, um, you know, three main priorities have really come up- Mm-hmm ... over the course of the negotiations- Mm-hmm ... through conversations with, uh, between members. Um, those are fair and stable pay. UC management, in this latest proposal, is proposing, you know, an effective pay cut for most, um, student workers, and we’re just trying to get raises that keep up with inflation.

Right. Also, job security- Mm-hmm ... in this time of, you know, crisis for higher education. It’s really, really important that folks are able to, you know, kn- know that they’re gonna have an appointment in the future. Absolutely. Mm-hmm. Um, and finally, protections, you know, for the 40% of my coworkers who are international student workers.

It’s a huge portion. That’s a big

NeEddra James: one, yeah.

Iris Rosenblum-Sellers: Yeah, for sure. For sure.

NeEddra James: So what happens after the vote closes? What time is it closing tonight?

Iris Rosenblum-Sellers: Yeah, the vote closes at, uh, 5:00 PM, so in just-

NeEddra James: Okay ... about

Iris Rosenblum-Sellers: five hours.

NeEddra James: So in about five hours. So we’re gonna keep our eye on that. So this is a very short conversation we have with you.

We wanted to just get in here and make sure that folks knew this was happening and that y’all- Mm-hmm ... have been working on this. And, um, we’re gonna have you come back on March 27th so we can talk about- Yeah ... w- what happened- Uh-huh ... and where are we now. So thanks for joining us for a super small amount of time this morning.

We really appreciate it. And if you are, you know, keeping track or you wanna keep track, where can folks go to find out more information?

Iris Rosenblum-Sellers: Yeah. So, you know, this strike vote that you mentioned, it’s over the university’s unfair labor practices. You can find more details about that and other, uh, information about bargaining on our union’s website, uaw4811.org, and there’s a ULP strike authorization vote FAQ on there in particular.

NeEddra James: Thanks so much, Iris.

Iris Rosenblum-Sellers: Yeah. For sure.

NeEddra James: For sure. We’re gonna take a short break, y’all. We’ll be right back.

We are back on The Radio Show. I am your host, NeEddra James. So k- um, you know, in 2023, Physicians for Human Rights published a report called Less Lethal Weapons. Um, or I’m sorry, Less Than Lethal

It wasn’t the name of the report, y’all. It was actually called Lethal in Disguise: How Crowd Control Weapons Impact Health and Human Rights. So I’m really thrilled to say that I have with us today Dr. Rohini Haar, professor of epidemiology here at UC Berkeley, and an emergency physician in Oakland. You’re here in the studio with us.

You have an extraordinary amount of expertise in health and human rights. You were the lead researcher on this study. And in our previous conversations, you know, when we first spoke, Minneapolis and Tehran were in the news cycle significantly. People were seeing, um, flashbang grenades. They were seeing tear gas thrown at folks.

And, you know, even though the political circumstances were different, um, the state using weapons against protesters, like, looked the same. So your research on the health impacts of what law enforcement calls less lethal crowd control, um, is what we really wanna hear more about from you. So at a super high level, can you tell us, like, what were the findings in that 2023 study?

Dr. Rohini Haar: Yeah. Thanks for having me. So we looked at published medical literature about the health impacts of tear gas, rubber bullets, flashbangs, um, sound cannons, water cannons over something like 25 years.

NeEddra James: Oh, wow.

Dr. Rohini Haar: And the, the main lesson I learned from doing that work is that what people consider harmless is certainly not harmless, that all of these weapons have significant health harms, especially when they’re overused and misused, which is quite often.

NeEddra James: Right.

Dr. Rohini Haar: Especially for something like projectiles, rubber bullets, baton rounds, uh, foam rounds, beanbags, they’re used all over the world- Mm-hmm ... almost every day, every week, and we’ve seen a significant amount of serious injuries, broken bones, broken skulls, a lot of lost eyes, um, ICU visits, and even deaths.

And a s- and for things like pepper spray and tear gas, which a l- a lot more people are exposed to just because it’s indiscriminate and gets in the air, you see injuries to almost every different body part, especially when they’re misused in enclosed spaces- Right ... where people can’t get out- Right ... or overused.

NeEddra James: Right, like I’m thinking about the case that I feel like everyone was talking about for a while in Minneapolis of the family that was stuck in their car when the canister of tear gas went under the car, and you have a six-month-old baby that’s now unconscious, so horrible situations. That’s right. Um, so that was three years ago when you published it.

Here we are, you know, seeing... I m- uh, have things accelerated? What, what are you seeing here in the US and abroad?

