The Keep Our Communities Safe Act of 2026 significantly expands the authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security to detain non-citizens who are facing removal from the United States. The bill removes time limits on detention during removal proceedings and allows for indefinite detention after a final order is issued if specific conditions, such as national security threats or public safety risks, are certified by government officials. It restricts access to bond hearings for many detainees, requiring them instead to prove they are not flight risks or community threats through clear and convincing evidence. Additionally, the legislation establishes administrative review processes that permit detention beyond standard removal periods if an individual fails to cooperate with deportation efforts or poses a continuing danger.
The Mandatory E-Verify Act of 2026 makes the E-Verify employment eligibility verification system permanent and mandatory for all employers in the United States, including those who hire, recruit, or refer individuals for jobs. The bill requires employers to use the system within a phased timeline based on company size, ranging from six months for large businesses with 10,000 or more employees to 18 months for smaller businesses with fewer than 20 employees, while exempting agricultural labor verification until 18 months after enactment. Key provisions include increased civil and criminal penalties for non-compliance, the ability for the government to debar repeat violators from federal contracts, and a requirement that states sharing driver's license data with the system remain eligible for certain federal funding. Additionally, the act establishes a self-check feature for individuals to verify their own status, expands data sharing between federal and state agencies to prevent fraud, and creates a good-faith defense for employers who rely on the system's results.
This bill, known as the No Safe Haven for Terrorist Families Act, expands U.S. immigration rules to bar close relatives of designated terrorists, sanctioned corrupt officials, and senior leaders of hostile foreign governments from entering or remaining in the country. It directly affects spouses, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, and nieces or nephews of these individuals, making them inadmissible and deportable regardless of when their family relationship began. The legislation mandates that visas issued to these relatives be revoked within 30 days of their identification and explicitly denies them access to most forms of legal relief or waivers. Additionally, the bill requires government agencies to implement new screening procedures to detect these family ties and to submit annual reports detailing how many people were barred or removed under the new provisions.
This bill requires banks and credit unions to verify the citizenship or lawful immigration status of individuals opening or maintaining accounts in the United States. Financial institutions must accept specific documents such as passports, driver's licenses, or birth certificates to confirm a customer's identity and legal presence. The law includes provisions for temporary residents, allowing them to maintain accounts for a limited period after their authorized stay expires while restricting certain transactions. It also establishes penalties for individuals who open accounts without lawful status and provides safe harbors for financial institutions that make good-faith efforts to comply with verification requirements.
The Educational Visa Transparency Act of 2026 requires U.S. colleges and universities receiving federal funding to submit detailed lists of international students, faculty, and staff to a federal tracking system. Institutions must report this information within 60 days of the law's enactment and again before each academic term's class registration deadline. The submitted data, organized by visa type, will be accessible to federal agencies including the Department of Education, Homeland Security, Justice, and State. This change aims to improve data collection on non-citizen academic personnel at federally funded institutions.
This bill, titled the Naturalization Accountability Act, would allow the government to revoke the citizenship of naturalized Americans who have been convicted of any felony crime, regardless of when the crime occurred. It also removes the five-year time limit on revoking citizenship for those who joined certain totalitarian or treasonous organizations, and eliminates the ten-year statute of limitations for prosecuting fraud related to obtaining citizenship or naturalization. These changes would directly affect naturalized citizens and the legal process for enforcing immigration laws, making it easier to remove citizenship in cases of serious criminal convictions or citizenship fraud without time restrictions.
The Employee Rights Act (S 2984) amends key labor laws to change union representation processes and worker classification. It requires secret ballot elections for collective bargaining (Section 2), prohibits non-lawfully-status employees from voting in union elections (Section 3), and establishes privacy protections for employee information used in organizing efforts (Section 4). The bill also changes how workers are classified as employees versus independent contractors (Section 5) and creates a new "independent negotiating" option for workers who leave unions (Section 7). These changes directly affect union representation processes, employee classification, and privacy protections for workers across various industries.
This bill requires all commercial driver's license (CDL) testing - including knowledge tests, entry-level training, and third-party assessments - to be conducted solely in English. It also mandates that new CDL applicants must hold a standard driver's license for at least one year before applying for a CDL, though current CDL holders are exempt. States issuing non-domiciled CDLs (licenses to non-residents) risk losing that authority if they fail to comply with these rules or federal standards. The law directly affects new commercial drivers seeking CDLs and states managing non-domiciled license programs.
SRES 145 is a non-binding Senate resolution expressing support for Iranian political refugees residing in Ashraf-3, Albania. It calls on the U.S. government to condemn Iran’s threats (including cyberattacks and sham legal proceedings) against these refugees and to urge Albania to uphold their rights under international law, including freedom of expression and protection from extradition. The resolution specifically highlights the community’s status as former political prisoners and witnesses to Iran’s human rights abuses, such as the 1988 massacre. It does not create new laws but formally advocates for diplomatic action to safeguard this group.
The FLASH Act authorizes construction of navigable roads along federal border lands to improve U.S. Customs and Border Protection access and operational control. It requires federal agencies to develop protocols for reducing trash accumulation and environmental degradation from unauthorized border crossings, while targeting illegal cannabis cultivation sites with environmental response initiatives. The bill prohibits using federal funds to provide housing for undocumented immigrants on federal lands and establishes criminal penalties for illegal pesticide use. The legislation affects how federal land management agencies (National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, etc.) operate along the southern border, with specific reporting requirements for environmental impacts and trash collection.