Sen. Rick Scott Introduces Bill to Double Civil Penalties for Illegal Aliens

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Rick Scott today introduced the Illegal Immigration Cost Recovery Act, a bill to double civil financial penalties for illegal aliens who enter, or attempt to enter, the United States. While these penalties were signed into law nearly 40 years ago, President Trump is the first-and only-president to enforce monetary consequences for illegally entering the country and failure to depart. U.S. Senators Mike Lee and Tim Sheehy cosponsored this legislation.

Breitbart broke the story first, read HERE.

Specifically, the Illegal Immigration Cost Recovery Act increases penalties for those who:

1. Enter or attempt to enter the United States unlawfully.
2. Have a final order of removal who fail or refuse to depart from the United States.

This legislation would also increase financial penalties to employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens not authorized to work in the United States.

Senator Rick Scott said, "Illegal immigration is - in fact - illegal and has consequences. President Trump is working hard to restore law and order, and we in Congress needs to do our part to help. Decades of open border policies have created an enormous and unfair cost burden on Americans that needs to be offset to make things right; meanwhile, those that entered our country illegally should face consequences for their actions. This commonsense bill enforces the law and ensures illegal aliens can't keep ripping off our country and undermining the hardworking Americans who pay taxes and follow the rules."

Senator Mike Lee said, "Americans are footing the bill for illegal immigrants who use public services, benefits, and schools intended for citizens. Law has long required financial penalties for illegal immigrants, but no president other than Donald Trump has stood up for the American people by enforcing them. I'm proud to cosponsor Senator Rick Scott's Illegal Immigration Cost Recovery Act to double civil financial penalties for illegal immigrants and claw back Americans' hard-earned money."

Senator Tim Sheehy said, "Illegal immigration has real costs, and Montana taxpayers shouldn't be stuck footing the bill. This bill strengthens accountability, supports immigration enforcement, and helps ensure the illegal immigrants who break our laws - not American families - bear the consequences."

Doubling civil penalties is a fiscal measure to transition immigration enforcement toward a self-funding model. By increasing non-tax revenue collection, this legislation reduces the reliance on taxpayer dollars and puts the cost burden of immigration enforcement on the violators themselves.

These fines will generate revenue that will cover operational costs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Fines such as these were rarely enforced by DHS prior to President Trump's first term in office and paused completely under the Biden administration. ICE started issuing failure-to-depart fines again as of June 13, 2025, nearly 10,000 fine notices have been issued by ICE.

Click HERE to read the full bill text.

For a full breakdown of civil penalties under the Illegal Immigration Cost Recovery Act, see below.

*Penalty Adjustments for Inflation from Federal Register<_o3a_p>

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