Legislative Updates: Immigration (May 8, 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.

Lawmakers are planning to end the 2026 legislative session, also known as sine die, on May 14, which is two weeks earlier than usual. After session ends, the newsletter will be published as-needed when there is a major immigration-related development in Oklahoma.

State Developments

House

Bills that have passed out of the House are sent to the governor’s desk, where they wait for his signature to become law.

• SB 1633 by Brenda Stanley – Passed the House floor on Wednesday by 71-16.
  • 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 House floor hearing here.
  • Awaiting the governor’s signature.

Senate

Despite having missed their deadline to pass out of committee, on Tuesday Senator Paxton made a motion to move the bills to general order, hence making them eligible to be heard again. However, on Wednesday, Governor Stitt passed an executive order that makes the provisions of both HB 4422 and HB 4423 into law. This means that even if the bills die in the legislature, the harmful provisions of the bills will still go into effect via the executive order.

• HB 4422 by Kyle Hilbert – Moved to general order and eligible to be heard.
  • 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 and oversight committees here. You can watch the House floor debate here.
  • You can watch how the bills were revived here.

• HB 4423 by Kyle Hilbert – Moved to general order and eligible to be heard.
  • 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 policy and oversight committee meeting here. You can watch the floor debate here.
  • You can watch how the bills were revived here.

Next Steps

SB 1633 is headed to the governor’s desk to await his signature.

HB 4422 and HB 4423 could be heard next week.

Ways to get involved

Although the governor essentially passed HB 4422 and HB 4423 by signing an executive order with the same provisions as these bills, there is still an opportunity to get involved via the public comment process to influence the way these provisions are implemented.

We will share ways to get involved once the rule is opened to public comments.

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

• Oklahoma governor issues immigration executive order [KOSU] 
• Report: Regalado considered to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement [Public Radio Tulsa] 
• Mullin reportedly eyes Regalado for ICE director [Tulsa World] 
• Oklahoma boots just 10 people from SoonerCare as part of Trump Administration immigration review [The Frontier] 
• Lawsuit alleges corrections agency violated the Oklahoma Open Records Act [Oklahoma Voice] 
• Woman living in U.S. for more than 20 years fears deportation to Russia [KOCO]
• DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin promotes Oklahoma as a model for national security [News 9]

Federal

• Republicans unveil budget reconciliation bill to fund ICE, Border Patrol through 2029 [The Hill] 
• Immigration street sweeps led to more ‘collateral’ arrests of noncriminals [Stateline] 
• They were hunted by the Taliban for helping the US. Now, Trump wants to send these families to the DRC [The Guardian] 
• Border czar promises more mass deportations this year [NPR] 
• Trump administration axes fast-track training for new ICE recruits [POLITICO] 
• Fake courtrooms, sham hearings: Immigrants targeted by scams amid Trump administration’s deportation push [ABC News]
• Delays in Visa Program Threaten Placement of Hundreds of Doctors in Underserved Areas [KFF Health News] 
• Survey: Trump immigration policies fueling scientific brain drain [STAT News] 
• Inside Trump’s globetrotting third-country removal program [USA Today] 
• Immigration detention watchdog office at DHS shuttered [The Hill] 
• Blanche says immigrants who committed fraud to become U.S. citizens should worry [CBS News] 
• Private prison contractor Geo Group bars Washington state health inspectors, court filing says [AP News] 
• Civil rights groups sue to stop Texas immigration law [The Texas Tribune] 
• ICE is paying incentives to local police to help reach Trump’s deportation goals [NPR]
• Thousands of immigrant truckers lose commercial licenses in Trump administration crackdown [PBS News]