Sponsors (28)
The bill bars reassigning federal staff to ICE and trims near-term ICE staffing spending to protect employees and reduce immediate costs, but it risks slowing immigration enforcement, creating backlogs, and producing interagency uncertainty.
Federal employees are protected from being reassigned or detailed to ICE without new Congressional authorization, preserving their current job roles and limiting involuntary transfers.
Taxpayers see an immediate reduction in federal spending on ICE staffing because funds cannot be used for appointments or transfers absent new authorization.
Immigrants, law enforcement, and the public could face slower immigration enforcement and longer case processing times if ICE operations experience staffing shortages.
Local and state governments and federal partners could face prolonged staffing freezes and uncertainty that worsen case backlogs and disrupt interagency cooperation.
Federal employees who would have been detailed to ICE may lose temporary career opportunities, detail-related pay, or benefits tied to those assignments.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bars federal funds from being used to appoint or to detail/transfer any federal employee to positions within ICE until Congress explicitly repeals or modifies the ban.
Official title: To impose a hiring freeze on United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 5, 2026 by Elizabeth Pannill Fletcher · Last progress February 5, 2026
Prohibits the use of federal funds to appoint anyone to a position within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or to detail or transfer any federal employee to ICE, starting on the date the law is enacted. The prohibition remains in place until Congress passes a new law that explicitly says the prohibition is superseded or modified. The measure is a direct funding restriction on staffing ICE rather than a programmatic reform; it effectively freezes new appointments and interagency personnel transfers to ICE until Congress acts to lift the restriction.