H.R. 299 (119th)Bill Overview

Transparency of Migration Act

Immigration|Immigration
Cosponsors
Support
Republican
Introduced
Jan 9, 2025
Discussions
Bill Text
Current stageCommittee

Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Introduced
Committee
Floor
President
Law
Congressional Activities
01 · The brief
Plain-English summaryWhat this bill actually does

The bill requires the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to publish, on their department websites and updated weekly, specified information about individuals unlawfully present in the United States who are processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection or HHS facilities. Required data include daily counts, countries of origin, ages and genders, U.S. states to which individuals are released or sent, and number and types of criminal convictions, if any.

Why people may split

Progressives highlight privacy, civil‑rights, and juvenile harms.

Watch point

Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill establishes a clear, limited reporting obligation but provides only minimal operational detail.

The bill requires the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to publish, on their department websites and updated weekly, specified information about individuals unlawfully present in the United States who are processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection or HHS facilities.

Required data include daily counts, countries of origin, ages and genders, U.S. states to which individuals are released or sent, and number and types of criminal convictions, if any.

Passage40/100

Technically simple and low-cost but politically sensitive; easier in a responsive chamber, harder in a full Senate.

CredibilityPartially aligned

Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill establishes a clear, limited reporting obligation but provides only minimal operational detail. It names responsible agencies and enumerates data elements and frequency, but omits essential definitional, privacy, methodological, resourcing, and accountability elements necessary for consistent, lawful, and high-quality public reporting.

Contention70/100

Progressives highlight privacy, civil‑rights, and juvenile harms.

02 · What it does

Who stands to gain, and who may push back.

Likely benefits vs burdens50% / 50%
Federal agencies · Local governmentsLikely burdened

These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.

Likely helped
  • Federal agenciesIncreases public access to migration data, supporting oversight of federal border and intake processes.
  • Local governmentsEnables states and localities to anticipate incoming individuals and plan housing and service needs.
  • Potential benefitProvides policymakers and researchers with standardized weekly data for evidence-based immigration policy development.
Likely burdened
  • Potential burdenWeekly publication may risk identification or stigmatization of individuals, especially in small-population contexts.
  • Potential burdenCollecting and publishing conviction details may conflict with privacy laws or juvenile confidentiality protections.
  • Potential burdenDepartments will incur administrative and IT costs to collect, verify, and publish weekly data.
03 · Why people split

Why the argument around this bill splits.

Progressives highlight privacy, civil‑rights, and juvenile harms.
Progressive20%

Likely skeptical or opposed.

The bill's public data mandate raises civil‑liberties, privacy, and due‑process concerns, and risks stigmatizing migrants and minors.

Support would depend on strict anonymization, aggregation, and protections for vulnerable populations.

Likely resistant
Centrist65%

Cautiously receptive but conditional.

Supports transparency for oversight and planning but wants clear definitions, privacy safeguards, and budgeted implementation.

Will weigh feasibility, legal constraints, and potential unintended consequences.

Split reaction
Conservative90%

Likely supportive.

Values public access to migration numbers and criminal conviction information for public safety and accountability.

May prefer even more granular or real‑time reporting to aid enforcement and local decision‑making.

Leans supportive
04 · Can it pass?

The path through Congress.

Introduced

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Committee

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Floor

Still ahead

President

Still ahead

Law

Still ahead

Passage likelihood40/100

Technically simple and low-cost but politically sensitive; easier in a responsive chamber, harder in a full Senate.

Scope and complexity
24%
Scopenarrow
24%
Complexitylow
Why this could stall
  • Whether data overlaps existing agency reporting
  • Potential privacy or safety legal challenges
05 · Recent votes

Recent votes on the bill.

No vote history yet

The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.

06 · Go deeper

Go deeper than the headline read.

Included on this page

Progressives highlight privacy, civil‑rights, and juvenile harms.

Technically simple and low-cost but politically sensitive; easier in a responsive chamber, harder in a full Senate.

Unlocked analysis

Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill establishes a clear, limited reporting obligation but provides only minimal operational detail. It names responsible agencies and enumerates data elements and frequen…

Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.

Perspective breakdownsPassage barriersLegislative design reviewStakeholder impact map
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