Fairness for Immigrant Families Act of 2026

Short title— This Act may be cited as the “Fairness for Immigrant Families Act of 2026”.

Table of contents— The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Immigration plays a defining role in the identity of the United States. Families throughout the United States have roots in the immigration experience of earlier generations of immigrants who came to the United States seeking better opportunities, safety from persecution, and ultimately, a chance at the American dream.

While the ancestors of some families arrived in the United States centuries ago, other families are continuing that tradition today. There are 51,900,000 immigrants who live in the United States. The immigrant population of the United States comprises 15 percent of the population, while another 13 percent of the population are second-generation Americans. There are 18,310,000 children in the United States who live with 1 or more immigrant parents, representing 26.5 percent of all children.

In the United States—

Children of immigrants are the future workers, leaders, voters, parents, and taxpayers of the United States and are critical to the health and well-being of the United States.

In their pursuit of the American dream, generations of immigrant families have contributed to their communities in the United States and will continue to do so, including as essential workers who keep the United States running at great risk to themselves and their families.

Immigrants play a critical role in the United States economy, and providing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants is a necessary part of maintaining the economic strength of the United States.

Immigrant entrepreneurs account for more than 30 percent of all new business owners in the United States. In 2025, 231 of the companies listed on the Fortune 500 were founded by immigrants or children of immigrants.

As of 2023, approximately 9,700,000 workers in the United States were undocumented immigrants. Undocumented immigrants contributed more than $37,000,000,000 in State and local taxes in 2022.

Removing undocumented residents from mixed-status households cuts the median income of such households by 48 percent.

Removing 8,300,000 undocumented workers from the workforce would reduce gross domestic product by as much as 7.4 percent by 2028.

Approximately 1,500,000 mortgages are held by households with 1 or more undocumented individuals.

Indiscriminate immigration enforcement and the threat of immigration enforcement negatively impact the health, development, and well-being of children at risk of separation from a loved one due to detention or removal from the United States. Neurobiological research demonstrates the acute and lasting trauma that family separation, and the threat of separation, causes in children, such as changes in the architecture of the brain and increased likelihood to experience emotional and behavioral issues, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidal ideation.

In general— Except as otherwise specifically provided, any term used in this Act that is used in the immigration laws shall have the meaning given the term in the immigration laws.

DACA recipient— The term DACA recipient means an alien who has been granted deferred action pursuant to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, as set forth in the final rule issued by the Department of Homeland Security and entitled “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (87 Fed. Reg. 53152 (August 30, 2022)).

Immigration laws— The term immigration laws has the meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)).