Dr. Rohini Haar: I think without change at, uh, at the root cause, we’re seeing an expansion of a lot of different weapons. There’s almost no regulation of any crowd control weapons, either in their manufacture, their use, their sale, and so without any regulation, it’s just a free market, and companies make more and dangerous and more complex weapons that end up hurting more people, and

NeEddra James: so- Right.

I, I was actually really floored to find that the value of this market is already, like, two and a half billion dollars, and there’s an expectation that it’s just gonna continue to grow over the next, you know, over the foreseeable future, um, and that the language itself really kind of launders the violence.

So to call it less lethal, um, allows, you know, folks to kind of imagine that there isn’t real harm happening, which is not what your report is saying. So talk to me a little bit about- What you have your eye on going forward in your research and how, um, ordinary folks can understand more about what the threats are.

Dr. Rohini Haar: So the scope of the problem is so big that I think the things I’m focusing on now are specific weapons that I think are low-hanging fruit, need to be banned. In California, the number one thing I’m seeing are s- are multiple shot projectiles or scatter shot-

NeEddra James: Hmm ...

Dr. Rohini Haar: where they click the trigger once and multiple things come out.

NeEddra James: Oh my gosh.

Dr. Rohini Haar: Um, that’s actually the same as what’s going on in Iran with the pellet shot, only those are tiny little steel or lead pellets.

NeEddra James: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Rohini Haar: Here it’s plastic or foam or-

NeEddra James: Okay ...

Dr. Rohini Haar: but also dangerous. Uh, we see those in corrections, we see those on the street. Uh, there’s other weapons that I think are particularly dangerous, and I really don’t think there’s any role for any projectiles in a protest setting.

NeEddra James: Right, and just so I’m clear, m- these ammunitions are, were made for military purposes, right?

Dr. Rohini Haar: They, uh, a lot of crowd control weapons, especially stun grenades, were invented and designed by the military.

NeEddra James: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Rohini Haar: Um, but they’re almost exclusively used in civilian policing now.

NeEddra James: Okay.

Dr. Rohini Haar: So-

NeEddra James: Dr. Haar, we’re gonna have to have you come back ‘cause I wanna talk about way more stuff.

I need more than 30 minutes to get into all of these things with the wonderful folks who come by. Um, we’re gonna put a link to your report in the show notes, and we’ll have you come back by because I really wanna go a little bit further into understanding, um, some of the concrete, like, health consequences and long-term health consequences that you’ve seen folks have as a, as a result.

So thank you so much. We’re gonna take a quick break, y’all. We will be right back to talk to attorney Katie Annand about defending immigrant kids in court.

Welcome back to The Radio Show. I am your host, NeEddra James. Last December, Melissa Adamson from the National Center for Youth Law joined me to discuss a report they just released focused on newcomer immigrant youth in the Bay Area. Our key takeaway was that immigrant youth face interconnected challenges requiring interconnected supports and solutions.

Dr. Vilma Reyes spoke with us a couple of weeks ago about immigration trauma and the work she does to support families who’ve been reunited. Today, Katie Annand is here. She’s the managing attorney at Immigrant Legal Defense. They provide free legal representation to underserved immigrant communities.

Prior to that, you, you actually have a very long, uh, background working with young people and families, um, in the immigration system. You were with Kids in Need of Defense prior to that. So thank you so much for being here, Katie.

Katie Annand: Thank you for having me.

NeEddra James: My, my pleasure. So in the report, um, that Melissa’s team released, the legal providers said that obtaining legal status was really the foundation for youth and families to achieve stability here in the US.

So not employment, not housing, but legal status, right? And can you help us understand, um, like when a child is separated from caregivers and trust- trusted caregivers, how are they navigating the system by themselves? Like I’ve heard stories of, you know, babies being in court alone, which just sounds absurd.

Is this really the situation?

Katie Annand: Yes, young children, even babies, can be by themselves in immigration court proceedings. I work mostly with unaccompanied children, and that term is a federal immigration law term that refers to young people and children who, when they first came into contact with immigration, when they were arrested, often at the border, they were under 18, and they were without a parent or guardian to provide for their care at that time.

Those young people and children are then placed into shelters run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and those shelters are throughout the country. And the caseworkers at the shelters try to connect that child to a caregiver, who usually is a relative of some degree living in the US- Mm-hmm ... who then is able to care for the child.

There are, there is no financial assistance offered to that family- Mm-hmm ... but they take the child in, they care for them, and then they need to help them attend their immigration court proceedings because that child is still in deportation proceedings, and just the child is in court as what we call a respondent against, uh, the government attorney who is part of the Department of Homeland Security.

