ICE deployment could extend to more than 40 states
ICE plans to send about 330 people to cities in more than 40 states, including Puerto Rico. The initiative aims to increase immigration enforcement in both large cities and small towns.
The Trump administration is preparing to fine tens of thousands of immigrants for the costs of their arrest, detention and deportation under a new policy that will also make it harder for them to legally return to the United States.
Homeland Security officials acknowledge they likely won’t be able to collect most of the new $18,000 fines imposed on more than 23,000 people a year. That’s because, according to London-based analytics and data firm ISI Markets, Mexico’s annual per capita household income is just $5,000.
But White House officials have previously said such fines are intended to encourage people to voluntarily leave the country.
Homeland Security officials told USA TODAY: “Our message is clear: Undocumented people in the country illegally must leave now or face retaliation.”
DHS published the proposed fee increases in the Federal Register on May 20th. The agency is seeking public comment on the changes until June 22.
Congress last year ordered DHS to begin collecting fines. Federal officials are proposing increasing that amount from $5,130 to $18,000 after evaluating the estimated cost of tracking, arresting, detaining and deporting a person.
DHS officials have previously increased various fines for people who cross the U.S. border illegally, refuse to leave the country when ordered to do so, and fail to leave after promising a judge that they will.
Federal officials told USA TODAY that they imposed $36 billion in fines on about 65,000 people between Jan. 20, 2025, and March 18 of this year. It did not immediately say how many people had paid fines, which averaged about $553,000 each.
The new fines will be imposed on people who have been ordered “deported in absentia,” which typically means they receive a final deportation order after missing a court hearing. Last year, immigration judges ordered the deportation of more than 300,000 people in absentia, with approximately 23,670 people ultimately detained and subject to deportation. Those who could be subject to the new fines include people who entered the United States legally but overstayed on student or tourist visas, and people who entered the country based on asylum claims but were later ordered to leave.
Immigrant advocacy groups say the new policy is part of the Trump administration’s deliberate effort to criminalize virtually all immigrants in the United States, including those who entered the country legally under different presidential administrations.
“Putting these fines and rewards on people’s heads makes them feel even more like fugitives from justice,” said Sarah Mehta, deputy director for policy and government in the ACLU’s Equality Division. “The whole goal is to terrify people and make them feel like they have to leave as soon as possible.”
Mehta called on the White House to work with Congress to create a pathway for people who want to become lawful permanent residents of the United States. She said many people targeted by the new fines had fled “horrible” violence and persecution in their home countries.
“They already overwhelmingly work, pay taxes and contribute to our communities,” she says.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said the new fines will do nothing to improve the immigration system. He added that it will not increase compliance for people who may have missed a hearing because they did not receive notice from the court or did not understand what was happening.
“Effective enforcement means creating a system where people actually comply, and not just imposing ever-greater penalties when they can’t,” Reichlin-Melnick said. The organization works to advocate for immigrant rights and provides free legal services to people who cannot afford an immigration lawyer.
The fee increase comes as the Trump administration increases the number of arrests that appear in court. The White House has acknowledged that this has led to a decline in court attendance. Under the law, people facing deportation generally cannot be deported while their immigration case is pending, but missing a single court hearing means an immigration judge can order immediate deportation.
Nicholas Chavez, a Texas-based immigration lawyer, said some people are skipping mandatory court hearings and taking their chances rather than being immediately detained and almost certain to be deported. He said one of his clients received a $1.8 million penalty notice last year because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement retroactively applied a decades-old removal order that she didn’t know about.
“Many of these immigrants believe they will not have a meaningful opportunity to make their case before a judge and decide that it is better not to appear in court,” he said. “Increasing civil fines appears less like a solution and more a response to a problem that the government itself has caused through aggressive tactics and fear-based messaging.”
The fee increases come as immigration enforcement ramped up under Trump’s second administration. In 2022, 62,510 people were ordered to leave the country for absenteeism. According to DHS statistics, the number will more than triple to 223,000 by 2024.
After taking office, the Trump administration repurposed the Biden-era CBP One app, renaming it CBP Home, and began offering cash bonuses to self-deportees. Under the Biden administration, immigrants were able to use an app to apply for asylum, but President Trump ended that practice.
Self-deportation payments are currently $2,600 per person and are paid after you prove you have left the United States. Those who agree to voluntarily leave may also be exempt from fines. Homeland Security officials said more than 100,000 people have used the app to leave the United States.
