US Border Patrol Announces $5,000 Fee for Illegal Crossers (1)
A newly constructed section of border wall at the US-Mexico border in the San Rafael Valley region of Arizona in December.
Photographer: Rebecca Noble/BloombergThe Trump administration has started charging a $5,000 fee to people who entered the US illegally.
The “apprehension fee” applies to anyone 14 or older who is arrested and determined to have crossed the border without authorization and is deemed inadmissible, US Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks said in a statement on X on Thursday. The fee was approved by Congress under President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included billions of dollars for immigration enforcement.