Sponsors
The bill provides federal grants that relieve host municipalities' fiscal and utility burdens and promote regional cooperation, while using federal funds to support ICE detention infrastructure — which shifts costs to national taxpayers and can incentivize facility siting and local tensions.
Local governments: receive federal grants to replace lost property tax revenue and cover utility costs for ICE processing/detention facilities, reducing local budget shortfalls.
Local communities (urban and rural) and local governments: grants can fund expanded utility capacity or self-sufficiency measures for facilities, helping maintain local utility services and preventing strain on municipal systems.
Local and regional governments: the bill allows joint/regional grant applications, encouraging cost-sharing and regional planning that can increase efficiency for multiple municipalities.
Local governments and residents: the availability of federal grants may create incentives for municipalities to host or expand ICE detention facilities to obtain funding, affecting local land use and community priorities.
Taxpayers nationwide: federal payment for unrealized local property tax revenue and utility costs shifts costs from host municipalities to the federal budget, increasing federal spending and potentially raising the burden on national taxpayers.
Local governments, urban and rural communities: federal support for ICE detention-related facilities may be controversial and increase political and social tensions in host communities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Directs DHS to run a grant program reimbursing municipalities that host ICE processing/detention facilities for unrealized property tax revenue and specified utility costs, with five-year terms and renewals.
Introduced February 23, 2026 by Thomas Kean · Last progress February 23, 2026
Creates a DHS grant program to pay municipalities that operate or are building facilities used to process or detain people arrested or detained by ICE for lost property tax revenue and utility costs. Grants cover unrecovered property tax revenue and specified utility expenses for the prior fiscal year, run for five-year terms with possible renewal while the facility operates, and require applications showing financial need and other supporting information. Requires DHS to publish guidance, allow joint/regional applications, and obliges grantees to use funds only to defray listed costs and, where practicable, make facilities self-sufficient for utilities or expand municipal utility capacity to serve the facility.