I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7415 

To reauthorize the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 20, 2024 

Mr. TONY GONZALES of Texas introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Detain Illegals until 

5 Repatriated or Expelled Act’’ or the ‘‘DIRE Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATE CRIMINAL ALIEN ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

7 Section 241(i) of the Immigration and Nationality 

8 Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(i)) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘AUTHORIZATION.—’’ be2 fore ‘‘If the chief’’; 

3 (B) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

4 (A), by inserting ‘‘and medical expenses’’ after 

5 ‘‘incarceration’’; and 

6 (C) by inserting ‘‘or an alien with an un7 known status’’ after ‘‘undocumented criminal 

8 alien’’ each place that term appears; 

9 (2) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3) and in10 serting the following: 

11 ‘‘(2) COMPENSATION.— 

12 ‘‘(A) COMPENSATION OF STATE FOR IN13 CARCERATION.—The Attorney General shall 

14 compensate a State or political subdivision of a 

15 State referred to in paragraph (1)(A), in ac16 cordance with subparagraph (B), for the incar17 ceration of an alien— 

18 ‘‘(i) whose immigration status cannot 

19 be verified by the Secretary of Homeland 

20 Security; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) who would otherwise be an un22 documented criminal alien if the alien is 

23 unlawfully present in the United States. 

24 ‘‘(B) CALCULATION OF COMPENSATION.— 

25 Compensation under subparagraph (A) shall be 


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1 equal to the average cost of incarceration of a 

2 prisoner in the relevant State, as determined by 

3 the Attorney General. 

4 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

5 ‘‘(A) ALIEN WITH AN UNKNOWN STA6 TUS.—The term ‘alien with an unknown status’ 

7 means an individual— 

8 ‘‘(i) who has been incarcerated by a 

9 Federal, State, or local law enforcement 

10 entity; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) whose immigration status cannot 

12 be definitively identified. 

13 ‘‘(B) INCARCERATION.—The term ‘incar14 ceration’ means the confining in a correctional 

15 facility or county jail of an alien with unknown 

16 status or an undocumented criminal alien. 

17 ‘‘(C) UNDOCUMENTED CRIMINAL ALIEN.— 

18 The term ‘undocumented criminal alien’ means 

19 an alien who— 

20 ‘‘(i) has been charged with or con21 victed of a felony or 2 misdemeanors; and 

22 ‘‘(ii)(I) entered the United States 

23 without inspection or at any time or place 

24 other than as designated by the Secretary 

25 of Homeland Security; 


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1 ‘‘(II) was the subject of exclusion or 

2 deportation or removal proceedings at the 

3 time he or she was taken into custody by 

4 the State or a political subdivision of the 

5 State; or 

6 ‘‘(III) was admitted as a non7 immigrant and, at the time he or she was 

8 taken into custody by the State or political 

9 subdivision— 

10 ‘‘(aa) failed to maintain the non11 immigrant status in which the alien 

12 was admitted or to which it was 

13 changed under section 248; or 

14 ‘‘(bb) failed to comply with the 

15 conditions of any such status.’’; 

16 (3) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘and aliens 

17 with an unknown status’’ after ‘‘undocumented 

18 criminal aliens’’ each place that term appears; and 

19 (4) by striking paragraphs (5) and (6) and in20 serting the following: 

21 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized 

23 to be appropriated $950,000,000 for each of 

24 the fiscal years 2025 through 2029 to carry out 

25 this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Amounts appropriated 

2 pursuant to subparagraph (A) that are distrib3 uted to a State or a political subdivision of a 

4 State, including a municipality, may be used 

5 only for correctional purposes. 

6 ‘‘(6) DISTRIBUTION OF REIMBURSEMENT.—Any 

7 amounts provided to a State or a political subdivi8 sion of a State as compensation under paragraph 

9 (1)(A) for a fiscal year shall be distributed to such 

10 State or political subdivision not later than 120 days 

11 after the last day of the period specified by the At12 torney General for the submission of requests under 

13 that paragraph for that fiscal year.’’. 

Æ 


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