Source: US Congressional Budget Office
Legislation Summary
H. Con. Res. 14, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2025, instructed the House Committee on the Judiciary to recommend legislative changes that would increase deficits up to a specified amount over the 2025-2034 period. As part of the reconciliation process, the House Committee on the Judiciary approved legislation on April 30, 2025, with provisions that would increase deficits.
Estimated Federal Cost
The reconciliation recommendations of the House Committee on the Judiciary would increase deficits by $6.9 billion over the 2025-2034 period. The estimated budgetary effects of the legislation are shown in Table 1. The costs of the legislation fall within budget functions 150 (international affairs), 600 (income security), and 750 (administration of justice).
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Table 1. Estimated Budgetary Effects of Reconciliation Recommendations Title VII, House Committee on the Judiciary, as Ordered Reported on April 30, 2025 |
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By Fiscal Year, Millions of Dollars |
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|
2025 |
2026 |
2027 |
2028 |
2029 |
2030 |
2031 |
2032 |
2033 |
2034 |
2025-2029 |
2025-2034 |
|
|
Increases or Decreases (-) in Direct Spending |
||||||||||||
|
Budget Authority |
81,395 |
-354 |
-667 |
-605 |
-703 |
-789 |
-871 |
-912 |
-990 |
-1,113 |
79,066 |
74,391 |
|
Estimated Outlays |
* |
6,467 |
10,273 |
15,082 |
18,799 |
13,657 |
8,207 |
2,625 |
-530 |
-1,122 |
50,621 |
73,458 |
|
Increases in Revenues |
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|
Estimated Revenues |
0 |
4,533 |
5,916 |
6,193 |
6,990 |
8,004 |
8,397 |
8,635 |
8,872 |
9,008 |
23,632 |
66,548 |
|
Net Increase or Decrease (-) in the Deficit From Changes in Direct Spending and Revenues |
||||||||||||
|
Effect on the Deficit |
* |
1,934 |
4,357 |
8,889 |
11,809 |
5,653 |
-190 |
-6,010 |
-9,402 |
-10,130 |
26,989 |
6,910 |
Basis of Estimate
For this estimate, CBO assumes that the legislation will be enacted in summer 2025. CBO’s estimates are relative to its January 2025 baseline and cover the period from 2025 through 2034. Outlays of directly appropriated amounts were estimated using historical obligation and spending rates for similar programs. The estimates account for judicial decisions and administrative actions through April 10, 2025.
Subtitle A. Immigration Matters
Subtitle A would impose new or modify existing fees on aliens (non-U.S. nationals) seeking benefits under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Under the legislation, a portion of those fees would remain available to certain agencies to spend without further appropriation; the remaining amounts would be deposited in the Treasury. Subtitle A also would directly appropriate $81.4 billion in total to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Department of Justice (DOJ) for increased immigration enforcement and other activities. CBO estimates that enacting subtitle A would increase direct spending outlays by $73.5 billion and increase revenues by $66.5 billion over the 2025-2034 period (see Table 2).
Part 1. Immigration Fees
The legislation would impose fees on aliens for undertaking various activities, including applying for or renewing certain travel or work authorization documents, and applying for other benefits under the INA. Under current law, the Department of State adjudicates requests for visas from aliens abroad; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) adjudicates requests for benefits under the INA for aliens who are physically present in the United States. Fees also can be assessed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), for inspections of people at ports of entry, and by the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), which oversees removal proceedings and adjudicates requests from aliens in immigration court. Under current law, those agencies can charge fees to cover the costs of providing services. Any new fees collected under the legislation would be additional to collections under current law.
A portion of some fees under the legislation would be made available to the Department of State, CBP, EOIR, HHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and USCIS; those amounts could be spent without further appropriation. Beginning in 2027, CBO estimates that some of that spending would be subject to sequestration.
The legislation specifies fee amounts for 2025. In subsequent years, some amounts would increase based on the consumer price index for all urban consumers. The legislation would prohibit any fees from being waived or reduced.
Indirect taxes and regulatory fees tend to reduce collections of income and payroll taxes. As a result, CBO expects that most of the new fee collections would be partially offset by decreases in tax receipts of about 25 percent of the gross fee collections each year. Unless otherwise noted in the estimates below, that offset is applied to the estimated revenues for each fee.
