Federal
DHS Funding Deadline Approaches as Parties Deadlock on ICE Accountability Measures
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) faces a funding deadline at midnight Friday, February 13, as Democrats and Republicans remain deadlocked over accountability measures for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). On February 12, Senate Democrats blocked a second two-week continuing resolution that would have extended DHS funding. Both the House and Senate then adjourned for a scheduled one-week recess, essentially guaranteeing a shutdown will begin at 12:01 AM on February 14. The Senate is not scheduled to reconvene until February 23. Five key issues are reportedly holding up a deal: whether ICE agents must wear body cameras and keep them activated during enforcement operations, requirements for ICE to use judicial warrants rather than administrative warrants in certain circumstances, restrictions on roving patrols and racial profiling, whether agents must unmask and identify themselves during enforcement operations, and establishment of a uniform code of conduct with state cooperation in investigations. The standoff follows the Trump administration’s February 4 announcement that 700 immigration officers were withdrawn from Minnesota after the fatal shootings of protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on January 26. On February 12, border czar Tom Homan stated that Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota is concluding, with a more complete drawdown of federal immigration officers set to take place over the next week.
A DHS shutdown would affect multiple agencies beyond immigration enforcement, including furloughing Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screeners at airports, restricting Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reimbursements to states despite $7 billion remaining in its disaster relief fund, and limiting the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency workforce that protects U.S. networks from cyber threats. Republicans are planning to offer a counterproposal when Congress returns from recess, though the timeline for resolving the impasse remains uncertain.
ICE, CBP, and USCIS Leadership Testify Before Congress on Trump Administration Immigration Policies
The heads of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) testified before the House Homeland Security Committee on February 10 and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on February 12, days before Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding is set to expire on February 14. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons stated that a funding lapse would hurt the department’s transnational crime and terrorism task forces, though ICE and CBP both received large immigration enforcement funding increases through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last summer. The hearings were the first congressional appearance by the agency heads since the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis.
Lyons and CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott repeatedly declined to answer questions about the shootings, citing active investigations. Lyons refused to commit to unmasking officers and denied allegations that a five-year-old boy detained in a Minneapolis suburb had been apprehended in order to encourage his family to come out of their house. On the House side, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) said roving patrols should be conducted at the border rather than in major cities. Regarding body cameras, Lyons disclosed that only about 3,000 of ICE’s 13,000 field officers currently carry them and pledged to release footage from Minneapolis operations. Scott noted that only half of CBP’s 20,000 officers have cameras and urged Congress to fully fund the program.
Administration Announces Termination of Temporary Protected Status for Yemen
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced on February 13 the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Yemen, effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. Yemen was initially designated for TPS on September 3, 2015, based on ongoing armed conflict that posed a serious threat to the personal safety of Yemeni nationals. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) subsequently extended or redesignated Yemen. Yemen remains embroiled in a complex civil war that began in 2014, with the United Nations describing it as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, though Secretary Noem stated that after reviewing country conditions, she determined Yemen no longer meets the legal requirements for TPS designation.
TPS holders from Yemen with no other lawful basis for remaining in the United States will have 60 days to voluntarily depart. After the effective date of termination, DHS may arrest and deport any Yemeni national without status once their TPS has been terminated.
On February 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court’s order that had paused DHS’s termination of TPS for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua. The ruling reinstated the DHS terminations and ended work authorization for affected individuals. The Ninth Circuit concluded the government is likely to succeed on the merits of its appeal, either by demonstrating the district court lacked jurisdiction or by prevailing over claims that the TPS terminations were arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act.
These developments are part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to end TPS designations for multiple countries. Federal courts have blocked terminations for Haiti pending litigation, while Venezuela’s TPS termination was initially blocked but the Supreme Court allowed it to become effective in May 2025, and Afghanistan and Cameroon’s TPS terminations were allowed to proceed after a brief court block was lifted in July 2025.
Legal
Fifth Circuit Upholds Mandatory Detention Without Bond Hearings for Certain Immigrants
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled on February 6 that the Trump administration can indefinitely detain certain undocumented immigrants without bond hearings, reversing lower court decisions that had granted bond to two men who lived in the United States for several years after entering illegally. The 2-1 decision holds that noncitizens arrested in the interior who entered the country without inspection can be treated as “applicants for admission” subject to mandatory detention under an interpretation of federal law, even if they have resided in the United States for extended periods. In a dissent, a Trump-appointed judge argued the government’s interpretation was inconsistent with Supreme Court precedent distinguishing between people seeking admission and those already in the country. The ruling marks the first federal appellate court decision to uphold the administration’s reinterpretation of detention law, which reverses three decades of government practice under which such individuals had the right to bond hearings in immigration court.
