ICE using fines, lawsuits to pressure migrants to 'self-deport,' attorneys say [View all]

Source: ABC News

September 9, 2025, 5:05 AM


The Trump administration is suing migrants with removal orders and issuing fines of up to $1.8 million to pressure them into self-deporting, immigration attorneys tell ABC News.

In recent months, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has revived a rarely enforced 1996 law, using it to issue fines to migrants with deportation orders as part of the administration's aggressive immigration crackdown. The notices order them to voluntarily leave the U.S. to avoid the monetary penalty.

Merle Kahn, an attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, said the fines were never used until 2017, during the first Trump administration. She told ABC News that during Trump's first term the fines were rarely used, and when Joe Biden took office as president, he rescinded all of them.

"Now, they have started issuing the fines again, and they've increased them," Kahn said. "They could be fined over $1.8 million if they have an outstanding deportation order and didn't leave."

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/ice-fines-lawsuits-pressure-migrants-deport-attorneys/story?id=125368916