CBO’s estimates of the number of people who would pay the fees are based on a January 2025 demographic and economic forecast. Where applicable, those projections were adjusted to account for executive actions and judicial decisions undertaken as of April 10, 2025. Those include ending the use of various categorical parole programs; terminating parole for people who arrived under the Parole Process for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans; and terminating the 2023 designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelan nationals physically present before October 3, 2023. CBO’s estimates also are based on historical trends in filing volume and recent trends in inflows of other foreign nationals since January 2025. Where applicable, CBO’s estimates also account for applicants’ and petitioners’ responses to the fees that would be imposed under the legislation.
Asylum Fee. Section 70002 would impose a $1,000 fee on aliens applying for asylum. CBO estimates that about 4 million people will apply for asylum over the 2025-2034 period, increasing revenues by $2.3 billion under this section for the same period. Some of those fees would be made available to EOIR and USCIS to retain and spend without further appropriation. CBO estimates that the provision would increase outlays by $1.5 billion over the 2025-2034 period. On net, CBO estimates that enacting this section would decrease the deficit by $784 million over the 2025-2034 period. (Under current law, aliens in removal proceedings can file defensive asylum applications with EOIR; others can file affirmative asylum applications with USCIS. Under this provision, 50 percent of the fees collected from defensive asylum applications would be made available to EOIR and 50 percent of the fees collected from affirmative asylum applications would be made available to USCIS.)
Employment Authorization Document Fees. Section 70003 would impose a $550 fee on certain aliens applying for initial work authorization. The fee would apply to asylum applicants, parolees, and people granted TPS. Of the fees collected from asylum applicants, 25 percent would be made available to USCIS to retain and spend without further appropriation.
CBO estimates that about 3 million asylum applicants, 225,000 parolees, and fewer than 1,000 TPS beneficiaries will apply for initial work authorization over the 2025-2034 period, increasing revenues under this provision by $1.4 billion over the same period. CBO also estimates that the provision would increase outlays by $413 million over the 2025‑2034 period. On net, CBO estimates that enacting the provision would decrease Erich Dvorak (for nonimmigration matters)
Estimate Reviewed By
Elizabeth Cove Delisle
Chief, Income Security Cost Estimates Unit
Ann E. Futrell
Acting Chief, Natural and Physical Resources Cost Estimates Unit
Justin Humphrey
Chief, Finance, Housing, and Education Cost Estimates Unit
Joshua Shakin
Chief, Revenue Projections Unit
Kathleen FitzGerald
Chief, Public and Private Mandates Unit
Christina Hawley Anthony
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis
H. Samuel Papenfuss
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis
Chad Chirico
Director of Budget Analysis
Phillip L. Swagel
Director, Congressional Budget Office
Budget Authority
0
77
63
54
47
42
39
38
37
35
241
432
Estimated Outlays
0
50
62
57
50
44
40
38
36
36
219
413
Sec. 70007, Unaccompanied
Alien Child Sponsor Fee
Budget Authority
0
23
24
18
17
18
18
18
19
19
82
174
Estimated Outlays
0
12
21
20
18
18
18
18
19
19
71
163
Sec. 70009, Form I-94 Fee
Budget Authority
0
-702
-1,012
-1,063
-1,131
-1,204
-1,283
-1,355
-1,442
-1,544
-3,908
-10,736
Estimated Outlays
0
-746
-1,016
-1,066
-1,135
-1,208
-1,287
-1,369
-1,457
-1,550
-3,963
-10,834
Sec. 70015, Diversity Immigrant
Visa Fees
Budget Authority
0
143
137
149
152
155
158
166
170
169
581
1,399
Estimated Outlays
0
71
108
143
150
153
156
159
163
166
472
1,269
Sec. 70016, EOIR Fees
Budget Authority
0
28
37
40
40
41
43
45
46
46
145
366
Estimated Outlays
0
18
30
37
40
41
43
43
44
45
125
341
Sec. 70017, ESTA Fee
Budget Authority
0
-80
-10
116
123
129
136
146
155
159
149
874
Estimated Outlays
0
-26
-38
15
80
123
130
136
144
152
31
716
Sec. 70018, Immigration User Fees
Budget Authority
0
-96
-152
-132
-134
-137
-140
-128
-131
-148
-514
-1,198
Estimated Outlays
0
-194
-174
-140
-137
-139
-142
-145
-148
-151
-645
-1,370
Sec. 70019, EVUS Fee
Budget Authority
0
11
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
20
56
150
Estimated Outlays
0
2
10
14
15
16
17
18
18
19
41
129
(Continued)