H.R. 6998 would require Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hire additional personnel to assist with investigations of child sexual exploitation. Specifically, the bill would require the agency to hire 170 forensics analysts and 30 investigators. The bill would provide ICE with the authority to directly recruit, hire, and train those personnel, instead of using the Office of Personnel Management. H.R. 6998 would require ICE to report to the Congress annually for five years on its use of that authority.
H.R. 6998 also would require ICE’s Cyber Crimes Center to create a training program to help federal, state, local, tribal, and foreign government law enforcement personnel identify victims of sexual exploitation. The center provides intelligence, training, and forensic support for investigations of cyber-related criminal activity.
The costs of the legislation, detailed in Table 1, fall within budget function 750 (administration of justice).
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 6998 would cost $250 million over the 2026-2031 period, assuming the appropriation of the necessary amounts.
Table 1.
Estimated Budgetary Effects of H.R. 6998
By Fiscal Year, Millions of Dollars
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2026-2031
Increases in Spending Subject to Appropriation
Estimated Authorization
*
17
35
71
72
74
269
Estimated Outlays
*
13
31
63
70
73
250
* = between zero and $500,000.
Using information from ICE, CBO estimates that it would take the agency three years to hire all the personnel required by the bill and that each position would cost about $330,000 in 2027, including salary, benefits, and overhead costs. On that basis, and accounting for anticipated inflation, CBO estimates that ICE would incur an additional $246 million in personnel and overhead costs over the 2026-2031 period. Based on the costs of similar activities, CBO estimates that the bill’s reporting requirements would cost less than $500,000 in each year.
Additionally, CBO estimates that starting in 2028, ICE would incur an additional $1 million annually in contracting costs to support the operations of its crime lab as additional analysts and investigators are hired. In total, CBO estimates that ICE would incur $4 million in contracting costs for the crime lab over the 2026-2031 period.
Lastly, ICE’s Cyber Crimes Center currently provides a training program on identifying victims of sexual exploitation for agency personnel; on that basis, CBO estimates that expanding that program to include state and local law enforcement personnel would cost less than $500,000 annually.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeremy Crimm. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
