In Absentia Removal Failure-to-Depart Fee Increase

Current understanding

DHS/ICE has issued a proposed rule (evidence: proposed-rule) to raise the statutory fee assessed against certain aliens who were ordered removed in absentia, failed to depart, and were subsequently arrested, from $5,130 to $18,000, with annual inflation adjustments going forward. The fee was established by the HR-1 reconciliation bill, and this rulemaking implements and adjusts the dollar amount. Practical effect: substantially higher financial penalties on noncitizens re-encountered after an in absentia removal order; status is proposed rulemaking, not final.

Evidence log

• 2026-08-21 — Inflation Adjustment for EOIR OBBBA Fees; Fiscal Year 2027: cross-connection with eoir-filing-fees: Both are OBBBA-established EOIR fees subject to statutory annual inflation adjustment. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-08-03 — Visas: Visa Bond Program: cross-connection with visa-bond-program: Both target visa overstay/failure-to-depart via financial penalties, layering pre-entry bond forfeiture with post-order monetary consequences. (novelty: 3)
• 2025-11-20 — REMOVE Act: cross-connection with remove-act-removal-proceedings-timeline: Both measures tighten the removal-proceedings pipeline; REMOVE Act shortens the hearing window, which could increase in-absentia orders subject to the failure-to-depart fee. (novelty: 2)

Open questions

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