And the child then needs to find an attorney to help them defend their case. So there, there m- there are often adults in their life who have different levels of connection to them, uh, but finding an attorney is, is very challenging, and it’s not something that there is a guide to do- Right ... or there’s a step-by-step on how to do it.

It often can, of course, be very expensive if there’s not a nonprofit legal services provider that can take on the case.

NeEddra James: Right. So that was gonna be my second question, like, how are they finding you? So can you talk a little bit about your organization and the kind of partnerships you create so young people can get representation?

Katie Annand: So where I work at ILD, we have a lot of work with different education partners. We’re actually part of a, a very successful seven-year program of providing free services to Cal State universities and community colleges, as well as a newer part of that program. Um, but I in particular work with our TK through 12 partnerships.

So I partner with, primarily with Oakland Unified School District, which has been a really excellent... They do amazing work around their newcomer and immigrant students, and they are, um, as students are expressing, uh, a need for immigration services, uh, the school, and they refer cases to my organization, and then we can do a free and private consultation, uh, with the child and with caretakers in their life, if relevant.

Uh, many young people I work with, especially as they’re getting closer to 18, might not have much family support, so we’re working with them, um, directly. We also work with a few other schools right now, Richmond High School, as well as a few, uh, new schools in Marin County. That’s part of a new funding we received, and we’re hoping to build that.

We’re actually working to create a statewide pilot program where we can provide free services. We and others can provide free immigration legal services to students and families in TK through 12.

NeEddra James: Got it. Got it. So- Can you help us understand some of the categories you were mentioning? So there’s unaccompanied minors.

Mm-hmm. Um, and let’s say we’re talking about a young person who’s in a mixed status family.

Katie Annand: Mm-hmm.

NeEddra James: And let’s say they are unfortunately caught in one of these, you know, raids. What then becomes the status of that child if they’re, let’s say they’re like 12 or 13, so they’re in middle school? Like what-

Katie Annand: And this child i- was, is a US citizen?

NeEddra James: Um, yeah, let’s say that or- Sure.

Katie Annand: Yeah, so th- that, of course, we’ve seen that across the news right now. Mm-hmm. That happens where a parent is picked up, maybe they’re on their way to work, um, or they’re at work, and they’re arrested and detained. Um, and the young person is then left without their primary caretaker.

Uh, we know that the trauma of that is lifelong. Mm-hmm. Um, we, uh, in California, we do have a California caregiver affidavit that families can sign in advance or rather elect, uh, select someone in advance who could be the primary caretaker for their child, and this could happen because of deportation or arrest or because of an illness or other reason a parent couldn’t care for their child.

NeEddra James: Hmm.

Katie Annand: So we do really encourage families to keep that in mind to create what we call family preparedness plans in case there is a reason why the primary caretaker can’t be there. Um, that young child could go live with other relatives. They could become part of the foster care system, um, if their child is, if their, rather their parent is arrested and, and even deported as we know is happening.

NeEddra James: Right. So what are you-- In, in the conversations I’ve had with, uh, when I was talking with Melissa or even, uh, Neha Desai, who’s over at, um- Uh, the National Center for Youth Law, they were sharing with me that many of these kids are kind of languishing in detention right now. So why? What’s happening? Is it volume of cases?

Is it... Can you help us understand?

Katie Annand: Of course, yes, and I, I don’t currently work with children who are currently detained, but all of my clients were detained, and so I do have knowledge of that system. Uh, there have been changes to the requirements for sponsors. So I mentioned earlier that if a child is determined to be unaccompanied when they’re arrested at the border-

NeEddra James: Mm-hmm

Katie Annand: usually seeking safety, seeking asylum, reunifying with a family member, um, they are determined to be unaccompanied, and they’re placed in these shelters, and the shelter caseworker tries to find a relative here. And even with parents right now, maybe their parent is undocumented living in the US, there are additional requirements, um, and additional documentation that’s being asked for, uh, to release that child.

So we’re seeing very few releases. We’ve seen average stays inching up over six months for a child who’s being detained in these shelters before they’re even being released to live with their caretaker here in California, for example, and then they’re still at the very start of this process. Exactly.

They still have immigration court scheduled. Uh, we have two immigration courts here in the Bay Area, San Francisco and Concord. We’ve learned recently the San Francisco court is closing down at the end of this year- Oh, wow ... and will be moved to Concord. So it’s only increasing. Like, there’s backlogs while a child’s detained.

