American Entrepreneurs First Act of 2025

What is this bill & why is it fascist?

• HR 2966, sponsored by Beth Van Duyne (R-TX-24)

This is about as straightforward a bill as you can get, so apologies for this being such a short entry.

This four page bill would ban asylees, refugees, individuals with a visa that allows them to stay in America, anyone classified as a non-immigrant, and Dreamers (people protected by the DACA program) from applying for certain loans from the Small Business Administration. It also requires all applicants of SBA loans to prove their citizenship.

Very simply, what makes this bill fascist is the revocation of rights of a marginalized group as well as directly punishing people who are active targets of the current administration.

It should also be noted that according to a study conducted by the American Immigration Council in 2019, 13% of refugees are entrepreneurs and created 188k business nationally. This bill certainly appears to be an attempt to halt an avenue of success for refugees and make it harder for them to stay.

Which Dems voted for it?

• House (8 Dems)

  • Henry Cuellar (TX-28)

  • Don Davis (NC-1)

  • Laura Gillen (NY-4)

  • Josh Harder (CA-9)

  • Marcy Kaptur (OH-9)

  • Kristen McDonald Rivet (MI-8)

  • Marie Glusenkamp Perez (WA-3)

  • Tom Suozzi (NY-3)

Did it pass?

• Passed the House on 6/6/25 by a vote of 217-190