HR8173-119

What This Bill Does

This bill funds the Department of Homeland Security for fiscal year 2026 and layers those appropriations with detailed oversight, transfer, procurement, custody, grant, and immigration-enforcement conditions. It gives the House explanatory statement for H.R. 7147 binding force for allocations, appropriates DHS funds for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, and ratifies obligations made under continuing appropriations when those obligations maintained essential activity, protected life and property, supported orderly shutdown activity, or were otherwise authorized.

The bill contains a large set of DHS-wide fiscal controls. It requires reports on noncompetitive grants and contracts, monthly budget and staffing, major acquisitions, new pilots, Public Law 119-21 oversight, FEMA grant deadlines, FEMA disaster-relief reporting, unfunded priorities, former-official protection, Technology Modernization Fund projects, migration estimates, detention and removal estimates, and Department of Defense border-support requests. It restricts reprogramming, transfers, facility projects without approved prospectuses, section 872 reorganizations, structural pay reforms, first-class travel violations, award fees for poor contractor performance, international conferences above stated limits, national identification card work, Arms Trade Treaty implementation, China-linked procurement, Guantanamo detainee transfers into the United States, and certain National Special Security Event reimbursements.

The bill is also an ICE reform and oversight bill. It limits continuation of 287(g) law-enforcement delegations when the DHS Inspector General finds material violations, bars continuation of ICE detention-service contracts after repeated poor facility evaluations, authorizes reprogramming into ICE Operations and Support to detain aliens prioritized for removal, requires detailed ICE obligation and detention-facility execution plans, protects ICE attache and liaison presence at foreign embassies and consulates, and transfers at least $5 million to ICE Operations and Support for the Blue Campaign.

The bill makes targeted funding and rescission decisions. It provides $20 million for body-worn cameras for immigration-enforcement agents, $31 million for CBP operations offset by fee collections, $98 million for Coast Guard MQ-9 aircraft, $2 million for existing National Computer Forensics Institute facilities used by the Secret Service, $30 million for the Supreme Court, and $140 million for FAA air traffic operations tied to a conditional 3.8 percent 2026 pay increase for air traffic controllers. It transfers $99.75 million from prior CISA Cybersecurity Response and Recovery Fund balances into CISA Operations and Support, rescinds specified unobligated DHS account balances, and rescinds $2.362 million from the DHS Nonrecurring Expenses Fund.

The final immigration-enforcement title requires body cameras during public immigration-enforcement functions and sets footage-retention rules; requires covered immigration officers and supporting officers to display a unique identifier, employing organization, and face during public enforcement functions with covert, tactical, and safety exceptions; expands the federal doxxing statute to cover additional personal information and directs sentencing-guideline changes when law-enforcement officers or immediate family members are targeted; requires FBI Civil Rights Division investigations of immigration-officer firearm discharges; prioritizes detention and removal of aliens who pose public-safety threats and authorizes withholding up to 8 percent and then 12 percent of Emergency Management Performance Grant funds from noncomplying state or local law-enforcement agencies; requires five months of full-time ICE officer training; requires standardized ICE uniforms during public immigration enforcement; bars arrests for criminal immigration-law violations without a warrant or probable cause; and generally bars civil immigration-enforcement actions at sensitive locations without a warrant unless exigent circumstances apply.

Who Benefits and How

Congressional appropriations committees benefit from earlier, more granular visibility into DHS spending. The bill requires noncompetitive-award reports, monthly budget and staffing reports, acquisition briefings, ICE obligation plans, ICE detention execution plans, FEMA grant and disaster reports, Public Law 119-21 obligation plans, unfunded-priority reports, Technology Modernization Fund notices, migration estimates, detention estimates, DOD border-support analyses, and Blue Campaign transfer notification. The DHS Inspector General benefits from a formal review role over noncompetitive grants and contracts and from the ability to trigger termination of materially violated 287(g) delegations.

DHS components receive targeted operating authority and funding. CBP receives $31 million for operations and authority to maintain Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands customs operations. The Office of the Secretary receives $20 million for body-worn cameras for immigration enforcement. The Coast Guard receives $98 million for MQ-9 aircraft, protection for housing funds and the legacy Operations Systems Center, and limits on vessel-documentation privatization. The Secret Service receives reimbursable training authority, protective-travel flexibility, National Computer Forensics Institute funding, and a retroactive overtime-cap fix. CISA receives threat-feed purchasing authority and a $99.75 million transfer into Operations and Support. The FAA receives $140 million for a conditional air-traffic-controller pay increase.

