- A recent poll for the Protecting Immigrant Families coalition shows strong national support for maintaining social safety net programs for lawfully present immigrants, including reversing the cuts made in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The poll results also showed opposition to ICE enforcement tactics, including data sharing among federal agencies and enforcement activities at sensitive locations. The Protecting Immigrant Families coalition formed during the first Trump Administration in response to efforts to redefine public charge and has continued to strive to protect access to vital social services needs for our communities.
- Having failed to pass a DHS funding bill before leaving for their 2-week Easter Recess, Congressional leadership is now looking to fund ICE and CBP through the reconciliation process, which would bypass a potential filibuster in the Senate. Prior to the recess, Senate negotiators, with Trump’s blessing, had agreed to fund all agencies within DHS except ICE and CBP, but that agreement was rejected by House Republicans hours before leaving DC. Now, Republican leadership is seeking to sidestep Democratic demands for reforms to the immigration enforcement agencies, through reconciliation, but could face challenges in crafting a package that would be widely accepted within their own party. The current partial shutdown is already the longest in history, having just entered its third month, and there are few indications that it will be resolved any time soon.
- The House will vote Thursday on HR 1689, a bill that would extend TPS for Haiti until 2029. House leadership had refused to bring this bill up for a vote until their hand was forced by Rep. Ayanna Pressley who successfully pushed through a discharge petition and gained the support of a majority of House members. Although passage now looks likely in the House, the bill would still face an uphill battle in the Senate and a probable veto by Trump. The administration’s efforts to strip TPS protections from both Haitians and Syrians will go before the Supreme Court on April 29.
- Following media reports from earlier this year, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed that the administration is working on an executive order that would require US banks to collect citizenship information from their customers. Requirements for proving citizenship could prove a major obstacle for many, US citizens included, as earlier news reports indicated that REAL ID compliant licenses would not be acceptable since they do not show citizenship status. The administration has not provided any information on when they might officially propose these changes.