ICE’s $1,000-a-day fines pressure immigrants to self-deport

The Trump administration has launched an initiative to collect more than $6 billion in fines from immigrants who have remained in the country despite receiving deportation orders. These fines, issued under the president’s new immigration policy, represent a financial expansion of immigration enforcement beyond deportations.

In recent months, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have escalated their efforts to turn deportation denial into a financial issue. They have sent notices to immigrants threatening lawsuits, debt collectors, and even tax implications if fines are not paid.

Furthermore, the agencies remind people that if they self-deport, the balance will be eliminated and a $1,000 “exit bonus” will be granted. They also warn that those who remain in the country risk increasingly severe penalties, some as high as $1,000 a day.

This affects immigrants already living paycheck to paycheck. Retroactive fines can exceed $1 million if people have been in the United States for a long time. However, immigration attorneys have said these amounts are not intended for reimbursement, but are simply used to instill fear.

Unpayable debts

The practice of immigrant fines is based on a little-used provision of a 1996 immigration law, which has been revived by the Trump administration to bolster its promise to carry out the largest deportation campaign in U.S. history. As a result, the practice now relies not only on detention centers, deportation flights, and physical enforcement, but also on financial coercion.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressed his commitment to recovering these sums “on behalf of the American taxpayers” and announced that the Treasury Debt Collection Service will work directly with ICE to seize tax refunds, restrict federal payments, and hire private debt collectors.

On the other hand, the DHS has indicated that unpaid fines could be reported to the IRS as taxable income, similar to forgiven credit card or mortgage debts. However, tax experts are skeptical about the legality of this maneuver, noting that the waiver of a fine is different from the elimination of a financial gain.

Immigrants and the economy

Many of the affected immigrants work in low-wage industries such as construction, agriculture, and other sectors that rely heavily on undocumented labor. By burdening workers with impossible-to-pay debts, the government risks pushing them further underground, lowering labor standards and complicating tax collection efforts.

The reality is that many undocumented immigrants already participate in the tax system, so threatening to seize tax refunds contradicts the narrative that paints them as outsiders to the country’s financial framework. Similarly, aggressive enforcement of fines in states with large immigrant labor forces could lead to labor shortages, disrupt local economies, and put upward pressure on wages in sectors that are already struggling to find staff.

Critics argue that the multimillion-dollar fines imposed on low-income workers are more akin to intimidation than justice. Advocacy groups such as the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) have denounced the rules as unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on excessive penalties. The ILRC warns that the new system deprives immigrants of due process by limiting appeals, shortening response times, and confining reviews to DHS rather than independent tribunals.

Employers fined

While the focus has been on individuals, ICE has long maintained a parallel structure for sanctioning employers. Companies can be fined between $375 and $16,000 for each unauthorized worker, and up to $250,000 for knowingly harboring or transporting undocumented employees. Errors on I-9 employment forms can also result in penalties ranging from $110 to $1,100 per violation.

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