Border Patrol chief announces $5,000 fee for detained illegal immigrants
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
US Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks announced that a $5,000 “apprehension fee” will be charged to almost all detained illegal immigrants.
In a post on X on Thursday, Banks said illegal immigrants 14 and older who enter the country unsupervised would face a fee; It’s a provision in the “big, beautiful bill” that President Donald Trump signed in July.
“This message applies to all illegal aliens regardless of where they entered, how long they have been in the United States, their current location, or their pending immigration proceedings,” Banks wrote.
TRUMP’S REMITTANCE TAX AIMS TO SLOW ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION BY TARGETING THE FLOW OF MONEY
The warning follows a lawsuit filed Thursday against the federal government on behalf of 21,500 immigrants who face $998-a-day fines of up to $1.8 million each for remaining in the U.S. illegally.
Their lawyers argued they were trying to comply with federal immigration laws.
The U.S. Border Patrol said Thursday it will charge a $5,000 “apprehension fee” to all illegal immigrants detained. (Herika Martinez/AFP via Getty Images)
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced in October that immigrants paroled in the United States would face a $1,000 fee “to ensure accountability and prevent widespread fraud in the parole system.”
This week, DHS launched a “vacation for life deal” offering illegal immigrants a “Cyber Monday” incentive to self-deport.
All illegal immigrants in the country will be able to receive a free flight back to their home country and a $1,000 bonus if they leave the country voluntarily. The average cost to arrest, detain and deport someone is $17,000, according to DHS.
DHS said people who are in the U.S. illegally may also be eligible to have any fines or penalties they incur for failing to leave be forgiven, and they have the possibility of returning legally.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION is on pace to break the record for deportations by the end of the first year: ‘IT’S JUST THE START’
After taking office, President Donald Trump deployed additional personnel to the southern border and ended the practice of “catch-and-release.” (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)
The Trump administration previously announced it ended fiscal year 2025 with 237,565 Border Patrol apprehensions; this number was the lowest since 1970.
DHS Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital in October that the administration was “on track to break historic records,” estimating that 600,000 people had been deported by the end of Trump’s first year in office.
More than two million illegal immigrants have left the United States this year, 1.6 million of them self-deported, 515,000 deported and 485,000 arrested, he said.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced in October that immigrants paroled in the United States will face a $1,000 immigration fee. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
After taking office, Trump deployed additional personnel to the southern border and ended “catch and release,” the practice of releasing illegal immigrants while they await hearings.
Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo, Bonny Chu and Landon Mion contributed to this report.
