OKPOLICY.ORG
Welcome to this week’s immigration-focused newsletter, where we recap the latest developments on this legislative session’s slate of immigration related bills. As always, for more details on the bills discussed, visit OK Policy’s Immigration Bill Tracker.
State Developments
House
Thursday, February 19 is the deadline for House bills to move out of their Policy/Subcommittees. After that they will have until March 5 to pass out of the Oversight committee.
Upcoming Bills Next Week
- HB 3551 by Cody Maynard – scheduled to be heard in its Appropriations and Budget oversight committee on Tuesday, February 17 at 4:30pm in room 450.
- This bill would restrict in-state tuition and financial aid for non-U.S. citizens and mandate that the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education verify a student’s lawful presence in the U.S. through the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program.
- You can watch the committee meeting online here.
Bills Heard This Week
- HB 4423 by Kyle Hilbert – passed its Public Health policy committee on Wednesday 4-1.
- The bill mandates the use of SAVE to verify the eligibility and legal status of applicants before receiving state health care benefits. If an applicant’s status can’t be confirmed, the Attorney General will notify ICE.
- The bill was originally more harmful and included provisions to check applicants applying for child-only benefits, but a committee substitute removed that language.
- You can watch the committee meeting here.
Senate
Bills in the Senate have until March 5 to pass out of committee.
- SB 1633 by Brenda Stanley – passed its Education committee on Tuesday 8-2.
- The bill removes a provision that allowed students who graduated from Oklahoma high schools and resided in the state with their legal guardian to be eligible for in-state tuition, even if they couldn’t provide documentation of U.S. citizenship or immigration status.
- You can watch the committee meeting here.
Next Steps
In the next two weeks, bills will be heard in committee in both the House and Senate. These committees often consist of only a handful of legislators, and for a bill to be heard, the committee chair has to agree to hear the bill. This means that the number of people to convince to support or oppose a bill is much smaller.
Ways to get involved
Read through OK Policy’s Immigration Bill Tracker to familiarize yourself with this year’s immigration related bills. While most stand to hurt communities with immigrants if they are passed, there are a couple that would help immigrant communities.
It is also important to know who your legislators are so you can reach out to them in regards to these bills. Don’t know who your legislator is? Find them here.
Other notable News
State Level
- Oklahoma Becomes ICE Arrest Hub as Federal Policy Drives Enforcement Explosion [Oklahoma Watch]
- Inside the ICE Detention System: How Oklahoma Facilities Use Legal Limbo to Pressure Deportations [Oklahoma Watch]
- An asylum seeker was thriving in Oklahoma. Then, an ICE detention led him to self-deport. [Oklahoma Voice]
- Tulsa County sheriff outlines how immigration enforcement works at community forum [News on 6]
- Oklahoma bill to limit immigrant tuition benefits to lawful residents [The Journal Record]
- Oklahoma school walkouts spark debate over free speech and consequences [Fox 25]
- More than 100 Norman North students walk out to protest ICE during lunch hour [Fox 25]
Federal Level
- Trump administration working to expand effort to strip citizenship from foreign-born Americans [NBC News]
- Dozens of Kids Entered Foster Care After Immigration Agents Detained Their Parents [NOTUS]
- Toddler hospitalized with respiratory failure was returned to ICE detention and denied prescribed medication, lawsuit says [NBC News]
- Appeals Court Lets Trump Revoke Deportation Protections for 60,000 More Migrants [The New York Times]
- Trump’s second term sees rise in prolonged ICE detention cases [AP News]
- How ICE defies judges’ orders to release detainees, step by step [POLITICO]
- Voluntary departures hit record high as detained immigrants lose hope of getting released or winning in court [CBS News]
- Less than 14% of those arrested by ICE in Trump’s 1st year back in office had violent criminal records, document shows [CBS News]
- Arrests of ICE agents show risk of abuse and corruption [AP News]
- With ICE Using Medicaid Data, Hospitals and States Are in a Bind Over Warning Immigrant Patients [KFF Health News]
- 2026 Census Test forms may include a citizenship question [NPR]
- IRS improperly shared immigrant data with DHS enforcement officials [The Washington Post]
- Mass. tax preparers brace for “chilling effect” among immigrants [Axios Boston]
- ICE After Minneapolis [The Atlantic]
- Immigration policies closing doors for undocumented students [UPI]
- DHS Shutdown Nears as Immigration Enforcement Talks Stall [The New York Times]
- US pays Afghans stranded in Qatar to repatriate, plan labeled ‘betrayal’ [Reuters]
