President Donald Trump's administration is moving forward with a new plan to impose fines of up to $18,000 on immigrants with final deportation orders who are subsequently arrested by immigration authorities, in a measure that is part of the federal strategy to tighten immigration policy and promote self-deportation.

The proposal was published this week by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the Federal Register and will remain open to public comments until June 22. The government is seeking to raise the current $5,130 fine, set just last year, arguing that the figure no longer covers the real costs of locating, detaining and expelling an immigrant.

DHS officials indicated that the new amount includes expenses related to investigations, arrest operations, detention, transportation, support personnel, training and logistical resources used by immigration authorities.

The measure would mainly affect immigrants who received deportation orders in absentia, that is, people who did not attend a hearing before the immigration court and who were subsequently declared deportable by a judge.

The White House seeks to encourage self-deportation

Federal officials have acknowledged that the government will probably never be able to recover much of the money from these sanctions, because many immigrants lack sufficient financial resources to pay them.

Even so, the White House maintains that the fines have a deterrent objective and seek to pressure undocumented immigrants to voluntarily leave the United States.

“Our message is clear: undocumented immigrants who are in the country illegally must leave now or face consequences,” the DHS said in statements cited by national media.

Federal data show that between January and March of this year, immigration authorities already imposed around $36 billion dollars in fines on some 65,000 people. The average fine exceeds half a million dollars per individual, although the government has not reported how many immigrants have managed to pay those amounts.

The tightening comes amid a significant increase in deportation orders issued in absentia. According to official statistics, more than 223,000 people received this type of ruling in 2024, a figure much higher than that registered just two years ago.

At the same time, the Trump administration transformed the CBP One immigration application, used during the Joe Biden administration for asylum requests, into the new CBP Home platform, designed to facilitate self-deportation processes.

The government even offers economic incentives of up to $2,600 dollars for those who leave the country voluntarily and certify their departure from the United States.

Organizations denounce a policy based on fear

Immigrant advocacy groups sharply criticized the increased sanctions and accused the Trump administration of trying to criminalize migrants, including those who originally entered the country legally.

The American Civil Liberties Union warned that the new measures create fear among immigrant communities and could cause more people to avoid attending their court hearings.

Sarah Mehta, deputy director of immigration policy at the ACLU, stated that many migrant families already work, pay taxes and contribute to the American economy, despite facing complex immigration processes.

For its part, the American Immigration Council pointed out that increasing fines will not solve the structural flaws of the immigration system or guarantee greater compliance with the laws.

Immigration lawyers also say that the fear of being detained when going to court is causing some immigrants to decide not to appear before judges. Texas-based immigration attorney Nicolás Chávez said many believe they will no longer have a real opportunity to defend their cases.

“The increase in fines seems less like a solution and more like a response to a problem that the government itself helped create through aggressive tactics and fear-based messages,” Chávez said.