IAP Action Debuts Congressional Immigration Rankings

IAP Action officially launched this week. IAP Action is a 501(c)(4) social advocacy organization affiliated with the Immigration Accountability Project. Its central feature is a first-of-its-kind tool that ranks Members of Congress based on the immigration bills that they introduce, support, and vote on in Congress.

IAP Action relies entirely on legislative analysis from the Immigration Accountability Project (IAP) to establish a clear, official position on proposals offered in Congress. IAP analyzes every bill that would impact overall immigration levels, foreign worker competition, border security, and immigration enforcement. IAP Action translates those analyses into a concise picture of how Members of Congress are performing on immigration relative to their colleagues.

IAP Cofounder and Policy Director Rosemary Jenks launched IAP Action on Steve Bannon's War Room podcast on Tuesday morning. It received an extra boost later in the day when Donald Trump Jr. retweeted IAP's post on X announcing the new website. 

If you've yet to check out the new website, you can view it here: https://iapaction.com.

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) currently holds the top spot in the House of Representatives–a spot he's held since the very first week of the 119th Congress. 

Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) took the top spot in the Senate in September when he introduced the American Tech Workforce Act, a bill considered to be Key Legislation by IAP Action.

The overall rankings are based on legislative actions taken in the current Congress (the 119th Congress), while the climbing/sliding rankings (on the right side of the page) are based on activities from the previous week. Updated rankings will be released every Friday morning, so we encourage you to bookmark the site and check in weekly to see what your elected officials have been doing!

This new tool would not be possible without your financial support for both IAP and IAP Action! If you find it useful, we hope you will consider donating so we can continue our work.

Border Apprehensions at new record lows, but new concerns over releases

Preliminary data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) show that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had the lowest number of illegal alien encounters last month of any October on record.

According to the release, CBP encountered 30,561 illegal aliens nationwide, representing a 79% decline since October of 2024, when CBP recorded 309,024 encounters. 

CBP has encountered fewer illegal aliens over the first six months of the Trump Administration (106,134) than the monthly average of the Biden Administration (155,485/month).

In yesterday's release, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem highlighted the fact that there have been zero illegal aliens released into the United States since January. While it's technically true that CBP has not released any illegal aliens, other agencies within the Trump Administration appear to be releasing certain illegal aliens.

A separate DHS press release from this week noted that CBP is still turning over unaccompanied alien children (UACs) who are apprehended by Border Patrol to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), CBP must turn over UACs from noncontiguous countries to HHS, which is then required to release them to “sponsors” in the United States.

A few months ago, the Immigration Accountability Project stopped the House from approving a reauthorization of the TVPRA that failed to close this loophole. TVPRA has long been exploited by drug cartels to smuggle hundreds of thousands of UACs illegally across the border. The UAC problem reached crisis levels during previous administrations, most prominently in 2014, 2019, and throughout the duration of the Biden Administration. We now have evidence that HHS failed to vet the “sponsors,” and in many cases actually turned the children over to sex and labor traffickers. IAP is now working to make sure that Congress fixes the TVPRA before reauthorizing it.

Immigration Articles

Breitbart: Exclusive: Sen. Jim Banks Asks Trump to End OPT Program Favoring Foreigners for U.S. Jobs Over American Graduates
Senator Jim Banks (R, IN) sent a letter to administration officials calling on them to end the unlawful Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. “The OPT system incentivizes employers to pass over American graduates and hire foreign guest workers, especially in STEM fields — and that’s exactly what has happened.”

Reuters: Trump administration has revoked 80,000 non-immigrant visas, US official says
The State Department has revoked 80,000 visas, including 16,000 for DUIs, 12,000 for assault, 8,000 for theft, and six for social media posts about the assassination of Charlie Kirk, as well as 6,000 student visas for “overstays and breaking the law.”

CBS News: ICE's detainee population reaches 66,000, a new record high, statistics show
ICE is rapidly increasing the detention of illegal aliens, and money from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is key to the growth. ICE already has nearly 70,000 beds available and the funding to increase that number to 100,000. 

Center for Immigration Studies: Nearly Half of Non-Citizen Households with Young Children Use Food Welfare Programs
Steve Camarota and Karen Zeigler at the Center highlight the shockingly high use of WIC and food stamp welfare programs by noncitizen households with young children.

Next Week

The government remains closed, but Senators are looking at a bipartisan way to move forward. The path likely will combine a short-term CR (hopefully into the new year) with a few less-controversial appropriations bills. We expect the House to return as soon as the Senate is able to move forward.