Backlogs, uh, prolonged detention is really what it is. Mm-hmm. Um, and then in terms of being able, your first question, getting towards more stability, we’re seeing so many backlogs and challenges and obstacles that the system is asking children to, to navigate, uh, on their own, and on their own, I mean, without legally, legal counsel appointed by the government.

NeEddra James: Right, and in many instances, not speaking the language. Like, there’s just so many barriers, and what you’re describing is all of this is happening before they can even get to someone like you, right? And, and the kinds of wraparound services. Um, I wanna talk a little bit more about, like, what your day-to-day looks like when you’re supporting young people, um, and when you’re thinking about how to support the schools in supporting, in supporting their young people.

We’re gonna take a quick breather, and when we come back, we will get into the nuts and bolts with Katie. Stick around.

We are back on The Radio Show. I am your host, NeEddra James, and we are talking about legal representation for unaccompanied immigrant youth. Excuse me. So we were chatting a little bit earlier about, um- what, you know, I saw in the report as the need for integrated solutions, that it’s not like, “Oh, I have a lawyer, now everything is okay,” but there’s, “I need housing.

I need to be in school. I need food. I need,” you know, all of the things that re- that are required for sur- for survival on a day-to-day basis. Um, so your organization, working with school districts, um, and with, um, public health officials or mental health, um, s- providers, have figured out how to bring some of those, you know, resources together into one place.

Can you talk a little bit about, um, both the fragmentation of services and the ways that you and your, um, teams and, and partnerships are working to weave those together in a more coherent way?

Katie Annand: Yes, absolutely. It’s been really exciting, I think, over the past few years to see more of the coordination between mental health providers and medical professionals, immigration lawyers, other types of, of legal support.

Uh, there have been several projects. I’m part of, um, a collaborative called Immigrant Health Equity and Legal Partnerships, uh, where doctors from Stanford and UCSF Medical work with immigration attorneys to provide trainings, interdisciplinary trainings. Um, that’s been really exciting to see, and I think in addit- recognition of the need for that is, is continuing to grow.

Uh, in our partnerships with the schools, it’s just so exciting to be able to work with the social workers there- Mm-hmm ... because I’m not trained as a, as a social worker.

NeEddra James: Mm-hmm.

Katie Annand: But in my role, I’m working with children, young people, and so inevitably, you know, every day there are topics that come up, um, that would really benefit from the support of a mental health care professional or a social worker.

So with my client’s consent, I can, um, pass along their information or ask for help, and have had many examples where working with a, a child who’s experienced lots of trauma- Mm-hmm ... as we develop their immigration case, which many might not know actually involves talking about that trauma in detail, um, that might be sexual violence or physical harm or abandonment or threats from gangs or cartels.

We have to lay that out for the immigration agencies to be able to seek a more permanent legal status for them. So collaborating with mental health professionals, social workers, ensuring the child’s enrolled in Medi-Cal, those are all things that are other stability supports, right? Mm-hmm. They all kind of piece together, and the immigration case is really important, but we also need, you know, while we’re talking about hard topics, finding ways to support them, uh, so they can, you know, go through the rest of their day and go to school- Yeah, absolutely

and hang out with their friends is all really important, too.

NeEddra James: Yeah, that was something I was thinking, like, you have to build rapport to-

Katie Annand: Mm-hmm ...

NeEddra James: get to a place where that young person is able to really share openly about, um, what they’ve experienced that landed them here. So when, um- We chatted a little bit about some new legislation in California that seeks to kind of address the fact that the state, uh, whether that’s the fe- you know, the federal government or even each individual state, um, doesn’t provide any rep- representation for, for children, um, in the immigration system.

So in California, lawmakers have said, “Well, let’s change that. Let’s give, um, resources, if there are some in the budget somewhere, um, to nonprofit, nonprofit legal service providers.” And, um, get them to provide services to the young people. And what are your thoughts about this, um, this approach?

Katie Annand: Yeah. As someone who has represented children and teenagers and, and families as well in immigration court for over 16 years, uh, somewhere in that range, and being in court and seeing families and children waiting to talk to the judge without an attorney-

NeEddra James: Hmm

Katie Annand: I confidently can speak firsthand of how important it is to have an attorney in that setting, not just to be able to answer the questions the judge has, but to know how to explain your story in ways that fit into the legal requirements. So we’re very, very happy that California... and California has been a pioneer in providing funding for immigration legal services for, for years now in various programs.

Uh, so this new legislation, uh, that was passed last year, it was brought by Assembly Member Bonta, AB 1261, um, you know, states firmly that, you know, we as the state of California think that children who are in immigration court proceedings alone, unaccompanied minors, um, who were in the shelters I talked about, should have counsel with them in court.

