State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP): Data Brief

February 27, 2025

Congressional Research Service

https://crsreports.congress.gov

R48441

State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP): Data Brief

Congressional Research Service 1

he State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) is a payment program that reimburses states and localities for correctional officers’ salary and training costs incurred for incarcerating “undocumented criminal aliens.” States and localities can only use

SCAAP funds for “correctional purposes.”¹

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) defines the term “undocumented criminal alien” in the context of SCAAP to mean an alien² who

has been convicted of a felony or two or more misdemeanors; and

(I) entered the United States without inspection or at any time or place other than as designated by the Attorney General;

(ii) was the subject of exclusion or deportation proceedings at the time he or she was taken into custody by the State or a political subdivision of the State; or

(iii) was admitted as a nonimmigrant and at the time he or she was taken into custody by the State or a political subdivision of the State has failed to maintain the nonimmigrant status in which the alien was admitted or to which it was changed under Section 248, or to comply with the conditions of any such status.³

Any state or locality that incurred reimbursable costs for incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens is eligible to apply for SCAAP funding. For states and localities to qualify for SCAAP reimbursement, aliens under their jurisdiction must have at least one felony or two misdemeanor convictions and be incarcerated for at least four consecutive days.

SCAAP was created by Section 20301 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-322), and it is currently codified at Section 241(I) of the INA. The program is administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), which is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Office of Justice Programs (OJP). The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) aids BJA in administering the program.

This data brief provides information on SCAAP awards by state and U.S. territory for the last 10 fiscal years (FY2015-FY2024).

1 8 U.S.C. §1231(i)(6). Examples of “correctional purposes” include correctional officers’ salaries, overtime costs, training and education programs for prisoners, and training for correctional officers on managing the offender population. (U.S. Department of Justice, “Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed eCollection eComments Requested; Extension of a Previously Approved Collection; State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP),” 89 Federal Register 87893, November 5, 2024, at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-11-05/pdf/2024- 25705.pdf.)

2 Federal immigration law uses the term “alien,” as defined by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), to mean persons who are not U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals (e.g., persons born in certain U.S. territories, such as American Samoa).

3 8 U.S.C. §1231(i)(3).

T

CRS-2

Table 1. SCAAP Awards by State and U.S. T erritory, FY2015-FY2024

(amounts in nominal dollars)

State FY2015 FY2016 FY2017 FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023 FY2024

Alabama $114,447 $140,547 $19,787 $13,688 $13,881 $6,549 $8,567 $338,330 $300,737 $192,982

Alaska 94,847 103,101 — 107,717 60,010 71,663 72,057 — — —

Arizona 6,976,580 7,462,786 7,690,614 8,361,743 8,106,229 7,394,247 7,917,630 6,512,822 6,234,167 4,312,538

Arkansas 362,771 139,968 142,575 128,675 144,524 167,427 197,669 219,653 219,975 204,460

California 56,998,988 67,445,197 72,735,910 76,715,095 71,077,960 79,770,997 77,267,143 88,163,498 78,513,167 59,419,543

Colorado 2,508,648 3,467,156 3,234,456 3,541,078 3,327,220 3,892,511 5,067,486 4,158,422 4,527,226 2,707,412

Connecticut 615,136 983,554 915,793 1,066,696 909,160 807,434 3,181,249 1,194,121 1,134,231 752,067

Delaware 81,227 88,632 — — — — — — — —

Florida 8,966,337 11,322,476 9,725,137 9,937,271 11,185,067 12,715,715 13,720,961 11,106,676 11,860,863 8,921,688

Georgia 1,248,373 1,368,020 1,713,363 1,718,665 1,699,199 1,997,669 2,137,559 1,805,920 1,611,461 1,114,128

Hawaii 227,572 334,737 395,709 499,446 284,525 374,236 662,720 542,488 867,707 581,706

Idaho 285,226 289,283 368,957 413,812 392,417 241,599 391,632 331,047 277,554 229,951

Illinois 6,124,387 6,787,219 8,605,525 10,374,673 9,117,354 829,222 901,094 756,155 727,704 417,306

Indiana 631,687 743,742 671,623 933,558 941,444 1,155,242 1,346,701 1,358,640 1,410,994 914,649

Iowa 248,688 493,944 364,694 406,174 349,808 419,761 101,112 433,441 371,399 314,957

Kansas 444,923 476,085 777,566 760,182 813,293 468,689 502,769 558,498 981,514 751,855

Kentucky 134,227 175,048 204,350 210,426 235,438 318,327 293,580 215,228 242,157 214,391

Louisiana 62,392 63,066 73,206 65,659 67,951 97,674 93,719 92,014 87,016 62,961

Maine 118,063 116,871 66,757 35,027 45,020 44,926 32,588 24,797 38,115 14,839

Maryland 2,176,801 2,832,305 2,857,773 2,689,966 3,304,181 4,750,152 7,649,739 5,187,445 5,770,693 3,154,839

Massachusetts 3,605,305 3,765,864 2,485,824 2,606,623 2,265,735 2,115,488 2,135,980 2,533,419 2,482,878 1,450,444

