Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026

This bill funds the Department of Homeland Security for fiscal year 2026 and sets tight rules on how that money can be used. It focuses on border and immigration enforcement, travel at land borders, disaster aid, and care standards for people in custody.

Key points for people and communities:

• No new fee to cross the U.S.–Mexico or U.S.–Canada land borders; DHS also cannot study such a fee.
• Limits funding for local governments that restrict cooperation with federal immigration enforcement; also bars DHS-funded transport of people here unlawfully, paroled, or inadmissible into the interior for reasons other than enforcement, with an exception for unaccompanied children .
• Requires ICE to keep detention beds full and to place every non-detained immigrant into GPS monitoring until their case is finished or they are removed.
• Tightens asylum: people who traveled through another country generally must seek and be denied protection there first (with narrow exceptions, like severe trafficking victims); also blocks work permits for people whose asylum was denied or who are convicted of a crime while their asylum is pending .
• Blocks admission of foreign students on F or M visas if their school is not accredited.
• Lets individuals bring a personal 90‑day supply of prescription drugs from Canada (not controlled substances or biologics) when carried on their person.
• Protects the public’s right to record immigration enforcement in public if they don’t interfere, and requires DHS spending to comply with the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments.
• Sets standards for the care of pregnant, postpartum, and nursing people and infants in CBP custody, and generally bans restraining pregnant women in DHS custody except in rare, safety‑based cases; no restraints during active labor or delivery .
• Prohibits DHS spending on DEI/critical race theory initiatives and forbids buying computers, printers, or videoconferencing services from companies with any ownership stake by the People’s Republic of China.
• Speeds up FEMA grants and allows shifting some funds to update flood maps and risk analysis to help communities better understand flooding risks .