The decision has immediate implications for hundreds of pending habeas corpus cases in Texas and other states within the Fifth Circuit’s jurisdiction, where federal district judges had almost universally rejected the administration’s mandatory detention policy and ordered bond hearings for detained immigrants. Legal experts warn the ruling could allow the government to detain any noncitizen who entered without inspection indefinitely without judicial review, regardless of how long they have lived in the United States or their ties to the community. The case is expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, with multiple other federal appellate courts scheduled to hear arguments on the mandatory detention policy in coming months. Texas has seen a surge in habeas corpus petitions since the administration reinterpreted the detention law in summer 2025, with immigrants challenging their detention and seeking bond hearings before immigration judges.
Federal Judges Restrict IRS Authority to Share Taxpayer Data with DHS as Privacy Violations Surface
A federal judge in Massachusetts on February 5 became the second judge to block the Trump administration’s information-sharing agreement between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The judge also prohibited ICE from “inspecting, viewing, using, copying, distributing, relying on, or otherwise acting upon any return information that had been obtained from or disclosed by the IRS.” The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between ICE and the IRS was signed on April 7, 2025 to share “taxpayer data” to “federal immigration authorities.” The judge cited that information sharing” could “potentially violated taxpayer privacy rights” and could lead to wrongful arrests.
The MOU was previously struck down by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., citing taxpayer privacy violations. However, before the agreement was struck down, “DHS requested the addresses of 1.2 million individuals from the IRS. The tax agency responded with data on 47,000 individuals, according to court records.” The deal was made, as stated by immigration officials, with the intention to fill in gaps in the DHS where the agency ” lacked reliable information to locate individuals the Trump administration wanted to detain and deport.”
On February 11, the Washington Post reported the IRS made a mistake in “improperly disclosing the confidential tax information of thousands of people, potentially unrelated to immigration enforcement, to federal immigration authorities.” Dottie Romo, the chief risk and control officer at the IRS, reportedly stated in a sworn declaration that the agency erroneously disclosed private information for thousands of taxpayers when sharing records with ICE. Federal law mandates strict protections of the identities of taxpayers.
Immigration Court Terminates Removal Proceedings Against Tufts Graduate Student for Lack of Evidence
An immigration court terminated removal proceedings on January 29 against Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University, finding that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) failed to prove she should be removed from the United States. The immigration judge ruled that DHS had not brought forward sufficient grounds for Öztürk’s deportation, according to a filing made by her lawyers on February 9 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Öztürk was arrested by masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents near her Somerville, Massachusetts home on March 25, 2025, and detained for six weeks in Louisiana before a federal judge ordered her release in May 2025. Her lawyers have argued her arrest was retaliation for co-authoring an op-ed in the Tufts Daily about the conflict in Gaza and criticizing the university’s response to the war. A federal judge found that Secretary of State Marco Rubio based his decision to revoke her visa solely on that op-ed.
Separately, the Trump administration refused to issue a nonimmigrant student visa to Any Lopez Belloza, a Babson College student whom ICE wrongfully deported to Honduras in November despite a court order prohibiting her deportation. In a February 7 court filing, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said that Secretary Rubio lacked the authority to adjudicate visa applications, noting that such authority lies with consular offices, and that Belloza must satisfy eligibility and admissibility requirements to obtain a visa.
The administration’s actions come amid broader targeting of fundocumented and international students. Öztürk’s lawyers warned that without judicial oversight, the government could detain any noncitizen in retaliation for speech so long as removal proceedings are simultaneously instituted, regardless of merit.
State and Local
Colorado Required to Share Medicaid Enrollee Data with ICE Under Federal Agreement
Colorado is now required to share personal Medicaid enrollee data with federal authorities following a December 2025 court ruling that allows the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide limited information about certain enrollees to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In January 2026, Denver Health distributed a notice stating that due to federal changes, “limited” personal information could be shared with ICE for people who are not lawfully residing in the United States and are enrolled in Emergency Medicaid. Information that may be shared includes citizenship and immigration status, address, phone number, date of birth, and Medicaid identification number. Undocumented immigrants are largely ineligible for Medicaid except for emergency services deemed necessary to protect life or guarantee safety in dire situations, such as Emergency Medicaid and treatment in hospital emergency rooms under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). Colorado and 21 other states sued in July 2025 to block the data-sharing agreement, but the judge ruled in December 2025 that ICE could access information about people in the country unlawfully in those states.
The data-sharing policy reverses over a decade of practice in which hospitals and states assured patients that their personal information would not be shared with immigration enforcement officials. A 2013 ICE policy memo guaranteed the agency would not use information from health coverage applications for enforcement activities, but that changed after President Trump returned to the White House in 2025.
