H.R. 5681 would authorize Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to convert officers currently in the Native American tactical patrol unit in the Tohono O’odham Nation (referred to as “Shadow Wolves”) to a special agent pay status after meeting certain training requirements. The bill also would require ICE to develop a strategy within 90 days to retain and recruit Shadow Wolves and expand the program. Additionally, H.R. 5681 would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report on the effectiveness of the ICE strategy annually for three years.
There are currently eight Shadow Wolves employed by ICE, five of whom meet the training requirements for conversion to the new pay status. CBO assumes officers who do not currently meet the training requirements will complete the training and all eight officers will convert to the new status within a year of eligibility. Based on those assumptions and information from the agency, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 5681 would cost ICE less than $500,000 over the 2022-2026 period for training, additional salaries, and developing the recruitment strategy. H.R. 5681 would not require ICE to implement the strategy, so CBO did not include those costs in this estimate. Furthermore, using information about the cost of similar activities, CBO estimates the cost of producing the GAO reports would be approximately $500,000 over the 2022-2026 period. Taken together, CBO estimates the bill would cost $1 million over the 2022-2026 period; such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
