Inside Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”: New Fees and Penalties Targeting Undocumented Migrants
While planning to deport over 12 million immigrants, Donald Trump paradoxically relies on these same immigrants to generate revenue outlined in the new federal budget, which was ratified by the president on July 4 following its adoption by the American Congress.
The legislation implements a series of new taxes and fees specifically targeting immigrants in irregular situations.
According to the Wall Street Journal, asylum seekers must now pay $100 to file an application — a provision that makes the United States one of the few countries to monetize access to humanitarian protection.
This amount is just the beginning: each year of waiting, asylum seekers must pay $100 until the final decision on their case. Their work permit renewal will now cost $550, up from $410 previously. The initial work card application remains free, but the Department of Homeland Security might introduce fees later, as permitted under this new budget law.
Immigrants whose applications are rejected will have to pay $900 to appeal, an amount that was previously only $110.
Additionally, all temporary visa holders — whether tourists, students, or workers — must pay a “visa integrity tax” of $250 on top of regular fees, as reported by Michelle Hackman and Jack Gillum for the WSJ.
New Taxes on Money Transfers
Another controversial measure involves implementing a 1% tax on money transfers abroad, known as remittances. This first-of-its-kind measure in the United States aims to discourage money transfers to immigrants’ home countries. As Quartz notes, this tax won’t apply to bank card payments but will affect transfers via money orders, cash, or checks.
Republican Senator Eric Schmitt had suggested a more restrictive version, proposing a 15% tax.
Unprecedented Fines for Undocumented Immigrants
The new legislative framework introduces unprecedented penalties. Each migrant apprehended without legal documentation will be required to pay a non-refundable fine of $5,000. An identical penalty may be imposed on those who fail to appear at their immigration court hearings. According to Vanity Fair, if a migrant is unable to pay these amounts, the Trump administration could initiate criminal proceedings.
This reform also significantly impacts social benefits. The Child Tax Credit, an annual allowance for families to support their children’s education, will now be inaccessible to American citizen children whose both parents are undocumented. “This effectively cuts essential aid to American children,” criticized Tara Watson, director of the Center for Economic Security and Opportunity at the Brookings Institution.
According to her estimates, approximately 2.6 million children would lose their eligibility for this aid, valued at $2,200 annually.
Imposing New Fees While Reducing or Eliminating Benefits for Immigrants and Their U.S. Citizen Children
The legislation also excludes several categories of immigrants — notably refugees and asylum beneficiaries — from accessing Medicare, Medicaid, health insurance marketplaces, and food stamps (SNAP). Only green card holders who have legally resided in the United States for at least five years, certain Cubans and Haitians, and nationals from Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau maintain their eligibility.
Shelby Gonzales from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities warns: “Many people were already excluded from health programs. This law makes the situation even worse.” She expresses concern about the pressure on food banks: “These facilities simply don’t have the capacity to absorb a massive influx.”
Heidi Altman, vice president of the National Immigration Law Center, strongly criticized this provision: “These exorbitant fees become barriers to access to justice for already vulnerable individuals.”
An unprecedented budget to intensify mass deportation objectives.
Celebrated by Republicans as a major political victory, this legislation, passed by both chambers of Congress after intense negotiations, allocates a historic $170 billion package for border security and immigration law enforcement.
This initiative primarily aims to “supercharge” – that is, massively strengthen – detention, deportation, and border surveillance capabilities. As White House Special Advisor for Border Affairs Tom Homan summarized: “More beds mean we can detain more bad actors” (NPR, July 3, 2025).
The bill assigns $45 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers, $30 billion for additional personnel recruitment, transportation funding, and maintenance of existing infrastructure, according to NPR reports.
The project also includes $46.5 billion to complete the border wall with Mexico, President Trump’s signature campaign promise since his first presidential run. An additional $5 billion is allocated to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities, plus $10 billion for other border security initiatives. Simultaneously, $13.5 billion will be distributed to states and local communities participating in immigration control efforts.
Kathleen Bush-Joseph, an analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, told NPR that this legislation “will certainly strengthen the immigration law enforcement apparatus in the long term,” but cautions that “changes won’t happen overnight.”
Detention Capacity Set to Surge
According to American Immigration Council calculations, the new funding could increase detention capacity to over 116,000 beds, even though many centers are already operating beyond their maximum capacity.
Bush-Joseph emphasizes, however, that this expansion could have negative consequences: “Immigration detention makes it harder to access justice, communicate with attorneys, and understand one’s rights.” She expresses particular concern about the announced abandonment of the “catch and release” principle, which previously allowed conditional release for certain individuals while awaiting their immigration court hearings.
An Insufficient Judicial Reform
The legislation allocates $3 billion to the Department of Justice to strengthen the immigration court system. These funds will primarily support the recruitment of new judges. However, as Bush-Joseph points out, the law caps the total number of judges at 800, while more than 1,300 would be needed to address the backlog of nearly 4 million cases (as of April 2025).
“Even with these new resources, courts are likely to continue falling behind,” she observes.
Already Substantial Contributions from Undocumented Immigrants
These new charges add to an already considerable fiscal contribution: according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented immigrants contributed $96.7 billion in taxes (federal, state, and local) in 2022 — with one-third of this amount funding programs from which they are excluded.
“It’s ironic,” comments journalist Katie Herchenroeder in Vanity Fair. “These people are being asked to pay for services they can’t access, and for policies targeting them.”
A Law Redefining Immigration
With the enactment of this law, President Donald Trump marks a major turning point in American immigration policy. The effective implementation of these measures will now depend on federal agencies’ ability to manage these unprecedented budgets and achieve presidential objectives.
For human rights advocates, concerns remain significant. This reform, combining enhanced security measures, increased fees, and social reductions, risks further weakening millions of already vulnerable immigrants and permanently transforming the American landscape.
Sources:
NPR, Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair
