Legislative Updates: Immigration (March 6, 2026)

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

March 5 was the deadline for both House and Senate bills to move out of committee, but since House bills have a previous deadline to pass out of their policy committee, yesterday’s deadline did not affect the three anti-immigrant House bills we are watching.

• HB 4422 by Kyle Hilbert – passed the House floor hearing 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 hearing 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

Various immigration related bills failed to get heard in committee before yesterday’s committee deadline, meaning that they are no longer eligible to move forward. In total, 17 Senate bills died. To see exactly what bills did not move forward, you can check out OK Policy’s Immigration Bill Tracker. The Senate bills that did pass their committee are eligible to be heard on the Senate floor, so keep an eye on the Senate Floor Agenda to see when they might be heard.

• SB 1470 by Michael Brooks – passed its Public Safety committee 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.

• SB 1582 by Brian Guthrie – passed its Judiciary committee 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.

• 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 26 is the deadline for House and Senate bills to pass off the floor and move onto the opposite chamber. Two bills, HB 4422 and HB 4423, have already passed their floor hearing and crossed over to the Senate, but the rest of the bills have yet to be heard. 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

• Markwayne Mullin, a staunch MAGA supporter set to continue Trump’s immigration agenda [EL PAÍS English]
• Oklahoma immigration attorneys react to new DHS secretary announcement [News 9]
• Immigration lawyers struggle with communication at Oklahoma facility [KFOR]
• Oklahoma lawmakers weigh immigration, SNAP and more as key deadline approaches [KOSU]
• Oklahoma father faces deportation tied to nearly 20-year-old marijuana case [News 9]
• Oklahoma deportations surge in 2025, including Asian nationals [KOCO]
• Stitt defends immigration crackdown and election safeguards in letter to Freedom Caucus [Fox 25]

Federal Level

• Noem out, Trump picks Mullin as DHS secretary [POLITICO]
• Valley ‘Dreamers’ facing renewal delays amid changing immigration enforcement [ABC 30 Fresno]
• DHS admits it deported more than 80 DACA recipients [POLITICO]
• How Immigrant Families Get Home from Texas’ Dilley Detention Center [The Marshall Project]
• Judge restores lawmakers’ unfettered access to ICE detention facilities [POLITICO]
• Courts Must Defer to Immigration Judges on Asylum, Justices Say [Bloomberg Law]
• Asylum approvals plummet as fearful immigrants skip hearings [Los Angeles Times]
• The confusion behind Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz reimbursement request [Miami Herald]
• Trump Immigration Sweeps Spawn Underground Safe Houses [The New York Times]
• ICE’s new Fort Bliss detention center violated 60 federal standards [The Washington Post]
• ICE detainee in Arizona dies after not receiving medical attention for severe tooth pain [The Guardian]
• Migrant farmworkers speak out on ICE raids [Newsweek]
• Businesses Prep H-1B Backups as Revamped Visa Lottery Opens [Bloomberg Law]