Several public groups receive direct protections. People stopped, searched, arrested, interviewed, or raided in public immigration-enforcement actions benefit from body-camera, identification, standardized-uniform, warrant, and sensitive-location rules. Pregnant, postpartum, nursing, and infant detainees in CBP custody receive custody-standard protections, while pregnant women in DHS custody receive restraint limits. Individuals in DHS custody benefit from record-preservation rules for deaths, potential sexual assault, abuse allegations, criminal activity, and disruption allegations. Members of Congress and designated staff benefit from guaranteed oversight access to DHS immigration detention facilities. Law-enforcement officers and immediate family members benefit from expanded doxxing protections.

Who Bears the Burden and How

DHS leadership, ICE, CBP, FEMA, CISA, Coast Guard, TSA, USCIS, FLETC, and Secret Service offices bear the main administrative burden. They must comply with reporting deadlines, advance-notice rules, transfer caps, documentation requirements, procurement restrictions, public-posting conditions, grant deadlines, and penalties for late or missing reports. ICE leadership must produce monthly obligation updates and quarterly detention-facility execution updates. ICE officers and other covered immigration officers must wear and operate body cameras, display identification, complete five months of training if they have not already done so, wear standardized uniforms during public enforcement functions, comply with warrant or probable-cause requirements for criminal immigration arrests, and avoid sensitive-location civil enforcement unless a warrant or exigent circumstance exists.

ICE detention contractors with repeated poor evaluations bear revenue risk because the bill bars continued contracts after two inadequate overall performance evaluations. State or local agencies with materially violated 287(g) agreements risk losing delegated enforcement authority. State or local law-enforcement agencies that do not substantially comply with the immigration-enforcement priority rule risk losing up to 8 percent of Emergency Management Performance Grant funding in the first fiscal year and up to 12 percent in later fiscal years. Persons suspected of violent crimes and prioritized for removal face increased detention and removal focus.

Federal taxpayers bear costs from the new and continued appropriations, including the $20 million body-camera funding, $31 million CBP operations amount, $98 million Coast Guard MQ-9 funding, $2 million National Computer Forensics Institute grant, $30 million Supreme Court amount, $140 million FAA operations amount, and the administrative work needed for reports, briefings, oversight, records, training, and enforcement controls. DHS programs with unobligated balances bear reductions from the rescissions in sections 551 through 553.

Key Provisions

• Requires DHS reports on noncompetitive awards, monthly budget and staffing, major acquisitions, pilot programs, Public Law 119-21 spending, FEMA grant timing, unfunded priorities, Technology Modernization Fund proposals, migration estimates, detention estimates, and DOD border-support requests.
• Restricts DHS reprogramming, transfers, facility construction, Buy American Act violations, section 872 reorganizations, national ID work, award fees for poor contractor performance, international conference costs, Arms Trade Treaty implementation, China-linked procurement, and Guantanamo transfer spending.
• Limits 287(g) delegations when the DHS Inspector General finds material violations and bars ICE detention-service contracts after repeated inadequate facility evaluations by ICE Office of Professional Responsibility.
• Requires ICE obligation plans and detention-facility execution plans covering funding sources, contract costs, personnel levels, detention-bed locations, per-bed costs, transportation and removal costs, and geographic detention-capacity plans.
• Transfers at least $5 million to ICE Operations and Support for the Blue Campaign and requires notice before obligation.
• Requires body cameras for covered immigration agents during public immigration enforcement and establishes six-month, three-year, and request-based retention rules for footage.
• Requires visible identifiers, employing-entity names, and faces for immigration-enforcement personnel during public enforcement functions, with exceptions for covert activity, planned tactical operations, and required protective face coverings.
• Expands doxxing protections for law-enforcement officers, requires FBI Civil Rights Division investigations after immigration-officer firearm discharges, creates standardized ICE training and uniforms, requires warrants or probable cause for criminal immigration arrests, and limits civil enforcement at sensitive locations.
• Provides targeted appropriations and transfers, including $20 million for immigration-enforcement body cameras, $98 million for Coast Guard MQ-9 aircraft, $99.75 million transferred to CISA Operations and Support, $30 million for the Supreme Court, and $140 million for FAA air traffic operations.
• Rescinds specified unobligated balances from DHS accounts and the DHS Nonrecurring Expenses Fund.