H.R. 2056, District of Columbia Federal Immigration Compliance Act

H.R. 2056 would amend federal law to specify that the District of Colombia (D.C.) government must comply with requests from federal immigration authorities to share information and detain aliens (non-U.S. nationals). Under the D.C. Official Code, the District does not cooperate with federal immigration authorities without a judicial warrant.

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2056 could increase the number of aliens in government custody and the number of aliens deported by making it easier for the federal government to enforce U.S. immigration laws within the district. Any change in that number would depend on many factors, including the availability of detention space and decisions made by the executive branch. Therefore, CBO estimates that any changes in the size of the population based solely on enacting this bill would be small.

Enacting H.R. 2056 would reduce direct spending because aliens are eligible for certain federal benefits, such as emergency Medicaid, if they otherwise meet the eligibility requirements for those benefits. Because few people would be affected by the bill, CBO estimates that those effects would not be significant in any year and over the 2025-2035 period.

CBO estimates that the cost to implement the bill would not be significant; any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

H.R. 2056 would impose an intergovernmental mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by preempting local laws in the District of Columbia. Specifically, the bill would preempt any D.C. statute, ordinance, policy, or practice that limits cooperation with federal immigration agencies. CBO estimates that the cost of the mandate would not exceed the annual intergovernmental threshold established in UMRA ($103 million in 2025, adjusted annually for inflation).

The bill would not impose any private-sector mandates.

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Jeremy Crimm and Matthew Pickford (for federal costs) and Andrew Laughlin (for mandates). The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.