Congress churns out thousands of bills, but what’s really in them, and how could they affect you? DBS BILL BRIEF breaks down two bills a day IN PLAIN ENGLISH.
SPARE ME THE BS (I’ve got things to do)
- Democrats want FEMA disaster-relief information off-limits to immigration enforcement.
- Protected records would include addresses, Social Security numbers and immigration identification.
- The bill restricts how information is used, not who qualifies for federal disaster aid.
LAY IT ON ME (I’ve got time)
When a hurricane tears through your neighborhood, the last thing most people want to think about is whether filling out a federal disaster-assistance form could put them on the government’s immigration radar.
But that’s exactly the concern behind a new Democratic proposal in Congress.
Rep. Brittany Pettersen of Colorado has introduced legislation that would prohibit the Department of Homeland Security from using certain personal information collected by FEMA for immigration-law enforcement.
The Emergency Assistance Privacy Protection Act of 2026, H.R. 10893, was introduced October 22 with fellow Democrat Sydney Kamlager-Dove of California as an original cosponsor.
Its central idea is straightforward: Information collected to help people recover from a disaster should not become an immigration-enforcement tool.
But there’s more to this proposal than a simple privacy rule.
IN PLAIN ENGLISH
When Americans apply for federal assistance after hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and other declared disasters, FEMA may collect considerable amounts of personal information.
Applicants can provide names, addresses, financial information and details about their households. Depending on the circumstances, records can contain other sensitive identifying information.
Under Pettersen’s proposal, the secretary of Homeland Security would be prohibited from using personally identifiable information FEMA collected while providing assistance following specified presidential disaster or emergency declarations for the purpose of enforcing immigration laws.
That’s a significant distinction because FEMA is already part of the Department of Homeland Security, the same cabinet department that includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The bill seeks to establish a legal boundary between information collected for disaster assistance and its use for immigration enforcement.
And the proposed definition of personal information is broad.
It specifically covers names, residential addresses, Social Security numbers, alien registration numbers, dates and places of birth, and parents’ maiden names.
It also reaches identifying information associated with financial transactions, education, employment history, medical history and criminal history.
Even fingerprints, voiceprints and photographs fall within the bill’s definition when used as identifying information.
In other words, we’re not just talking about keeping a hurricane victim’s phone number private.
We’re talking about restricting immigration-enforcement use of a substantial range of identifying information collected during the disaster-assistance process.
THE FINE PRINT
Here’s where the details matter.
This legislation would not grant illegal immigrants a new automatic right to receive federal disaster benefits.
It would not eliminate existing eligibility requirements for FEMA assistance, and it would not require the federal government to approve every application.
The proposal addresses what DHS may do with specified personal information after FEMA collects it for covered disaster-assistance purposes.
It is also narrower than a blanket prohibition on all immigration enforcement involving disaster victims.
The restriction applies to information FEMA collects to provide assistance following major disasters or emergencies declared under Sections 401 or 501 of the Stafford Act.
It does not expressly prohibit immigration officers from using information independently obtained through other lawful sources.
Nor does the bill create a general prohibition on every kind of information-sharing within the federal government. Its operative restriction concerns using the covered FEMA information to enforce immigration laws.
That distinction is important for both supporters and opponents.
Supporters can argue that victims should be able to seek disaster assistance without worrying that the personal information they provide for recovery efforts will be repurposed for immigration enforcement.
Critics can question whether the government should place additional statutory restrictions on how information collected by one federal agency can be used by immigration authorities within the same department.
Those are legitimate questions about privacy, government authority and how federal agencies should handle sensitive personal data.
And in disaster-prone states such as Florida, Texas and Louisiana, those questions are anything but theoretical.
WHAT THE BILL DOESN’T SAY
One especially important point: H.R. 10893 is a short bill.
It does not establish an elaborate new benefits program, appropriate additional disaster-relief funding or create an entirely new federal privacy agency.
It also does not specify a separate new criminal penalty for DHS personnel who violate the proposed restriction.
The legislation’s principal purpose is to establish a statutory prohibition on a defined use of information.
That makes the wording critical. The measure focuses on the purpose for which FEMA originally collected the information and the purpose for which DHS would subsequently use it.
Whether someone should receive disaster assistance remains a separate question from whether information supplied for that assistance should be available for immigration enforcement.
WHERE THE BILL STANDS
H.R. 10893 was introduced October 22, 2026, by Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-CO), with Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) as an original cosponsor.
It was referred to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on October 22.
The current official text is the introduced House version. The bill has not passed committee, passed either chamber of Congress or been signed into law.
The proposal arrives with the 119th Congress scheduled to end January 3, 2027. Unless Congress enacts it before then, it would generally need to be reintroduced in the next Congress.
Until then, the bill creates no new legal restriction. Existing federal law and applicable agency policies continue to govern the handling and use of FEMA disaster-assistance information.
But the debate raises a question that goes beyond immigration policy.
When Americans hand sensitive personal information to the government for one purpose, how much freedom should the government have to use it for something entirely different?
That’s the issue Congress would have to decide.
DBS WIRE SOURCES (I have all day)
- Congress.gov — H.R. 10893 legislative history and status
- GovInfo — Official introduced text of H.R. 10893
- GovInfo — Full bill text
Behind the Brief: We use modern research tools to help unpack Washington’s fine print, relying on official legislative records for the facts.
