The Trump administration is scrapping the waiting period for issuing fines to migrants who remain in the country without authorization.
During his first term, President Donald Trump began issuing fines to undocumented immigrants who remained in the country illegally after 30 days. President Joe Biden later scrapped the fines, only for Republicans to bring them back once Trump returned to office.
A federal report reveals plans for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to scrap the 30-day waiting limit entirely and to immediately issue fines to those found to be in violation of immigration laws, starting at $100-$500 per illegal entry and rising to $1,000 per day for those who fail to comply with removal orders, ABC News reported. The rule will be published in the Federal Register—the federal government’s official rulebook, which contains agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices—on Friday.
The new rules will apply to those residing in the United States illegally who ignore orders of removal or who fail to comply with a judge’s voluntary departure order.
“DHS believes that the nature of the failure-to-depart and unlawful entry penalties supports the need for more streamlined procedures,” the report reads.
“The law doesn’t enforce itself; there must be consequences for breaking it,” Assistant Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said on Thursday. “President Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem are standing up for law and order and making our government more effective and efficient at enforcing the American people’s immigration laws. Financial penalties like these are just one more reason why illegal aliens should use CBP Home to self-deport now before it’s too late.”
“If they don’t, they will face the consequences,” McLaughlin added. “This includes a fine of $998 per day for every day that the illegal alien overstayed their final deportation order.”
As of June, DHS has issued around 10,000 fine notifications, totalling around $3 billion. Those who self-deport using the Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) mobile app will have the fines against them waived, the agency report says.
The Trump administration is also considering seizing the property of immigrants who fail to pay the fines, Reuters reports.
Although the recipients of the fines are permitted to challenge them in court, the threat itself is intended to convince people to self-deport.
“Their point isn’t really to enforce the law, it’s to project fear in communities,” said Scott Shuchart, a former ICE policy official under Biden.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