So over time, we hope that funding can follow that so that attorneys can be, at mine, like a nonprofit, that we can receive funding to then take on cases, hire more staff, train our staff in trauma-informed care practices like we’re doing now, and high-quality legal representation for those children in court.

NeEddra James: What are the biggest barriers that you and your team are facing and other orgs like yours?

Katie Annand: There are very many barriers right now. Um, I think that we see a lot in the news, um, some of it, the really, um, awful is the small word for it, ICE enforcement actions we’re seeing across the country. Mm-hmm. But what’s not making the news at the same level is the almost daily changes to immigration law and pol- policy that are affecting students, children, families who are in any kind of immigration process, not just court.

They’re affecting green card holders, people with temporary status. There have been so many changes to policy over the past year now that are really harming, um, children in the immigration process as well, as well as families. Um...

NeEddra James: Yeah, you mentioned, um, this actually was really shocking to me when you said it, uh, we have to help them learn how to tell the story in a way that fits the frame.

And, oh, wow, okay, so there’s actually a way to narrate, excuse me, what I’ve been through, but it, it didn’t occur to me that that would be a part of the process. So how do you even begin to tell people about that and how to, um- frame what their experiences have been?

Katie Annand: Yeah. So I start off with lots of, of education, almost like a, a teacher role, although I won’t claim that.

It’s a very hard job. Um, and depends on the age of my client. Um, I use visual aids a lot. I draw a lot with my clients- Mm ... to try to break down... You know, the first question I always ask a new client is, “Do you know why you have immigration court, or do you know what that even means?” Um, and almost always the answer is no.

Um, as, you know, as a 12-year-old, a 16-year-old, many people who are adults also would not understand, right, the system itself. Uh, so we use lots of examples, analogies. Um, I’m always, you know, being a nerdy immigration lawyer- ... trying to make clients laugh with those analogies, but trying to meet them where they are with some- an example that they might be more familiar with, and then building from there, explaining why I’m asking certain questions.

Um, you know, trying to read, uh, their reactions, and if we need to take a break or pause, giving them tools to take a break. Like, you know, you can touch your arm, or you can hand me this, you know, fidget toy. Um, so it is a long process, which also it’s part of why, you know, we, it, having enough attorneys is, is really important because it can take a lot of work just on one case that we can build up their story, um, and be able to meet them where they are as they’re navigating talking about not just trauma, but just in ge- general sharing as a young person- Right.

You said it- ... with someone new.

NeEddra James: You said it could take a long time. What are we talking?

Katie Annand: Well, it, it really depends on every case for how to learn their story. Mm-hmm. But we’re seeing really, really big backlogs right now in many parts of the immigration system. I mentioned briefly the court in San Francisco is closing.

Mm-hmm. So hearing dates are being pushed much farther out, uh, years out because there’s, um, the court’s closing. And about... We only have five judges left in the court in San Francisco. Uh, many judges, uh, were fired or chose to retire- Got it ... last year. We als- many children might, some children might qualify for something called special immigrant juvenile status, which is a protection for children who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected.

NeEddra James: Okay.

Katie Annand: And there are different parts of that case that we could get into a different time. Um, but the last part to getting your green card is taking well over 10 years right now.

NeEddra James: Wow.

Katie Annand: Um, which we aren’t actually sure. There’s been, um, efforts, the Protect Vulnerable, um, Immigrant Youth Act in Congress, uh, to try to decrease that backlog.

Um, and we might not see action there in this administration, but there’s many advocates across the country who are pushing for that change.

NeEddra James: Got it. All right. Well, I wanna keep my eye on that, Protecting Vulnerable Youth Act.* We definitely will. Katie, thank you for coming by today and chatting with us.

There’s never enough time. I have so many more questions I wanna ask you, um, so we will have to touch back in with you later. If you want to learn more about Immigrant Legal Defense, visit their website at ild.org. All right, folks, that is our show for today. We are back n- in two Fridays, on February 27th, with a close look at how racialized family separation is an old tactic in the US.

Special thanks to today’s guests, and special thanks to our team. Javier, Xavier Zamora is our sound engineer. Zoe Meyer is our producer. I’m NeEddra James, host and executive producer. Show notes and additional resources are available at kalx.berkeley.edu. This is The Radio Show. We don’t break the news, we break it open.

* Correction: The federal legislation is the Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Act, which would exempt Special Immigrant Juvenile Status recipients from annual visa caps. It was reintroduced in June 2025 by Reps. Jimmy Gomez, Adriano Espaillat, and Zoe Lofgren, and by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto. Bill text and status: S.1965