Immigration (Emergency Management)

Replacing Essential Passports and Licenses After Certain Emergencies Act or the REPLACE Act This bill automatically waives the fees to replace certain federal documents (e.g., passports, visas, or immigration documents) destroyed by a major disaster. Under current law, the Department of State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may waive replacement fees for these critical documents for individuals or households adversely affected by a major disaster. The bill requires the State Department and USCIS to waive these replacement fees when the documents are destroyed by a major disaster for which assistance is provided under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Individuals and Households Program. The agencies must notify the public of the availability of these waivers on their respective websites. The bill also requires the State Department and USCIS to annually report to Congress the number of such fee waivers granted and the resulting cost to the respective agencies.

HR 1668 prohibits the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from using funds to support sheltering programs or facility improvements for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) short-term holding facilities. It specifically cancels unused funds from two 2023 and 2024 appropriations acts that were previously allocated to FEMA for this purpose. The bill directly affects FEMA's budget authority and prevents the agency from funding non-Federal entities providing such support. This is a procedural funding change, not a new immigration policy.

HR 1748, the "FEMA for America First Act of 2025," would amend the federal disaster relief law to restrict FEMA assistance to "qualified aliens" only. This means non-citizens seeking disaster aid would need to meet specific immigration status criteria defined in existing law, excluding certain groups like asylum seekers who haven’t applied for permanent residency, refugees without adjustment applications, and certain parolees. The bill directly affects non-citizen individuals applying for FEMA disaster assistance under the Robert T. Stafford Act. It changes eligibility rules by requiring applicants to hold a "qualified alien" status as defined by the 1996 welfare law, without altering the core disaster relief program structure.

HR 1485, the Alien Removal Not Resort Stays Act, terminates all federal funding for FEMA's Shelter and Services Program starting upon its enactment. It redirects all unobligated funds previously allocated to this program into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for enforcement, detention, and removal operations. The bill directly affects FEMA's disaster shelter program and shifts its budget authority to immigration enforcement activities. This represents a concrete policy change in federal funding priorities, moving resources from disaster relief to immigration enforcement.

This bill prohibits the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from funding sheltering or facility improvements for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) short-term holding facilities. It also cancels unobligated funds previously allocated to FEMA for these purposes under two 2023-2024 appropriations acts. The bill directly affects FEMA's budget authority and CBP's operational funding for facilities holding individuals in immigration custody. It does not create new restrictions but terminates existing funding for specific CBP-related sheltering activities. The measure focuses solely on rescinding existing appropriations, not on altering immigration law or eligibility.