Federal
Trump Administration in Talks to Send Afghan Allies to DRC Instead of Resettling Them in the U.S.
The Trump administration is in talks to send up to 1,100 Afghan nationals who aided U.S. forces during the two-decade war to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) instead of resettling them in the United States, according to multiple reports citing State Department officials and advocacy groups. The affected Afghans, including interpreters, former Afghan special forces members, and their families, have been living in temporary housing at a former U.S. military base in Qatar since being evacuated during the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The Trump administration has suspended their resettlement under the Enduring Welcome program, which Congress mandated in 2023.
The proposed plan would give the Afghans a choice between relocating to the DRC or returning to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, a binary that advocates described as a “betrayal” of promises made to those who risked their lives for U.S. forces. A State Department spokesperson confirmed the department is “working to identify options for voluntary resettlement of all As Sayliyah (CAS) residents” but declined to name the DRC specifically, calling relocation to a third country “a positive resolution” that allows them to rebuild their lives outside Afghanistan. The plan drew bipartisan condemnation in Congress, with Representatives Meeks (D-NY-5) and Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37) calling it “unacceptable” and urging the administration to honor statutory obligations under Enduring Welcome, while Senator Rounds (R-SD) expressed support for resettling vetted Afghans in the U.S. Congo has not publicly commented on the reported talks.
GOP Budget Resolution Proposes ICE, Border Patrol Funding as DHS Shutdown Negotiations Continue
Senate Republicans advanced a budget resolution on April 23, by a 50-48 vote, that sets the stage for approximately $70 billion in new funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) through reconciliation, allowing the party to bypass a Democratic filibuster. The resolution passed after an all-night “vote-a-rama” process, with Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Susan Collins (R-ME) breaking ranks to vote against it. Senator Paul objected that ICE and CBP still hold more than $100 billion in unobligated funding from last summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, while Collins expressed concerns about the lack of bipartisan input.
The blueprint would accompany a bipartisan Senate bill already passed that funds the remainder of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) operations — including TSA, the Coast Guard, FEMA, and CISA — which now awaits action in the House. Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-SC) framed the resolution as necessary to fund enforcement agencies that Democrats have “refused to support.” House Republican leaders have signaled support for the reconciliation strategy but face their own internal divisions, with the Freedom Caucus insisting any DHS funding deal incorporate the Save America Act voting overhaul. The extended DHS shutdown has left tens of thousands of employees furloughed or unpaid despite President Trump’s executive orders directing back pay, with Congress not scheduled to return from recess until April 28.
World Cup Host Cities Express Concern Over Immigration Crackdown’s Impact on International Attendance
World Cup host cities and organizers are voicing growing concerns that U.S. immigration policies, including the ongoing DHS shutdown and expanded travel restrictions, will significantly reduce international attendance at the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. More than 120 organizations issued a joint travel advisory on April 23, warning that intensified immigration enforcement poses risks to fans, players, and journalists from around the world, citing arbitrary entry denials, heightened arrest risks at airports, and racial profiling by ICE agents. In response, a number of organizations criticized the travel advisory arguing that actively discouraging visitors from visiting the United States is an act of sabotage.
Of the 48 participating countries, five — Iran, Haiti, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Senegal — are subject to full travel bans, and 12 others face immigrant visa processing suspensions that could deter spectators even with tourist visas. Host cities like Atlanta, New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Los Angeles, and Seattle stand to lose millions in economic benefits, as the average international visitor spends approximately $4,000 per trip. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass warned that federal National Guard deployments in response to protests and local ICE cooperation agreements in Dallas, Houston, and Miami erode trust in law enforcement and deter tourism. FIFA and the U.S. State Department have hired 400 additional consular officers to expedite the issuance of visitor visas for World Cup ticket holders, but critics argue that some of the immigration enforcement actions violate international human rights obligations and could prevent the tournament from living up to its global promise.
