Trump Admin Fining Migrants Thousands to Recoup Deportation Costs
The United States Department of Homeland Security is preparing to impose steep financial penalties on tens of thousands of migrants to recover the costs associated with their arrest, detention, and deportation under a new Trump administration policy that could also complicate future legal reentry into the United States.
Under the proposal, migrants could face fines of roughly $18,000 each.
Homeland Security officials reportedly acknowledge that the government is unlikely to recover most of the money, particularly given the economic realities in many migrants’ home countries.
According to data cited from London-based analytics firm ISI Markets, Mexico’s annual per-capita household income is estimated at roughly $5,000.
Even so, White House officials have argued that the penalties are not solely about revenue collection.
Instead, administration officials say the fines are intended to pressure migrants into voluntarily leaving the country rather than remaining in the United States illegally, USA Today reports.
“Our message is clear: Illegal aliens in the country illegally should leave now or face consequences,” a DHS official told the outlet.
Homeland Security published the proposed fee increase in the Federal Register on May 20 and is accepting public comments on the policy through June 22.
Congress directed DHS last year to begin imposing the fines.
Federal officials are now proposing to increase the penalties from $5,130 to approximately $18,000 per migrant after calculating estimated government costs tied to locating, arresting, detaining, and deporting an individual, said the outlet.
DHS has already increased several other immigration-related penalties in recent years, including fines for illegally crossing the border, ignoring deportation orders, and failing to depart the country after making commitments to an immigration judge.
Federal officials told USA Today that the government issued roughly $36 billion in fines to approximately 65,000 individuals between Jan. 20, 2025, and March 18 of this year.
Officials did not immediately disclose how many recipients had actually paid the penalties, which averaged roughly $553,000 per person.
The proposed fines would apply to individuals ordered removed “in absentia,” meaning they received final deportation orders after failing to appear for immigration court hearings.
Last year, immigration judges issued more than 300,000 in absentia removal orders, and roughly 23,670 of those individuals were later detained and placed into deportation proceedings.
Those potentially subject to the new penalties include migrants who initially entered the United States legally but overstayed student or tourist visas, as well as individuals who entered under asylum claims but were later ordered removed after their cases were denied.
Advocacy groups for immigrants argue that the new policy is part of a deliberate effort by the Trump administration to criminalize nearly all migrants in the United States, including those who came lawfully under previous presidential administrations.
“Putting this fine or bounty on people’s heads makes it feel even more like they’re a fugitive from justice,” Sarah Mehta, deputy director of policy and government affairs for the American Civil Liberties Union’s equality division, told the outlet.
“Overall, the goal is to terrify people and make them feel they have to leave as soon as they can,” she added.
Mehta urged the White House to work with Congress on creating a legal pathway for migrants seeking permanent residency in the United States.
She argued that many of the individuals potentially affected by the proposed fines fled what she described as “horrific” violence and persecution in their home countries.
The proposed fee increase comes as the Trump administration intensifies arrests of migrants appearing for immigration court proceedings.
White House officials have acknowledged that the enforcement push has contributed to lower court attendance rates. Under federal immigration law, individuals facing deportation are generally allowed to remain in the United States while their cases are pending.
However, if a person misses even a single court hearing, an immigration judge can issue an immediate removal order in absentia.
One of the main issues President Trump ran and won on was mass deportations of the estimated 15-20 million people in the U.S. illegally.
Trump Admin Says It Uncovered $10 Billion Obamacare Fraud Scheme
The Trump administration says it has uncovered what it describes as a massive fraud scheme within the Affordable Care Act.
Members of Trump’s administration allege that roughly $10 billion in taxpayer money was improperly paid out between 2021 and 2024 because of weakened enrollment safeguards under former President Joe Biden.
According to a Department of Health and Human Services report, officials have already removed nearly three million fraudulent or improper Obamacare enrollments and estimate another 2.6 million questionable enrollments remain.
Administration officials say the findings are part of a broader government-wide effort to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse across federal programs.
The report traces the alleged problems to changes made during the Biden administration that expanded enrollment opportunities while relaxing income verification and eligibility checks.
At the start of Biden’s presidency, approximately 10 million people were enrolled through the Affordable Care Act exchanges. By 2024, enrollment had surged to roughly 22 million.
Federal investigators now believe millions of those enrollments were improper, fraudulent, or created without the knowledge of the individuals involved.
“By our estimate, improper, phantom, and fraudulent enrollment peaked at 5.6 million people in 2025,” the report states.
“We estimate 2.6 million improper and phantom enrollments remain, including over 1 million enrollments without a Social Security number.”
According to the report, several different forms of abuse contributed to the alleged fraud.
Officials say some applicants intentionally understated their income to qualify for larger taxpayer-funded subsidies.
Others allegedly received premium assistance despite failing to meet eligibility requirements.
Investigators also identified what they describe as “phantom enrollments,” in which insurance brokers allegedly enrolled people in Obamacare plans without their knowledge to collect federal commissions.
The report argues that reduced verification requirements made those practices significantly easier to carry out.
Since taking office, the Trump administration says it has restored stricter income verification requirements, ended several special enrollment periods, increased screening for duplicate Medicaid enrollment, and launched investigations into brokers suspected of creating phantom policies.
Officials also say they have strengthened oversight of agents participating in the federal marketplace.
As a result of those efforts, nearly three million enrollments have already been removed from the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
Even after those removals, approximately 19.2 million people remain enrolled.
The administration says its goal is not to reduce legitimate coverage but to ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent only on individuals who actually qualify.
“Preserving the fiscal and programmatic integrity of the ACA Exchanges is key to safeguarding taxpayer-funded resources for those that truly need them,” the report states.
“The federal government paying brokers to enroll individuals without their knowledge is not.”
The report also says the administration will continue pursuing additional enforcement actions against brokers and others accused of exploiting the program.
“The Trump Administration continues to aggressively root out fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption by promulgating new regulations to improve program integrity, investigating suspected improper or fraudulent enrollment, and taking action against agents and brokers committing fraud.”
The findings are likely to reignite debate over the Affordable Care Act and how aggressively eligibility rules should be enforced.
Supporters of the administration argue the report demonstrates that stricter oversight is necessary to protect taxpayers and preserve benefits for those legally entitled to receive them.
Critics of previous verification rollbacks have long warned that loosening enrollment safeguards could increase improper payments and fraud, while supporters of the Biden-era policies argued the changes made healthcare more accessible to eligible Americans, Fox News reported exclusively.
The administration says its investigations remain ongoing, with an estimated 2.6 million additional enrollments still under review as officials continue auditing the federal health insurance exchanges.
Trump has been pushing to replace Obamacare for over a decade, and this may give Republicans enough motivation to actually do something.
