The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) marks a sweeping shift in U.S. policy—reshaping everything from immigration enforcement to public benefits. While celebrated by some as ambitious ‘reform’, its implications for LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers are extremely concerning.
Border enforcement: Bigger budgets, bigger threats
The bill allocates $150 billion to border enforcement, expanding ICE capacity and surveillance infrastructure over five years. While framed as an effort to “streamline” immigration, this expansion signals heightened exposure to detention for LGBTQI+ migrants.
Why it matters: LGBTQI+ people in detention face unique harms, from isolation and medical neglect to violence. Increased funding without safeguards means scaling up a system that is failing our communities.
What we can do: Press for and create community-based alternatives to detention and fund organizations that provide direct support to those at risk.
Medicaid and SNAP cuts: Undermining health and survival
OBBBA includes a 12% cut to Medicaid and tighter SNAP eligibility rules. Such changes disproportionately impact LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers, many of whom depend on these services to access gender-affirming care, HIV treatment, trauma-informed support, and livelihood assistance as they work to rebuild their lives.
Why it matters: For LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers, these cuts deepen structural precarity. Arriving in the U.S. does not end the experience of violence and discrimination especially when safety nets are being eroded.
What we can do: Bolster partnerships with health and food justice mutual aid networks, push for state-level and municipal protections, and resource local organizations that serve refugees and asylum seekers.
Asylum ‘reforms’ without LGBTQI+ protections
While the bill promises faster processing and reduced backlogs, it lacks explicit protections for LGBTQI+ asylum seekers—individuals whose survival often depends on trauma-informed legal support.
Why it matters: Speed is not safety. Many LGBTQI+ asylum seekers are fleeing countries where their lives are criminalized. Without affirming guidance and time to prepare, expedited processes can lead to retraumatization or wrongful denials.
What we can do: Advocate for trauma-responsive legal infrastructure, and uplift queer affirming legal and community organizations that know how to support those most at risk.
Omission of LGBTQI+-specific safeguards
Despite decades of data-driven advocacy, the bill omits specific language protecting LGBTQI+ people in detention, asylum adjudication, and access to public benefits.
Why it matters: “In human rights work, protection efforts often depend on what is visible or reported.” Policy without inclusive language leads to implementation gaps and leaves LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers without the rights, resources, or recourse they need.
What we can do: Call for explicit inclusion, informed by those living at the margins. Center the narratives of LGBTQI+ refugees and demand policies that reflect the full spectrum of our lived realities.
A Call for bold, grounded, collective leadership
This bill reminds us that progress is not always linear and that true transformation requires those closest to injustice to lead the response.
There is power here. Across the country, LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers, organizations, community leaders, and advocates are building alternatives grounded in safety, informed by struggle, and driven by shared vision.
Together we must build coalitions at the intersections of LGBTQI+ identities, migration, race, health and housing justice. Invest in community-designed systems that meet real needs. And, resist erasure through storytelling, advocacy, and sustained visibility.
This is a moment to organize. It’s a moment to imagine. It’s a moment to lead. As LGBTQI+ refugees, we rebuild from where systems fail us, not as victims, but as visionaries. Let’s move with strategy, with community, and with the unwavering belief that we deserve more than survival.
Latoya Nugent 
Thoughts?