Second U.S. Military Spouse Detained by ICE Amid Military Family Protection Changes
On April 14, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested Deisy Rivera Ortega, the wife of an active-duty U.S. Army Sergeant, during her appointment at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in El Paso, Texas. Rivera Ortega has been in the United States since 2016 and had attended the appointment with her husband to pursue her application for Military Parole in Place, a program that offers deportation protections to certain undocumented family members of U.S. service members and can provide a pathway to lawful permanent residency. She is currently being held at an ICE processing center in El Paso. In December 2019, an immigration judge ordered Rivera Ortega deported, but at the same time also granted her withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture, which prevents her return to El Salvador on the grounds that she could face physical harm.
According to her attorney, ICE has indicated that it plans to deport Rivera Ortega to Mexico, where she has no ties. Kozik filed a habeas petition in federal court challenging her detention as unlawful and seeking to block the deportation. Her husband, who has served in the Army for nearly twenty-eight years, including deployments to Afghanistan, told reporters that his wife had a valid work permit at the time of her arrest.
The detention follows ICE’s arrest earlier in April of Annie Ramos, the wife of U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Matthew Blank, at a military base in Louisiana. She was released after five days. These cases follow a change in federal policy under the second Trump administration. In April 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rescinded a 2022 policy that treated a family member’s military service as a “significant mitigating factor” in immigration enforcement decisions, replacing it with a new policy that states “military service alone does not exempt aliens from the consequences of violating U.S. immigration laws.”
Trump Administration’s Legal Immigration Restrictions Shrink U.S. Population Growth and Global Talent Pool
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has sharply increased denial rates for high-skilled immigrants across multiple categories, with employment-based green card denials in the EB-1 extraordinary ability category nearly doubling from 25.6 percent to 46.6 percent between the fourth quarter of FY 2024 and FY 2025. Denial rates for EB-2 national interest waivers surged from 38.8 percent to 64.3 percent in the same period, while O visa denials for individuals with extraordinary ability rose 46 percent from 5.0 percent to 7.3 percent. Analysts attributed these trends to heightened scrutiny without formal regulatory changes, compounded by a $100,000 H-1B application fee and proposed prevailing wage hikes that price out employers and junior talent.
An analysis by the Cato Institute found that the Trump administration’s policies have reduced legal immigration by 132,000 admissions per month since the end of 2024, a decline that exceeds the drop in illegal border crossings by a factor of 2.5 and has driven U.S. population growth to its slowest rate in decades. Brookings also reported that net international migration, which accounted for 84 percent of U.S. population growth in 2024, has fallen sharply, leading to population declines in major metro areas and stunting economic expansion in immigrant-reliant states like California, Texas, and Florida. Moreover, the Migration Policy Institute projected the restrictions could reduce overall U.S. population growth by 0.5 percent annually, exacerbating labor shortages in tech, healthcare, and construction while pushing companies to relocate jobs offshore. President Trump highlighted the Cato research on social media as validation that his policies prioritize American workers.
Legal
Appeals Court Rules Against Trump’s Asylum Limits for Migrants
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled on April 24, by a 2-1 vote, to block the Trump administration from enforcing parts of a July 2025 executive order that sought to restrict asylum access for migrants who cross the border without authorization. The majority found that the federal immigration statute does not allow the president to deport migrants under “summary removal procedures of his own making” or to suspend their right to apply for asylum, upholding a lower court ruling by U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss. Judge Moss had certified a class of migrants subject to the proclamation who are present in the U.S. and found the order conflicted with statutes governing asylum procedures, despite acknowledging the executive branch’s challenges in managing border crossings and asylum backlogs.
The appeals court narrowed the scope of Judge Moss’ injunction, allowing the government to enforce asylum eligibility restrictions but not disqualify migrants from other forms of protection against torture, and limited the class to those who would request protection if not for the proclamation and are not otherwise legally ineligible. The case, RAICES v. Mullin, returns to Judge Moss for further proceedings and marks another setback for the administration’s efforts to curtail asylum through executive action, following similar blocks on expanded expedited removal and other border restrictions.
