The Trump administration plans to begin fining illegal immigrants subject to a deportation order $998 a day if they do not leave the United States.
“Illegal aliens should use the CBP Home app to self-deport and leave the country now. If they don’t, they will face the consequences,” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Tuesday. “This includes a fine of $998 per day for every day that the illegal alien overstayed their final deportation order.”
Using a 1996 law that was not enforced until President Donald Trump’s first term in 2018, the administration plans to apply the penalties retroactively to illegal immigrants for up to five years, resulting in fines of more than $1 million, an administration official told Reuters, who was first to report on the fines.
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President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office on Jan. 20, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The administration could also seize property from illegal immigrants who fail to pay the stiff penalty, the report noted.
A flyer provided to Fox News Digital shows the “benefits” and “consequences” for illegal immigrants who fail to self-deport via the CBP Home app.
“Self-deportation is safe,” the flyer reads. “Leave on your own terms by picking your departure flight.”
President-elect Donald Trump arrives prior to his inauguration at the United States Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Melina Mara – Pool/Getty Images)
Other benefits of self-deporting include allowing non-criminal illegal immigrants to keep money they earned in the U.S. and allowing illegal immigrants to maintain eligibility for potential future legal immigration, while some illegal immigrants may even be eligible for subsidized flights if they have trouble affording a ticket.
Meanwhile, the “consequences” section of the flyer warns that those who fail to self-deport will be “apprehended by DHS with no opportunity to get your affairs in order beforehand.”
Venezuelan migrants walk following their arrival on a flight after being deported from the United States, in Caracas, Venezuela, on March 24, 2025. (REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria)
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The flyer also spells out the potential fines, including the $998 per day fine for failing to comply with final removal orders and a fine of $1,000 – $5,000 for failing to self-deport after “claiming that you will.”
“If you fail to self-deport, you may be subject to jail time,” the flyer concludes, adding that illegal immigrants would also later be “prohibited from reentering the U.S. through the legal immigration system.”