The Trump administration has streamlined the process involved in fining illegal aliens as part of its border enforcement efforts. The new rules have been entered into the Federal Registry, which opens a 30-day public comment period.
The changes are necessary, according to the government filing, to overcome the current detailed and burdensome process required for notifying people of fines and then recovering the money. “Without this IFR (interim final rule), the current procedures under 8 CFR part 280 have the potential to become unnecessarily burdensome and cause unnecessary delay as DHS expands its use of the failure to depart and unlawful entry civil monetary penalties.”
The new rules from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Justice Department (DOJ) make it easier to impose fines on illegal aliens who continue to ignore the administration's warning to self-deport or face the consequences, including hefty fines.
DHS announced in late March that it would impose fines as high as $998 per day on those who had received an order to leave but stayed. Fines of up to $5,000 were threatened for those who said they would self-deport, but did not.
The financial fines are in addition to potential imprisonment for failing to self-deport and a strong likelihood of being refused legal status if later submitting a proper immigration request through the government.
DHS continues to recommend that illegal aliens use the CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) Home app to record their intention to self-deport, and then do so. The accompanying DHS warning: “If they don’t, we will find them, we will deport them, and they will never return.”
President Donald Trump opened the immigration enforcement process of his second term with an Executive Order released within hours of his inauguration on January 20 titled “Protecting The American People Against Invasion.”
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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