HR4213-119

What This Bill Does

The Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026 funds DHS for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026 and layers account controls and policy riders across the department. It requires the DHS Secretary, Chief Financial Officer, Under Secretary for Management, Inspector General, and component leaders to report on noncompetitive grants and contracts, monthly obligations and staffing, Treasury Forfeiture Fund transfers, Level 1 and Level 2 acquisition programs, pilots, and unfunded priorities. It gives U.S. Customs and Border Protection authorities for Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands customs operations, passenger-fee collections, a $31,000,000 collections-backed operations amount, personal importation of up to a 90-day supply of Canadian prescription drugs, no new land-border crossing fees, and $898,118,000 in CBP procurement allocations for border security technology, trade and travel assets, integrated operations, mission support, and radiological detection systems.

The bill also controls immigration enforcement and detention policy. It protects 287(g) participation unless agreements are materially violated, lets the Secretary reprogram or transfer money into ICE Operations and Support to detain aliens prioritized for removal, restricts interior transport for aliens outside immigration-enforcement purposes, bars ICE funds for most abortion facilitation and gender-affirming care in custody, directs resources toward apprehension, detention, removal, alternatives to detention with GPS monitoring, and immigration court capacity, blocks physical alien identification cards, overrides State minimum-compensation rules for detained work programs, limits detention facility inspections, and preserves ICE international attaches unless specified exceptions are met. Later riders raise credible-fear and third-country transit barriers for asylum, block work authorization for denied asylum applicants or asylum applicants convicted of crimes, preserve H-2B, H-2A, and carnival visa flexibilities, and bar some procurement or visa benefits tied to Chinese military-linked or foreign-adversary entities.

Outside immigration, the bill allows CISA to buy or provide cybersecurity threat feeds for Federal, State, local, Tribal, territorial, fusion-center, and information-sharing entities. It sets FEMA grant administration limits and timing rules, allows FEMA waivers for Assistance to Firefighter Grants, supports emergency communications and radiological emergency preparedness, and provides $3,000,000 for extraordinary law-enforcement costs tied to Secret Service protection of non-governmental Presidential property. It imposes Coast Guard riders on recreational vessel documentation, future-year capital investment planning, Coast Guard Housing Fund use, and whale-related vessel speed enforcement. It authorizes Secret Service reimbursement-backed training and protective mission travel flexibility. General provisions control transfers, reprogramming, Buy American compliance, national ID card funding, first-class travel, contractor incentive fees, computer pornography filters, firearms transfers to cartel agents, conference travel, detention oversight visits, pregnant detainee restraints, record preservation, DHS technology modernization proposals, Department of Defense border-support reports, the ICE Blue Campaign transfer of at least $5,000,000, disinformation-board restrictions, sanctuary-jurisdiction grant restrictions, DEI funding restrictions, Chinese technology procurement restrictions, constitutional-rights compliance, and the right to record immigration enforcement in public areas.

Who Benefits and How

Congressional appropriations committees benefit because DHS must provide monthly obligation reports, acquisition briefings, transfer notifications, unfunded-priority lists, Secret Service protection notices, border-support cost analyses, grant-award briefings, and public report postings. CBP officers and border security technology vendors benefit from the $898,118,000 CBP procurement allocation and authority to support customs operations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. ICE operations staff and detention facility operators benefit from reprogramming authority for detention, mandated resource prioritization for apprehension and removal, and limits on reductions in ICE international presence. TSA capital planners and security equipment vendors benefit from Aviation Security Capital Fund flexibility and capital investment reporting. CISA threat-intelligence offices and cybersecurity threat feed vendors benefit because CISA can buy or provide threat feeds for Federal and non-Federal partners. FEMA grant recipients, local fire departments, emergency communications providers, and State emergency management agencies benefit from grant timing rules, waiver authority, and program-specific flexibility. U.S. manufacturers, U.S. drone suppliers, and allied technology suppliers benefit from Buy American rules and procurement bans on Chinese-owned or foreign-adversary technology.

Who Bears the Burden and How

DHS management offices, component budget staff, and acquisition officials must produce recurring reports, cost analyses, notifications, and public postings before moving funds or launching major actions. Asylum applicants bear a heavier evidentiary burden because credible-fear determinations use a more-likely-than-not test and third-country transit limits block many claims unless exceptions apply. Denied asylum applicants and some asylum applicants convicted of crimes lose access to employment authorization. People in ICE custody face restrictions on abortion facilitation, gender-affirming care, State minimum-compensation protections, and some detention-facility inspections, while non-detained immigrants can be required to use GPS monitoring. Sanctuary jurisdictions lose DHS grant or contract eligibility if their laws or policies limit immigration-law information sharing or enforcement cooperation. Chinese technology suppliers, Chinese military-linked companies, foreign-adversary drone makers, DEI training vendors, identity-card technology vendors, and poor-performing DHS contractors lose procurement or revenue opportunities under the funding bans.

Key Provisions

• Requires DHS grant, contract, budget, staffing, acquisition, pilot, transfer, and unfunded-priority reports to congressional appropriations committees and the DHS Inspector General.
• Provides CBP authorities including $31,000,000 for operations tied to collections, $898,118,000 for procurement allocations, Canadian prescription-drug personal importation, no new land-border crossing fee, and border technology funding.
• Expands and protects immigration-enforcement capacity through ICE detention reprogramming, 287(g) participation, GPS alternatives to detention, ICE international attaches, and inspection limits for certain detention contractors.
• Restricts immigration benefits by tightening credible-fear and third-country transit asylum rules, blocking work authorization for denied or criminally convicted asylum applicants, and limiting funds for some Chinese-linked visas, parole, and foreign-adversary drone admissions.
• Authorizes CISA cybersecurity threat-feed access for Federal, State, local, Tribal, territorial, fusion-center, and information-sharing partners.
• Sets FEMA grant timing, administrative-cost, public-announcement, emergency communications, firefighter grant, radiological preparedness, and Presidential-property reimbursement rules.
• Controls Coast Guard, TSA, and Secret Service operations through vessel documentation, whale-speed enforcement, capital-plan reports, training reimbursements, protective travel, and protection reimbursement provisions.
• Adds government-wide DHS riders on Buy American compliance, national ID card funding, contractor incentive fees, technology modernization proposals, disinformation activity, sanctuary jurisdictions, DEI programs, Chinese technology procurement, constitutional rights, and public recording of immigration enforcement.