About 1.4 million of the illegal aliens roaming the U.S. today have already had a court order requiring their deportation, Border Czar Tom Homan reported Monday, warning that those ignoring the court order will be prosecuted and hit with hefty fines.
What’s more, because those 1.4 million illegal aliens violated their court orders, they can be legally deported without court proceedings by reinstating their removal orders.
“There are currently around 1.4 million illegal aliens who have been ordered removed, but remain here in violation of the law,” Homan told reporters at a press conference.
“The Trump Administration is committed to enforcing our laws, especially for those aliens who have received final orders of deportation,” Homan explained, warning these illegal aliens of the consequences they face “starting today”:
“There are currently around 1.4 million illegal aliens who have been ordered removed, but remain here in violation of the law.
“We will aggressively prosecute, consistent with long-standing law, those aliens for failing or refusing to depart or who take other related actions aimed at hindering their removal.”
“If you fail to leave the United States after receiving a removal order, we can and will issue monetary fines up to $998 a day,” Homan warned.
“Evading your arrest knowing you have a final order of removal is a criminal offense. We will prosecute, then we will deport you,” Homan said, providing examples of what constitutes evading arrest:
“If you cannot open the door [for immigration officers], if you cannot answer our questions, if you cannot open the car door, you’re considered to be evading law enforcement.”
Reinstatement orders are not subject to review by an immigration judge.
The process of removing illegal aliens by circumventing the court system has been employed by Democrats and Republicans alike.
In Fiscal Year 2013, for example, when Democrat President Barack Obama set a record by deporting 438,421 illegal aliens, four of five (83%) of them were deported without appearing before a judge. Of all deportations, 170,247 (39%) were deported via the reinstatement process. Another 193,032 illegal aliens (44%) were deported without getting the court system involved via the “expedited removal” process.
However, in former President Joe Biden’s last full month in office (December 2024), just 13.1% of deportations were reinstatements.
In contrast, in President Donald Trump’s first full month in office (February 2025), reinstatements rose to 21.5% of deportations. Last month, they accounted for a quarter (25.0%) of illegal alien deportations.