DHS and DOJ Begin Imposing (Often Massive) Fines on Aliens Who Refuse to Leave

PrintBy Andrew R. Arthur



Bloomberg Law recently reported that the Trump administration “Is Taking Immigrants to Court, Seeking Millions in Fines”. It’s high time DHS and DOJ began using the monetary leverage Congress gave them decades ago to encourage aliens under final orders of removal to depart the United States — and note also that this fine threat is just a different flavor of what my colleague Mark Krikorian refers to as “briefcase enforcement”, in contrast to ICE arrests on the streets and in communities.
How the INA Deals with Aliens Under Final Removal Orders

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) is admittedly a bit schizophrenic when it comes to how DHS must deal with aliens who have received their full due process rights and are under final orders of removal.

For example, section 241(a)(1)(A) of the INA directs DHS to remove aliens under final orders of removal within 90 days (the “removal period”), and under section 241(a)(2)(A), the department must detain those aliens throughout that removal period.

Most aliens under final removal orders are not, in fact, detained, though section 241(a)(2)(A) continues, barring DHS from releasing aliens ordered removed on criminal and national security grounds, while section 241(a)(2)(B), added by the Laken Riley Act, gives state attorneys general standing to sue to enforce those criminal alien arrest and detention mandates.

If you want to know why Trump II has been pushing back so vehemently against “sanctuary jurisdictions” that impede ICE officers from taking custody of criminal aliens from their jails and prisons or straight out refuse to turn those aliens over to the agency, look no further than that mandate. This is the epitome of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenarios.

Anticipating that DHS would struggle to comply with the arrest and detention mandate in section 241(a)(2)(A) with respect to every alien under a final removal order, Congress in section 243(a)(1) of the INA made it a criminal offense for any alien who has been admitted to the United States, but who has been ordered deported, to willfully fail or refuse to depart within that 90-day removal period.

Violators are subject to imprisonment for up to four years (a felony sentence) and a fine, a penalty that jumps to up to 10 years in the pokey if the alien was ordered removed as a smuggler, criminal, or national-security threat.
The Fines for Failing to Depart

Moreover, and to supplement the criminal sanctions in section 243(a)(1) for aliens who fail to depart within 90 days, section 274D of the INA allows the government to impose civil fines on aliens who willfully fail or refuse to depart the United States pursuant to a final removal order, willfully fail or refuse to “make timely application in good faith for travel or other documents necessary for departure”, or fail to appear in response to a Form I-166 “bag and baggage” letter, telling the alien to appear for physical removal.

At present, the fine amount that may be imposed for such violations is set at $998 per day.

That authority was added to the INA in 1996, when immigration enforcement was under the authority of the then-Immigration and Naturalization Service (INA), but for nearly 30 years, it doesn’t appear either that agency or DHS has ever sought to impose civil fines for failures to depart prior to Trump II.

A dear friend often explains that “a number is just a number until you put a dollar sign in front of it”, and regardless of how wealthy you are, the threat of a per-day fine of nearly $1,000 for aliens under final orders who remain unlawfully provides a powerful incentive for them to comply with the law and leave on their own — if it were ever imposed.
“Trump Is Taking Immigrants to Court, Seeking Millions in Fines”

Which brings me to the Bloomberg Law article, headlined “Trump Is Taking Immigrants to Court, Seeking Millions in Fines”.

The outlet explains:


The government issued 65,101 civil fines totaling more than $36 billion from the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term in January 2025 to mid-March this year, the Department of Homeland Security said. The Justice Department has sued immigrants to force them to pay the fines in more than 50 lawsuits beginning last September, the Bloomberg Law analysis of court dockets found.

Some of the cases seek as little as $3,000. In at least five instances, the administration demanded $1 million or more. [Emphasis added.]

Good luck collecting on a $1 million-plus judgment from most aliens under final removal orders, but the good thing (or bad, depending on whether the defendant is you) is that the federal government can seize tax refunds and place liens on individuals’ real and personal property until its judgments are satisfied — meaning those aliens could quickly find themselves without a place to live, a way to get around, or a business to run.

A supervising attorney at the Legal Aid Society’s Law Reform Unit quoted by Bloomberg Law complained that these cases are simply “part of a scare campaign” and “part and parcel of creating an environment where it’s so painful to be here if you don’t have status that you’ll agree to self-deport”.

Respectfully, of course the criminal penalties in section 243(a)(1) of the INA and the civil fines in section 274D of the INA are intended to make it so difficult for aliens under final orders to remain here illegally that they choose to leave voluntarily, but then the pinnacle of due process and the ultimate point of the act is that aliens here without status must leave.

You could just as easily describe an IRS letter or audit as “part of a scare campaign” to make delinquent taxpayers cough up the dough they owe the Treasury, or state driver’s license requirements “part of a scare campaign” to ensure that those operating motor vehicles know how to drive — and you’d be just as correct.
The Other Alternative

The other alternative — likely no more palatable to the Legal Aid Society’s Law Reform Unit supervising attorney in question — would be for ICE officers to suit up and hit the streets to take those aliens under final removal orders into custody, which again both section 241(a)(2) of the INA and the Laken Riley Act already require.

Fines under section 274D, however, are a much cleaner, safer, and cost-effective way for DHS to achieve the same goal: requiring those aliens who have received due process and their day(s) in court but who have nonetheless been ordered removed to leave.

As a former immigration judge, I can assure you that absent enforcement, removal proceedings under section 240 of the INA are nothing more than a performative act that only benefits aliens who receive (or get to keep) immigration status in the United States, without any consequences for those who don’t.

There’s a reason why wizened immigration officers aptly complain “it’s not over until the alien wins”, and if that verity doesn’t offend you, ask yourself why Congress ever bothered to write immigration laws.
Body-Armor vs. Briefcase Immigration Enforcement

Krikorian has used the term “briefcase immigration enforcement” to describe worksite enforcement under section 274A of the INA, in which ICE agents target employers who have hired aliens without authorization and take custody of those aliens with little fuss or ado from their places of employment.

He contrasts it with “body-armor enforcement”, street arrests in communities of the sort described above, which often trigger street protests and violent confrontations when the aliens sought by ICE refuse to comply (hence, why the officers need protection).

More than a year ago when the protests were just starting, I highlighted the efficacy of section 274D fines (among others), and while I am not saying that someone was apparently listening, kudos to those who did or separately realized how effective fines would be on their own.

Add civil fines under section 274D of the INA to the “briefcase immigration enforcement” list, as it’s easier and safer for ICE to squeeze cash from non-compliant aliens who have been ordered removed but refuse to go than to take them down in the streets. “A number is just a number until you put a dollar sign in front of it” — and a removal order is just a piece of paper until ICE forces the alien to leave.




https://cis.org/Arthur/DHS-and-DOJ-Begin-Imposing-Often-Massive-Fines-Aliens-Who-Refuse-Leave