October 22, 2026
Ms. Pettersen (for herself and Ms. Kamlager-Dove) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
To prohibit the use of personally identifiable information collected by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for enforcement of the immigration laws, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Emergency Assistance Privacy Protection Act of 2026
.
Sec. 2. Prohibition on the use of personally identifiable information
(a) In general
The Secretary of Homeland Security may not use any personally identifiable information collected by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance pursuant to the declaration of a major disaster or emergency under section 401 or 501 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170; 5191) for the purpose of enforcing the immigration laws (as such term is defined under section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)).
(b) Personally identifiable information
The term personally identifiable information means any information that—
(1)
can be used to distinguish or trace the identity of an individual, such as a name, residential address, a social security number, an alien registration number, a date and place of birth, or a parent's maiden name; or
(2)
any item, collection, or grouping of information about an individual that is maintained by an agency, including their education, financial transactions, medical history, criminal history, or employment history that contains a name, or the identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual, such as a fingerprint, voice print, or photograph.