Donald Trump
Trump Orders One Million Migrants to Leave U.S. ‘Immediately,’ Reinstates Daily Fines for Overstaying
Former President Donald Trump has ordered the immediate departure of approximately one million migrants who were previously allowed to stay in the United States under a Biden-era immigration policy.
The individuals in question had entered the country using a mobile app rolled out in January 2023 under the Biden administration, which allowed over 900,000 migrants to live and work in the U.S. temporarily under a humanitarian program called parole. Each individual was granted a two-year stay with work authorization.
However, under the new directive from Trump and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, now serving in a leadership role at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), those paroles are being revoked.
“Canceling these paroles is a promise kept to the American people to secure our borders and protect national security,” DHS said in a statement.
While the number of official termination notices sent to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) remains unclear, affected migrants have reportedly been instructed to self-deport using the same digital platform they originally used—now renamed CBP Home.
Alongside the deportation notices, DHS announced that migrants who fail to comply will face significant financial penalties. A fine of $998 per day will be imposed for every day an individual remains in the country past their final deportation date.
“If they don’t [leave], they will face the consequences,” a DHS spokesperson said. “This includes a fine of $998 per day for every day that the illegal alien overstayed their final deportation order.”
The fines are being implemented under a rarely used 1996 immigration law that was first enforced in 2018 under the Trump administration. President Biden later suspended its use in 2021, deeming the penalties “ineffective and unnecessarily punitive.”
However, a senior Trump official now claims the fines will be retroactively applied, potentially dating back to 2019. That means some migrants could face over $1 million in penalties if they fail to leave the country.
The sweeping policy change has sparked sharp debate over its legality and humanitarian implications, with immigrant advocacy groups expected to challenge the measure in court.
