Sponsors (8)
The bill trades clearer, easier-to-administer authority for U.S. immigration officials and reduced case-by-case adjudication for a nationality-specific moratorium/ban that substantially restricts Somali nationals' ability to seek refuge, reunite with family, or work in the U.S., with significant humanitarian, legal, economic, and diplomatic costs.
Federal immigration authorities and adjudicators: gain clearer, categorical statutory authority to pause or bar admissions of Somali nationals, simplifying enforcement and visa processing decisions.
Some public-safety stakeholders and government legal offices: face fewer individual relief adjudications and removal-defense claims from Somali nationals, potentially reducing certain litigation and administrative case loads.
Some U.S. communities and policymakers: may see reduced immigration from Somalia while the moratorium/ban is in effect, which proponents argue could protect public order or national-sovereignty interests.
Somali nationals and their immediate relatives: would be barred from immigrating to the U.S. for the duration (and under Section 3, for 25 years), losing pathways to refuge, family reunification, and lawful migration.
Asylum seekers and refugees from Somalia and humanitarian programs: would be prevented from receiving protection under §1231(b)(3) and from admission while the moratorium/bars are in effect, raising the risk of return to danger for vulnerable people.
U.S. families, including Somali-American households: would be prevented from sponsoring or reuniting with relatives, increasing family separation and emotional/financial hardship.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits issuance of visas or any immigration status to Somali citizens and nationals for 25 years and bars a specified form of removal relief for Somali nationals, with narrow exceptions.
Official title: To amend section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit immigration relief for certain citizens or nationals of Somalia.
Introduced February 4, 2026 by Brandon Gill · Last progress February 4, 2026
Bars the admission, issuance of visas, or granting of immigration status to any citizen or national of Somalia for 25 years after the law takes effect, with limited exceptions for persons already lawfully admitted, lawful permanent residents, and certain diplomatic/official nonimmigrant visa holders. Also makes Somali nationality a categorical bar to a particular form of removal relief and includes a severability clause.