The Trump administration is working hard to convince illegal aliens to leave the U.S. on their own terms, promising enticing benefits if they cooperate — and threatening serious consequences if they do not.
A Department of Homeland Security memo released late last month warned illegal aliens that failure to leave will result, among other things, in some serious fines. For instance, those who ignore a final removal order will be fined “$998 per day,” while those who reneged on a promise to self-deport will be fined between $1,000 and $5,000.
Hardly the brainchild of right-wing radicals in the Trump administration, these fines are actually based on a law passed in 1996 under President Bill Clinton and a Democrat-controlled Senate. Perhaps attempting to obscure the Democratic ties to the law, Reuters described it as “rarely used.”
Reuters added that since these fines could be applied retroactively for up to five years, some illegal aliens could rack up fines topping $1 million, resulting in asset seizures and other means of collection. The leftist outlet then suggested that such consequences would likely harm the U.S. citizens and permanent residents who share a household with illegal aliens more so than the aliens themselves.
Trump attempted to impose similar fines during his first term and eventually collected about $60,000 from at least four illegal immigrants, Reuters reported. When President Joe Biden took over in 2021, however, he stopped enforcing the 1996 law and assessing the attending fines.
Such foreign nationals will have ‘future opportunity for legal immigration’ so long as they use the CBP Home app ‘instead of being deported by ICE,’ the memo pledges.
In addition to hefty fines, illegal immigrants who remain in the U.S. now face other significant consequences, the DHS memo said. They risk apprehension and detention at the time of federal agents’ choosing, with no chance to get their “affairs in order beforehand.” They will also be “barred” from ever returning to the U.S. on a legal basis, and they could even be thrown in jail.
On the flip side, those who willingly cooperate and leave voluntarily will enjoy valuable bonuses. For one thing, they will be able to keep all they money they earned in the U.S. and perhaps even qualify for a subsidy to help cover the cost of their flight home, which can be arranged on their terms, the memo said.
Plus, they will have the chance to return to the U.S. legally. Such foreign nationals will have “future opportunity for legal immigration” so long as they use the CBP Home app “instead of being deported by ICE,” the memo pledges.
Nevertheless, at least one Biden official is alarmed that Trump once again intends to enforce a law added to the books by Democrats. “Their point isn’t really to enforce the law,” wailed Scott Shuchart, a former ICE leader under Biden.
“It’s to project fear in communities.”
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