DHS Sends Over 100,000 Immigrants Bills of $998 a Day to Pressure Self-Deportation

The Department of Homeland Security has sharply expanded its use of civil fines to pressure undocumented immigrants with final removal orders to leave the United States, The New York Times reported on July 22, 2026. More than 100,000 people have received letters informing them they owe $998 for each day they remain in the country after a final order of removal.

The fines, authorized under existing immigration law but rarely used at this scale, function as a financial pressure campaign to encourage what the administration calls self-deportation. Accumulated daily, the penalties can reach hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the administration has paired them with other measures aimed at prompting departures without formal detention or removal proceedings.

The scope of the mailing, more than 100,000 recipients, indicates a systematic effort; the number of people who have paid or departed in response was not detailed.