BILLS INTRODUCED AND CONSIDERED
S. 3805
End Sanctuary Cities Act of 2026
The bill would impose criminal penalties on state and local officials who obstruct federal immigration enforcement, including those who ignore DHS detainer requests for individuals charged with or convicted of crimes.
Sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) (2 cosponsors)
02/09/2026 Introduced by Sen. Graham
02/10/2026 Read the second time and placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders (Calendar No. 318)
S. 3857
A bill to prohibit the Secretary of Homeland Security from admitting to the United States any national of the People’s Republic of China without a valid visa, and for other purposes
Sponsored by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) (0 cosponsors)
02/12/2026 Introduced by Sen. Scott
02/12/2026 Read twice and referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary
S. 3884
A bill to establish a Fund to provide grants to businesses affected by Federal immigration enforcement, and for other purposes
Sponsored by Sen. Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts) (0 cosponsors)
02/12/2026 Introduced by Sen. Markey
02/12/2026 Read twice and referred to the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
S. 3891
A bill to establish an independent commission within the legislative branch responsible for ensuring oversight, transparency, and accountability in immigration enforcement operations
Sponsored by Sen. Christopher Coons (D-Delaware) (1 cosponsor)
02/12/2026 Introduced by Sen. Coons
02/12/2026 Read twice and referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary
H.R. 7296
SAVE America Act
The bill would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require proof of United States citizenship to register individuals to vote in federal elections.
Sponsored by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) (cosponsors)
01/30/2026 Introduced by Rep. Roy
01/30/2026 Referred to the House Committee on House Administration
02/12/2026 Passed the House and referred to the Senate
H.R. 7423
To amend section 642 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1373) to clarify and strengthen requirements relating to information sharing between State and local governments and Federal immigration authorities, to prohibit State and local policies that materially restrict such information sharing, and for other purposes
Sponsored by Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter (R-Georgia) (0 cosponsors)
02/09/2026 Introduced by Rep. Carter
02/09/2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
H.R. 7449
PLATE Act
The bill would require ICE and CBP vehicles used for civil immigration enforcement to display license plates visibly on the exterior at all times.
Sponsored by Rep. Nellie Pou (D-New Jersey) (0 cosponsors)
02/09/2026 Introduced by Rep. Pou
02/09/2026 Referred to the Committees on the Judiciary and Homeland Security
H.R. 7451
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to discontinue the H-1B program, and for other purposes
Sponsored by Rep. W. Gregory Steube (R-Florida) (0 cosponsors)
02/09/2026 Introduced by Rep. Steube
02/09/2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
H.R. 7456
To limit the authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security to detain aliens of good moral character, and for other purposes
Sponsored by Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-New Jersey) (2 cosponsors)
02/09/2026 Introduced by Rep. Watson Coleman
02/09/2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
H.R. 7470
To prohibit the Department of Homeland Security, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, from establishing or operating an immigration detention or holding facility in Washington County, Maryland, and for other purposes
Sponsored by Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-Maryland) (0 cosponsors)
02/10/2026 Introduced by Rep. McClain Delaney
02/10/2026 Referred to the Committees on the Judiciary and Homeland Security
H.R. 7538
To amend the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 to establish strong requirements to ensure safe placements for unaccompanied alien children
Sponsored by Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wisconsin) (4 cosponsors)
02/12/2026 Introduced by Rep. Grothman
02/12/2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
H.R. 7544
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide that an alien convicted of an offense involving animal cruelty is inadmissible and deportable, and for other purposes
Sponsored by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) (0 cosponsors)
02/12/2026 Introduced by Rep. Mace
02/12/2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
H.Res. 1046
Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3310) to designate Venezuela under section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit nationals of Venezuela to be eligible for temporary protected status under such section, and for other purposes
Sponsored by Rep. Darren Soto (D-Florida) (2 cosponsors)
02/09/2026 Introduced by Rep. Soto
02/09/2026 Referred to the House Committee on Rules
LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR
The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are in recess for the Presidents’ Day district work period for the week of February 16 through February 21.
SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL IMMIGRATION FORUM RESOURCES
The Forum is constantly publishing new policy-focused resources that engage with some of the most topical issues around immigration today. Here are a few that are particularly relevant this week:
Bill Summary: Public Safety Act
Explainer: 2025 Proposed Rule on Public Charge
USCIS Internal Memo on Review of Admitted Refugees
*As of publication (2/13/26 at 1:30 PM EST)
This Bulletin is not intended to be comprehensive. Please contact Nicci Mattey, Senior Policy & Advocacy Associate at the Forum, with questions, comments, and suggestions for additional items to be included. Nicci can be reached at nmattey@forumtogether.org. Thank you.