HR-9375-119
Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Sponsored by Norma Torres (D-CA)
What it does
This bill would authorize the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to award grants to public and nonprofit organizations that provide immigration legal services to noncitizen veterans — those who served in the U.S. military but are not U.S. citizens or nationals. Covered services would include legal help with removal defense, naturalization applications, parole requests, reentry after deportation, and discharge upgrades that affect immigration status. The bill would authorize $20 million in appropriations for fiscal years 2027 through 2030 and require the VA to report to Congress on grant outcomes every two years.
Who benefits
Noncitizen veterans currently in removal proceedings, at risk of deportation, or already deported from the United States — estimated in the tens of thousands. Veterans in rural areas, on tribal trust lands, and in U.S. territories who lack access to immigration legal services. Nonprofit immigration legal aid organizations that would receive grant funding. Veterans service organizations consulted in the grant criteria process. Family members of noncitizen veterans who may avoid family separation as a result of successful legal outcomes.
Who is hurt
Taxpayers who fund the $20 million authorization. Other VA grant programs that may compete for limited appropriations. Citizen veterans or other veteran populations who might argue VA resources are being directed to a narrower subgroup. Immigration attorneys in private practice who may face increased competition from grant-funded nonprofit providers. Organizations that do not meet the bill's eligibility criteria and are excluded from receiving grants.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that noncitizen veterans served the United States under the same obligations as citizen soldiers — including combat deployments — yet face deportation to countries they may barely know, often due to criminal convictions for which citizen veterans would not face removal. They contend that the VA already provides healthcare and other benefits to noncitizen veterans, making immigration legal assistance a logical extension of the existing commitment to those who served, and that the $20 million authorization is modest relative to the VA's overall budget.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that immigration enforcement is a separate federal function from veterans' benefits, and that routing VA resources toward immigration legal defense conflates two distinct policy areas in a way that may undermine both. They contend that noncitizen veterans who face removal have typically been convicted of crimes that triggered deportability under existing law, and that providing federally funded legal services to contest those outcomes amounts to using the VA to circumvent immigration enforcement priorities established by Congress and the Executive Branch.
Constitutional context
No acute constitutional tension is present. Congress has broad authority under Article I to establish and fund veterans' benefits programs, and the Appropriations Clause (Art. I, §9, cl. 7) governs the $20 million authorization. The bill does not implicate the war powers framework or the Commander-in-Chief Clause in any contested way, as it addresses post-service administrative benefits rather than active military operations.
Checks and balances
The Executive Branch (VA Secretary) gains new grant-making authority, but Congress retains control through the appropriations process, the 180-day rulemaking deadline, and mandatory biennial reporting requirements to the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees.
Historical precedent
The Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022 expanded VA benefits eligibility, and the VA has previously administered grant programs for homeless veterans and caregiver support, but no prior federal law has specifically authorized VA grants for immigration legal services to noncitizen veterans.