What has happened in past administrations to illegal aliens who ignore deportation orders? Not much, actually. The federal government has only fitfully attempted to enforce such orders, and mostly ignores them to the same extent the recipients do. That's one of the reasons that many laughed at Mitt Romney's suggestion in 2012 that he could rely on "self-deportation" to reduce the number of illegal aliens in the US.
Donald Trump clearly has other ideas. Since taking office, the Department of Homeland Security has begun issuing civil penalties of nearly $1000 a day for those ignoring legitimate judicial deportation orders. Now they plan to either collect that money -- with fines into millions of dollars for some -- or hand out $1000 to each in exchange for self-deportation.
The Wall Street Journal has a not-so-admiring report on this new strategy:
The Trump administration has issued $6.1 billion in fines to immigrants it says have ignored deportation orders. Now it is moving to collect those penalties.
In recent weeks, the government has threatened immigrants with lawsuits, debt collectors and ruinous tax bills if they don’t pay financial penalties. If the recipient self-deports, Homeland Security says the fine will be waived and they will receive a $1,000 “exit bonus.”
Since President Trump’s return to office, the Department of Homeland Security has issued 21,500 fines to persuade people in the backlogged immigration court system to leave the U.S. The penalties come as the department struggles to fulfill Trump’s promise for the largest deportation campaign in U.S. history
