The Department of Homeland Security (through ICE) and the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) have issued a final rule, “Imposition and Collection of Civil Penalties for Certain Immigration-Related Violations” (FR Doc. 2026-21024; Docket ICEB-2025-0034; RINs 1653-AA96 and 1125-AB36). It was filed for public inspection at 4:15 p.m. ET on 9 October 2026 and was published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, 14 October 2026, at 91 FR 65390–65432. The rule’s DATES line says it is effective on publication.

It finalizes the interim final rule of 27 June 2025 (90 FR 27439), which has been in force since that date, “with one change”: ICE may now accept an appeal filed after the deadline if the person shows, with documents, that mail delays beyond their control caused it. The Justice Department adopts its part of the interim rule “as final without change.” The rule is signed by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Acting EOIR Director Sirce E. Owen.

The fines are not new. Congress authorized them years ago. What the rule makes permanent is a faster way to issue them and an appeal that never leaves DHS.
Citizen impact: Three groups can be fined under this process: people who willfully fail to leave after a final removal order (or act to prevent their removal), people who miss the deadline in a voluntary departure order, and people caught entering or trying to enter the U.S. unlawfully. Who gains: DHS, which says it has gone from about 930 penalties a week to nearly 2,800. Who bears the cost: those fined and, commenters argued, their households, many of which include U.S. citizens or permanent residents. The rule changes procedure only; it does not set new penalty amounts or criteria.

The fines involved

The rule covers three statutory penalties. The amounts below are the inflation-adjusted figures the rule itself gives:

  • Willful failure to depart after a final removal order (INA 274D, 8 U.S.C. 1324d): up to $998 for each day of non-compliance.
  • Failure to leave under a voluntary departure order (INA 240B(d), 8 U.S.C. 1229c(d)): $1,992 to $9,970, set by an immigration judge or the BIA, with a general default of $3,000.
  • Unlawful entry or attempted entry (INA 275(b), 8 U.S.C. 1325(b)): $100 to $500 per entry or attempt.

DHS says it does not issue failure-to-depart penalties to people with no final executable removal order, for example those with a stay of removal, Temporary Protected Status, withholding of removal or Convention Against Torture protection where no other country is available.

What changed in June 2025, and stays

  • Old process (8 CFR part 280): a written notice of intent to fine, served in person or by certified mail; at least 30 days to respond; an optional in-person interview; a supervisor’s decision; and then an appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals.
  • New process (8 CFR part 281): an officer issues a written decision and order directly, which can be served by regular mail. The person has 15 business days to appeal, measured by postmark. A supervisor who did not issue the fine reviews the written record de novo and decides within 45 days. There is no in-person interview and no appeal to the BIA; the supervisor’s decision is final agency action, subject only to discretionary review by the Secretary. A timely appeal keeps the fine from taking effect while it is pending.
  • New in the final rule: a late appeal can be accepted case by case if the person explains in writing, with any available evidence, that delayed mail caused it. ICE will weigh mailing and receipt dates, the cause and length of delay, and the person’s good faith.

DHS’s own numbers

The preamble reports these figures, citing an Office of Homeland Security Statistics analysis dated 7 October 2026. They are DHS data and have not been independently audited.

  • Penalties issued: 12,135 by ICE from 26 March to 26 June 2025 under the old process. From 27 June 2025 to 14 September 2026, about 110,000 failure-to-depart penalties by ICE and about 66,000 unlawful-entry penalties by CBP, which the rule totals as “over 176,000.” CBP issued no unlawful-entry penalties before the interim rule.
  • Appeals: 3,072 appeals of the roughly 110,000 ICE penalties (nearly 3%), compared with 222 contested of 12,135 under the old process (under 2%). People won in 25% of the appeals DHS has decided. Under the old process only 44 cases went to the BIA, which had issued two decisions as of 10 September 2026.
  • Departures: over 82,000 people with removal or voluntary departure orders self-departed from March 2025 to 14 September 2026, and over 7,700 left after receiving a penalty. DHS’s own footnote says departure counts may be incomplete, and the rule presents these as a correlation it attributes to the penalties.
  • Background: about 1.5 million people on ICE’s non-detained docket had final removal orders before the interim rule; in FY 2024, about 10% of more than 282,000 final removal orders were executed.
  • Comments: the agencies received 28 public comment submissions on the interim rule.

What critics said, and the response

Contested: Commenters said the daily fine could push total penalties past $1,000,000 for one person, that unpaid fines can lead to wage garnishment and seizure of homes or vehicles, and that the burden falls on mixed-status families. Others said 15 business days is too short, regular mail is unreliable, and dropping the in-person interview and BIA review weakens due process. The agencies kept the 15-day window and declined a general “good cause” extension. They said the process gives notice and a meaningful chance to contest, citing the 25% success rate, and argued BIA review is not required by statute. The mail-delay exception is the only concession.

The agencies say the rule is not a “rule” under the Congressional Review Act because it concerns agency procedure that does not substantially affect outside parties’ rights, though they will still send it to Congress. They invoke good cause to skip the usual 30-day delay, so it takes effect on publication.

What this is not

  • Not new fines. The amounts come from statute and existing inflation adjustments; the rule changes how penalties are issued and appealed.
  • Not a fine on everyone without status. It applies to the three categories above, and DHS says it skips people without a final executable removal order.
  • Now in the Federal Register. Published 14 October 2026 at 91 FR 65390 and effective that day; the interim rule it replaces has applied since 27 June 2025.
  • Not a collections figure. The rule counts penalties issued, not money collected.
Update, 14 October 2026: The final rule was published as scheduled, at 91 FR 65390–65432. Its DATES line confirms it is effective on 14 October 2026. The substance is unchanged from our 11 October piece: one change allowing late appeals for documented mail delays.

Bottom line

Verified as of 14 October 2026 from the published Federal Register notice (91 FR 65390): DHS and EOIR are finalizing the June 2025 interim rule on civil penalties for failure to depart and unlawful entry, with one change allowing late appeals caused by documented mail delays. The rule is due to publish and take effect on 14 October 2026. Watch for the published Federal Register citation and any legal challenge to the DHS-only appeal.