State and Local
Houston Revises Immigration Cooperation Ordinance Under Threat of Losing $110 Million in State Grants
The Houston City Council voted 13-4 on April 21 to revise the city’s controversial immigration ordinance, which had limited police cooperation with federal immigration authorities, after Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatened to withhold $114 million in state public safety grants allocated for World Cup preparations and other policing priorities. The original ordinance, passed two weeks earlier, had removed the requirement for local police to hold individuals for up to 30 minutes while waiting for ICE agents to arrive on administrative warrants, prompting Abbott to freeze the funds and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to sue the city, alleging it violated a 2017 state law prohibiting policies that hinder immigration enforcement.
The revised ordinance removes provisions stating that administrative warrants used by ICE are not sufficient for police to arrest or detain someone, and explicitly states that officers will follow all local, state, and federal laws, can temporarily detain individuals for as long as reasonably necessary, and that nothing in the policy prohibits cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Mayor John Whitmire said the changes were necessary to “ensure Houston’s survival, prepare for the World Cup, and patrol our neighborhoods,” and urged the state to restore the funding immediately. Civil rights groups criticized the revisions as a capitulation under duress, while Abbott’s office confirmed the funds would remain frozen until the attorney general’s review of the new language is complete. The decision follows similar pressure campaigns against other Texas cities seeking to limit local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
BILLS INTRODUCED AND CONSIDERED
S.Con.Res. 33
A concurrent resolution setting forth the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2026 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2027 through 2035
Sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) (0 cosponsors)
04/21/2026 Introduced by Sen. Graham
04/23/2026 Held at the desk
H.R. 8381
Safe Check-Ins for Immigrants Act
The bill would require the Department of Homeland Security to establish secure check-in procedures for immigrants, likely to reduce in-person enforcement contacts and improve administrative follow-up.
Sponsored by Rep. Grace Meng (D-New York) (0 cosponsors)
04/20/2026 Introduced by Rep. Meng
04/20/2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
H.R. 8387
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to limit alien eligibility for admission and naturalization and enable deportation and denaturalization for any membership, affiliation, or advocacy of socialist, communist, Chinese communist, Marxist, or Islamic fundamentalist doctrines, and for other purposes
Sponsored by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) (8 cosponsors)
04/20/2026 Introduced by Rep. Roy
04/20/2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
H.R. 8460
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to repeal the authority to grant temporary protected status, and for other purposes
Sponsored by Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Georgia) (4 cosponsors)
04/23/2026 Introduced by Rep. Clyde
04/23/2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
H.R. 8494
To prohibit the Department of Homeland Security from entering into, modifying, extending, or renewing any contract or intergovernmental service agreement to establish or operate any new immigration detention model, including the use of warehouses, modular facilities, soft-sided structures, tent systems, and processing centers
Sponsored by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) (13 cosponsors)
04/23/2026 Introduced by Rep. Tlaib
04/23/2026 Referred to the Committees on the Judiciary and Homeland Security
H.R. 8369
No ICE in Schools Act
Sponsored by Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Florida) (0 cosponsors)
04/20/2026 Introduced by Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick
04/20/2026 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce
H.R. 8371
Reform Immigration Through Biometrics Act
Sponsored by Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Florida) (0 cosponsors)
04/20/2026 Introduced by Rep. Donalds
04/20/2026 Referred to the Committees on the Judiciary and Homeland Security
H.R. 8443
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for a pause on the issuance of H-1B visas until certain limitations on the issuance thereof are implemented
Sponsored by Rep. Elijah Crane (R-Arizona) (7 cosponsors)
04/22/2026 Introduced by Rep. Crane
04/22/2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
H.R. 8460
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to repeal the authority to grant temporary protected status, and for other purposes
Sponsored by Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Georgia) (4 cosponsors)
04/23/2026 Introduced by Rep. Clyde
04/23/2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
LEGISLATIVE FLOOR CALENDAR
The U.S. Senate is scheduled to be in session from Monday, April 27, through Thursday, April 30. The U.S. House is scheduled to be in recess from Monday, April 27, through Friday, May 1.
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:
Explainer: Plyler v. Doe and the Right of Undocumented Children to Access Public Education
Fact Sheet: Immigrants and Public Benefits in 2026
Explainer: U.S. Border Patrol Authorities and the 100-Mile Border Zone
Explainer: Impact of Travel and Immigration Restrictions on the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup
*As of publication (4/24/26 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.