The government of United States President Donald Trump has proposed raising to $18,000 the fines imposed against certain immigrants who do not comply with deportation orders issued against them and are arrested by immigration authorities.
Specifically, the proposal from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) calls for raising from $5,130 to $18,000 the fee established last year by the Budget Reconciliation Act for foreigners who received a deportation order in absentia, did not leave the country and who are subsequently detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE).
The charge seeks to partially reimburse the costs of detaining and expelling immigrants who have this type of deportation against them.
Likewise, the fine is part of the Trump Administration’s measures to encourage undocumented immigrants to self-deport.
In absentia deportation orders are issued against aliens who have been notified to appear in immigration court and fail to appear for their hearings.
In the proposal published in the Federal Register, the DHS explains that last September ICE began charging $5,000 for the fine established for fiscal year 2025. Last November, immigration authorities adjusted the fee for inflation to $5,130.
But now, ICE argues that it has reviewed the data and determined that the $5,130 fee is too low to sufficiently compensate this agency for the cost of detaining an alien who has been ordered removed in absentia.
“Consideration is required of the broader costs of identifying, detaining, processing, and removing such an alien,” DHS says in the proposal, arguing that a variety of indirect and overhead costs must be taken into account, including, but not limited to, training, vehicles, and support personnel.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has given a deadline for public comments until June 22.
77 immigration judges added
On the other hand, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the swearing-in of 77 immigration judges, bringing the total number of judges to 700, in an effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to deal with the backlog of cases in immigration courts.
The Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), a DOJ agency, said in a statement that this is the largest promotion of new judges in the country’s history.
EOIR has hired 153 permanent immigration judges this fiscal year, the highest number in a single year in the agency’s records. Another 5 immigration judges who have been classified as temporary were also sworn in.
Acting US Attorney Todd Blanche said in a statement that the promotion of new judges has been made possible “thanks to President Trump’s decisive leadership” and his commitment to securing our borders.
The immigration courts in the United States depend on the Executive and not the judicial system, which has allowed the Trump Administration to fire more than 100 judges appointed in the Government of Joe Biden (2021-2025).
The White House has pushed to tighten the criteria for immigration judges to review foreigners’ applications, especially those for asylum.
EOIR highlighted that since the arrival of President Trump, the immigration courts have reduced their pending caseload in said courts by more than 447,000 cases, reducing the pending caseload from approximately 4 million to less than 3.53 million.
Immigrant rights advocates have pointed out that part of the reduction in cases is also due to detainees abandoning their cases after spending prolonged periods in immigration jails.
