Legislative Updates: Immigration (February 27, 2026)

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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

The Speaker’s two bills passed the House floor this week and are now eligible to cross over to the Senate. A third bill by Representative Maynard remains eligible to be heard on the floor as well.

• HB 4422 by Kyle Hilbert – passed the House floor on Thursday 80-18. 
  • The bill mandates the use of SAVE to verify the eligibility and legal status of applicants for TANF and SNAP. If an applicant’s status can’t be confirmed, the Attorney General will notify ICE.
  • You can watch the policy committee meeting here and the oversight committee meeting here.
  • You can watch the floor debate here.

• HB 4423 by Kyle Hilbert – passed the House floor on Thursday 80-18. 
  • 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.
  • You can watch the committee meeting here and the oversight committee meeting here.
  • You can watch the floor debate here.

• HB 3551 by Cody Maynard – passed its Appropriations and Budget oversight committee 24-6.
  • 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 policy committee meeting here and the oversight committee meeting here.
  • This bill is now eligible to be heard on the House Floor. Keep an eye on the House Floor Agenda to see when it might be heard.

Senate

Bills in the Senate have until March 5 to pass out of committee. Senate bills that have passed their committee are eligible to be heard on the Senate floor.

Bills Heard This Week

• SB 1470 by Michael Brooks – passed its Public Safety committee on Tuesday 8-0.
  • It would allow any Oklahoma elected official or religious leader to enter private correctional facilities to conduct informal inspections provided they prove their credentials and give three days advance notice of their intended visit.
  • You can watch the committee meeting online here.
  • It is now eligible to be heard on the Senate floor. Keep an eye on the Senate Floor Agenda to see when it might be heard.

• SB 1582 by Brian Guthrie – passed its Judiciary committee on Tuesday 5-1.
  • This bill would restrict who can own land in Oklahoma to only U.S. citizens and immigrants with permission to reside in the country permanently. If a person loses their permanent status, they have one year to divest from their property.
  • You can watch the committee meeting online here.

Bills Heard Last Week

• SB 1633 by Brenda Stanley – passed its Education committee 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

March 5 is the deadline for both Senate and House bills to pass out of committee, but as we saw with HB 4422 and HB 4423, as soon as a bill passes out of committee they are eligible to be heard on the floor, so keep an eye on the House and Senate floor agendas to stay up to date with last-minute agenda changes.

Ways to get involved

Senate Bill 1470 is headed to the Senate floor. 

This bill would create much needed transparency into what is occurring in federal and private detention centers around Oklahoma.Our elected and religious leaders should be able to inspect the conditions of detention facilities in our state to ensure they are not holding people in poor and miserable conditions.

Please contact your Senator now and ask them to VOTE YES ON SB 1470.

WHY THIS MATTERS

• Religious leaders can serve as bridges between detainees and our communities, making sure detainees remain connected to their faith.
• State officials are our directly elected representatives; they need to ensure conditions in detention centers don’t go against the will of Oklahomans.
• Reduced federal oversight over detention centers leaves people being held in detention centers at risk of being subject to poor conditions and negative physical and mental health outcomes.

Please contact your Senator now and ask them to VOTE YES ON SB 1470.

[Don’t know who your legislators are? Find them here.]

Other notable immigration news

The news stories included in this section may be distressing to readers. While it is important to stay informed on the changes to immigration policy that affects our friends, family, and neighbors, it is also important to take care of yourself. We advise being intentional about engaging with news media and taking breaks as needed. Now more than ever it is important to practice resilience and stay rooted in community.

State Level

• Get the Facts: New ICE offices hire Oklahoma attorneys [KOCO]
• ICE expands in Oklahoma City, recruits attorneys for new office [The Oklahoman]
• Oklahoma bills target unauthorized migrants applying for welfare [KOSU]
• Immigration bills cause heated back-and-forth on House floor [KFOR]
• Lawmakers scramble as Oklahoma’s SNAP costs rise [KOSU]
• Gov. Stitt: ‘Let governors issue workforce permits.’ [News 9]

Federal Level

• Trump administration considers forcing banks to verify customers’ citizenship [CNN Business]
• Trump administration plans to take Homan’s Minneapolis immigration playbook nationwide [CNN Politics]
• “Immigrants may have already prevented a fiscal crisis,” says Cato Institute study [Marketplace]
• Worst of the worst? Most US immigrants targeted for deportation in 2025 had no criminal charges, documents reveal [The Guardian]
• DHS Plans to Restrict Work Authorization for Asylum Seekers [Bloomberg Law]
• New Research Finds Reducing Immigration Does Not Help U.S. Workers [Forbes]
• Trump’s Deportation Crackdown Is Hurting Tourism [Capital and Main]
• Judge rules Trump administration’s policy for “third-country” deportations is unlawful [CBS News]
• Attorneys seek to halt CBP’s new policy on immigrant children [AP]
• ICE is showing up at family reunification interviews [AP]
• Migrants transferred from detention to Laredo shelter [Spectrum News Austin]
• The Zero Units Fought for the C.I.A. in Afghanistan. In the U.S., They’re Living in Fear. [The New York Times]
• The numbers behind Trump’s dismissals of immigration judges [NPR]
• Exclusive: ICE struggles to vet recruits amid US immigration enforcement push, internal email shows [Reuters]
• Exclusive: US aims to bring in 4,500 white South Africans per month as refugees, document says [Reuters]