Senate passes spending bill with COVID relief and immigration program extensions

With the House of Representatives and Senate passing H.R. 133, the bill now awaits the signature of the President, who is expected to sign it. This bill is an omnibus spending bill which contains a number of COVID relief provisions and numerous other provisions.

While this is not an immigration bill, there are some spending provisions and extensions which impact immigration benefits. Some of those include:

• Extending special immigrant benefits for members of religious denominations which had expired due to sunset provisions in the law at INA Sec. 101(a)(27)(C)
• Extending a medical waiver program for certain J-1 foreign medical graduates
• Extending a deadline for an EB-5 regional center program
• Increasing H-2B visa numbers beyond the statutory limitations for the 2021 fiscal year
• Extending the period of adjustment of status for Liberian foreign nationals and their families under the Liberian Refugee Immigrant Fairness program to two years
• Prohibiting visas for individuals who directly interfere with the installation of the future 15th Dalai Lama
• Sanctioning and providing immigration consequences for persons found to have engaged in actions to undermine the democratic process in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, including bribery, violence, and money laundering