Sponsors (6)
The bill improves transparency and public oversight of DHS deportation and transport flights—helping families, advocates, and taxpayers—while increasing risks to detainee privacy, raising operational/security concerns, and imposing costs and disclosure burdens on contractors and DHS.
Immigrants, families, legal representatives, and the public gain timely transparency into DHS deportation and transport flights (including private contractors) through required flight records and near‑real‑time reporting within 72 hours, improving oversight and accountability.
Families and legal representatives can more quickly locate people who were flown and when, improving ability to provide legal defense, keep contact, and monitor wellbeing.
Journalists, advocates, and researchers can analyze published route, frequency, and volume data to identify systemic issues, abuses, or patterns in immigration transport and support policy reform and public accountability.
People being transported (detainees) risk exposure of sensitive personal information (including demographic and restraint data), which could enable targeting, harassment, or other harms to individuals and communities.
Detailed public disclosure of flight and aircraft identifiers and rapid publication requirements could create operational and national security risks for DHS and its missions, and may reduce contractors' willingness to participate or raise costs for enforcement transports.
Private aircraft owners/operators who contract with DHS may suffer commercial confidentiality losses and business harms if required to disclose flight information, potentially harming small aviation businesses.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires DHS to publish within 72 hours detailed flight metadata and detainee counts/demographics for flights transporting people in immigration custody and bars withholding for covered contractor flights.
Official title: To amend title 49, United States Code, to limit eligibility of certain aviation privacy programs for immigration aircraft operations, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 21, 2026 by Jasmine Crockett · Last progress January 21, 2026
Requires the Department of Homeland Security to publish detailed flight and detainee data within 72 hours for any DHS flight used to detain, transport, or deport people in immigration custody. Also stops private aircraft owners/operators from receiving withholding of flight-related information when the aircraft is used by or under contract with ICE or CBP for those immigration enforcement purposes and receives federal funding. The bill specifies the flight data to be released (times, airports, aircraft IDs) and requires per-detainee counts and limited demographic fields and restraint-use reporting for each flight leg.