#HIVResists: March 2026 Monthly Policy Update

BREAKING NEWS: Trump released his FY 2027 budget request on April 3, 2026. The President’s budget is not law; it is a wishlist that tells Congress and the public the president’s priorities each year. Trump’s proposed budget included devastating cuts to healthcare, housing, and other programs that people living with HIV need to survive.  At the same time, it included a historic increase to the military budget.. The message is clear: Trump wants to gut housing and healthcare to fund ICE and warfare. Trump’s proposed budget also directly attacked organizations that support our communities, including our friends at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. Read their response, here. 

Hot Topic

ICE and The Growing Surveillance State

Recent federal occupation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis has drawn increased attention to the growing surveillance state in the U.S. ICE’s budget tripled in 2025 to $28.7 billion, making ICE the 14th most well-funded military in the world. The increased budget has allowed ICE to build a web of surveillance to track legal observers, immigrants, and United States citizens. Surveillance allows the government to use various forms of technology to collect warrantless data and information on people. Data can include “beliefs, biology, health, daily activities, DNA collection, and even location tracking.” 

A key tactic of the Trump administration is for ICE to collect personal data through data sharing agreements with Health and Human Services, International Revenue Service, and Department of Motor Vehicles. For example, ICE is using address information from the Department of Health and Human Services to build an application that gives ICE a map with potential deportation targets. Recently, ICE even asked the Social Security Administration to share information regarding in-person appointments with ICE agents. Regardless of an

agreement, ICE can access government databases to use information such as tax records, immigration records, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) scans, and much more. 

Technology increases ICE’s ability to access more information and increase surveillance. For example, ICE uses fake cellphone towers to spy on nearby phones. Those stopped by ICE or Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) encounter facial recognition technology through the Mobile Fortify application.The application allows law enforcement to scan the faces of people they stop and check against a database to identify immigration status. ICE also buys data from the commercial and private sector to obtain location data from cell phone advertising, license plate readers, and larger databases. For those who are detained, ICE uses electronic surveillance such as ankle monitors, cellphones, and watches. Additionally, surveillance is weaponized against citizens to squash protests. Activists have reported drones being used for aerial surveillance and as an intimidation tactic. ICE uses social media monitoring and location tracking systems to monitor protests and map connections between people. 

Why Does This Matter for People Living with HIV?

The Trump regime is creating a surveillance nightmare that raises deep concerns about individual privacy rights and civil rights, including the concern of law enforcement officers engaging in personal misuse of public surveillance technology. Lawsuits against the federal government for privacy violations are increasingly difficult to achieve. The Trump Administration continues to find ways to use laws and policies to increase surveillance and warrantless searches. 

Surveillance concerns are not limited to immigration or law enforcement. Increased surveillance also allows the government to collect health data on various populations. The Center for Disease Control has long used data from labs, healthcare systems, and surveys to collect information on people living with HIV. Increased surveillance nationally without strong, uniform health data privacy protections poses a risk that health data will be weaponized against people living with HIV. 

TAKE ACTION 

• Join the growing list of organizations and individuals to sign on to the HIV-BASIC Consensus Statement. The HIV-Bodily Autonomy, Surveillance, and Informed Consent (BASIC) Coalition is urging organizations and activities to call for greater Meaningful Involvement of PLHIV (MIPA) in development of public health data policies to address growing issues of surveillance.
• There are simple steps we can take to better protect ourselves and strengthen our digital security. A good place to start is the Activists Digital Security Practices from Blueprints for Change. For more resources, check out the Power and Protect Safety Library. 

Top News Roundup

LGBTQ+ Health, Rights, and Justice

• In the case Chiles v. Salazar, the Supreme Court ruled against a law banning “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ children in Colorado. The majority sided with the argument that a law banning “talk conversation therapy” violates the First Amendment and the case and the lower court will now decide if the legal standard for free speech is met. 
• The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that states can compel trans adults to “appreciate their sex” by banning Medicaid coverage for gender affirming care.

• The Florida legislature passed a bill that bans local government from “promoting” or “adopting” diversity, equity, and inclusion activities – including gender identity and sexual orientation – and allows for the governor to remove elected officials from office for defying the ban. 

Access to Healthcare

• The State Department is threatening to withhold lifesaving healthcare funding, including HIV funding, from Zambia unless the Zambian government agrees to an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that allows the United States expanded access to Zambia’s mineral wealth. 
• Trump’s changes to Veteran Affairs, one of the country’s largest health care systems, is causing delayed mental health treatment for veterans. 
• Pharmaceutical companies have raised prices on HIV medications while also lobbying Congress to pass the EPIC Act, which would delay Medicare drug price negotiations.

Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice

• U.S. Senator Josh Hawley filed legislation that would undo the federal approval of mifepristone, a medication abortion drug. This would effectively create a nationwide ban on mifepristone, making distribution a violation of federal law.  

• Wyoming Governor, Mark Gordon, signed a severe abortion ban into law. Wyoming is now one of approximately 20 states with a total or near-total abortion ban.

• Georgia charged a 31 year old woman with murder for allegedly taking abortion pills. This is a part of a post-Roe trend of women of color being turned in by healthcare providers, questioned by police while still in the hospital, and punished because of their pregnancy outcome.

Economic Justice

• Trump’s war with Iran is fueling death, destruction, and threatens the global food system and global economy all while weapons manufacturers profit from the war.
• New SNAP work requirements went into effect on March 1st as part of the historic cut to basic needs programs that Congress enacted with the Big Ugly Murder Bill. It is estimated that these changes will cause 2.4 million people to lose SNAP coverage and 70,000 avoidable deaths.
• House Republicans are trying to pass a “Farm Bill,” which would prioritize corporate profit over health. If it passes, the bill would provide corporations immunity from lawsuits, overturn pesticide protections, and overturn animal welfare laws.

Ending Criminalization

• The Trump administration won their case against a group of Texas protestors under an “antifa terror charge.” This case has sparked concerns over First Amendment rights and the Trump regime’s ability to criminalize protest.

• The Trump administration is using a new legal strategy to criminalize people who cross the border. Prosecutors are now charging immigrants with “trespassing on military property” because the administration’s transfer of borderland to the military makes this a possible path to further criminalize immigrants.
• The Department of Homeland Security has requested access to the “most comprehensive government database of people in the United States and their most private information,” which includes employment, salary, and family databases used for child support cases.

Election Updates

• Trump and MAGA Republicans continue to push the Senate to pass the SAVE America Act, a mass voter suppression bill. Trump increased pressure by threatening not to sign any new legislation until Congress passes the bill. The Senate filibuster would require 60 out of 100 senators to support the bill so a majority vote can occur, but the bill has yet to reach the 60 senator support mark. 
• In line with Trump’s attempt to reinvestigate the 2020 elections, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) subpoenaed and received voter information from Maricopa County, Arizona. However, the original ballots were destroyed as required by state law, which calls into question the accuracy of this current federal investigation. 
• Florida passed its version of the federal SAVE America Act, which will enact a proof of citizenship requirement to vote starting next January.