Michigan 815,478 881,745 867,736 1,063,279 1,189,964 1,110,480 1,303,500 1,151,922 1,084,726 716,251

CRS-3

State FY2015 FY2016 FY2017 FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023 FY2024

Minnesota 1,169,656 1,291,196 915,014 968,533 312,139 309,751 386,629 360,849 425,220 309,539

Mississippi 10,310 12,616 13,826 — 5,349 — — — — —

Missouri 148,770 205,878 176,894 218,906 206,885 190,507 28,133 185,528 173,074 116,329

Montana 20,611 36,118 22,194 27,390 23,588 28,863 37,672 33,324 27,574 20,644

Nebraska 494,173 628,012 358,748 759,640 778,544 1,058,184 1,084,819 884,520 1,399,271 862,966

Nevada 2,318,899 2,402,583 2,085,303 2,416,631 4,302,076 3,815,572 4,223,617 3,563,635 4,146,928 2,879,945

New Hampshire 99,180 117,022 146,819 98,762 91,896 119,997 106,879 99,447 94,476 65,409

New Jersey 9,299,455 10,093,189 11,311,714 12,042,543 12,608,355 11,377,965 15,840,921 9,595,129 9,429,424 5,775,594

New Mexico 619,330 629,422 711,985 317,110 291,142 289,049 463,884 376,224 304,263 231,276

New York 26,909,182 29,524,609 19,127,402 23,934,356 25,809,894 25,997,075 24,223,846 6,159,636 24,342,826 16,986,499

North Carolina 2,933,226 3,118,199 3,227,846 4,742,946 5,201,587 4,802,067 6,106,940 7,317,380 7,091,024 3,015,949

North Dakota 36,886 43,914 33,079 87,250 22,429 53,842 32,605 — — —

Ohio 652,926 801,831 822,513 852,312 1,057,323 1,245,804 1,331,920 1,493,554 1,428,187 924,647

Oklahoma 737,170 766,421 1,063,059 1,015,153 1,262,303 1,186,989 1,393,160 1,198,871 1,181,286 831,995

Oregon 2,113,818 2,322,043 2,560,639 2,627,429 2,552,135 3,091,976 353,945 136,687 89,594 238,131

Pennsylvania 2,446,080 2,776,589 3,125,095 3,261,348 3,470,435 3,800,651 6,101,464 3,627,955 3,470,148 2,326,067

Rhode Island 597,336 750,610 874,842 947,270 1,002,858 1,252,418 1,370,555 1,325,777 1,318,639 1,001,353

South Carolina 750,138 756,452 935,496 728,996 835,821 1,121,839 211,814 768,127 487,261 479,428

South Dakota 88,808 99,666 96,404 110,745 88,681 91,837 114,705 98,433 136,887 77,736

Tennessee 468,478 505,244 535,205 554,405 583,466 490,707 619,459 612,975 636,753 525,211

Texas 12,536,442 13,773,759 18,569,465 20,405,701 22,340,706 24,405,869 26,531,033 27,622,139 28,424,414 16,978,537

Utah 744,669 796,640 795,444 1,070,326 1,301,743 583,070 577,192 409,262 429,801 243,236

CRS-4

State FY2015 FY2016 FY2017 FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023 FY2024

Vermont 21,354 — — — — — — — — —

Virginia 2,691,271 2,753,327 3,545,741 3,866,717 4,022,986 3,033,504 3,901,793 3,537,603 3,648,768 2,663,959

Washington 2,269,898 2,585,204 1,619,362 771,612 667,724 — — — — —

West Virginia 1,112 27 — — — — — — — —

Wisconsin 1,496,172 1,587,693 1,824,503 1,899,111 1,981,452 2,134,833 774,901 2,392,007 2,412,570 8,905

Wyoming 97,593 116,700 150,299 122,916 114,269 — — 139,171 119,181 —

American Samoa — — 6,324 47,537 32,876 29,158 837 11,034 9,730

15,573

Guam 373,482 541,047 221,320 380,164 586,147 — — — — —

Northern Mariana Islands

60,017 45,381 54,163 84,443 159,712 218,422 — — — —

Puerto Rico 166,246 234,471 235,128 144,730 439,858 286,616 — — 142,847 —

U.S. Virgin Islands 127,357 136,969 93,554 144,135 536,933 472,101 323,887 330,498 276,656 —

Source: For FY20215-FY2023, see Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), “State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP): Archives,” https://web.archive.org/web/ 20250109072350/https://bja.ojp.gov/program/state-criminal-alien-assistance-program-scaap/archives. For FY024, see “BJA FY 2024 State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) Award Details,” https://bja.ojp.gov/funding/scaap-fy24-awards.pdf.

Note: “—” indicates that BJA did not report a SCAAP award for that state or U.S. territory in that fiscal year.

State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP): Data Brief

Congressional Research Service R48441 · VERSION 1 · NEW 5

Author Information

Abigail F. Kolker Analyst in Immigration Policy

Disclaimer

This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.