As ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on June 18, 2013
H.R. 2278 would authorize the appropriation of funds for: additional personnel and equipment for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); grants to state and local governments to cover costs relating to inadmissible aliens; certain activities of the Department of State; and other programs to improve enforcement of U.S. immigration laws. The bill also would increase penalties and fines for certain violations of immigration law.
Assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2278 would cost $22.9 billion over the 2014-2018 period. CBO estimates that enacting the bill would increase direct spending by $8 million and increase revenues by $17 million over the 2014-2023 period, thereby decreasing the deficit through those changes by $9 million. Because the legislation would affect direct spending and revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures apply.
H.R. 2278 would impose intergovernmental and private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) on educational institutions by requiring background checks and training under some circumstances. In addition, the bill would impose intergovernmental mandates on state and local governments by requiring information sharing. The bill would impose other mandates on entities in the private sector that include flight schools, educational accrediting associations, foreign students, and other individuals. CBO estimates that the aggregate costs of the mandates would fall below the annual thresholds for intergovernmental and private-sector mandates established in UMRA ($75 million and $150 million in 2013, respectively, adjusted annually for inflation).
