The Trump administration is preparing to impose daily fines of up to $998 and potentially seize property from migrants who remain in the US despite having received final deportation orders, in a sweeping enforcement plan aimed at strengthening immigration controls, reported the news agency Reuters.
The fines, based on a 1996 federal law, would apply to those who “willfully fail or refuse” to comply with a removal order.
According to the law, migrants could be fined up to $500 per day for every day they remain in the country after being ordered to leave. However, the administration now intends to enforce an updated penalty of $998 daily and apply it retroactively for up to five years, which could result in fines exceeding $1 million, according to The Mirror.
“If they don’t, they will face the consequences,” said department of homeland security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin in a statement quoted by The Independent. “This includes a fine of $998 per day for every day that the illegal alien overstayed their final deportation order”, McLaughlin added.
McLaughlin urged undocumented migrants to use the rebranded CBP Home app, formerly known as CBP One, to self-deport voluntarily. The app now allows users to initiate the deportation process. In a DHS social media post, officials warned: “If they don’t, we will find them, we will deport them and they will never return.”
According to Reuters, internal government emails show the White House is pressing US customs and border protection (CBP) to handle not just the fines but also property seizures. One CBP memo suggested the agency may require at least 1,000 new paralegal specialists to administer the penalties, up from the current staff of 313.
The department of justice’s civil asset forfeiture division is also being considered for handling the seizure of assets from non-compliant migrants, the emails said.
The policy would affect an estimated 1.4 million migrants who have been ordered removed by immigration judges. While some legal experts warn the policy may face court challenges, the administration has defended it as a lawful and necessary deterrent.
“The Biden administration abused the parole authority to allow millions of illegal aliens into the US,” DHS said in a statement quoted by The Hill, asserting that revoking leniencies was “a promise kept” to secure the nation’s borders.
Critics argue the policy could devastate low-income immigrants and mixed-status families. A 2019 analysis by the Migration Policy Institute found that 26% of households with undocumented members live below the federal poverty line. “Their point isn’t really to enforce the law, it’s to project fear in communities,” said Scott Shuchart, a former ICE official under President Biden, quoted by Reuters.
The move follows a string of aggressive immigration actions by US President Trump, including the use of a 1798 wartime law to expedite deportations and a separate initiative to strip Temporary Protected Status from hundreds of thousands of migrants.
It also comes amid budget strains at ICE, which is reportedly facing a $230 million shortfall even as it ramps up removal efforts that deported over 230,000 migrants last year, reported The Mirror.
