Status as of October 14, 2026. DHS and the Justice Department have finalized rules for imposing certain immigration-related civil fines, effective October 14, even though a federal judge recently stayed the 2025 interim rule and fines issued under it. The new final rule adds one exception for appeals delayed by mail. It does not itself resolve how the court's order applies to enforcement under the newly finalized regulation.

The new regulations, issued jointly by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), were published Wednesday in the Federal Register. They preserve the faster fine-assessment and administrative appeal procedures introduced in June 2025 after a Massachusetts federal court found that challengers were likely to succeed on claims against the earlier system.

The central question is not whether Congress authorizes immigration fines in some circumstances—it does—but which procedures the government can lawfully use while the lawsuit continues.

What the October 14 rule changes

The final rule largely adopts the June 27, 2025 interim regulations without altering who can be fined or the statutory penalty amounts. The covered violations include willful failure or refusal to depart after a final removal order, failure to leave within a voluntary-departure period, and certain unlawful-entry violations.

Under the final rule's procedures, an affected person generally has 15 business days after service of the penalty decision to file an administrative appeal. A DHS supervisory officer, rather than the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), reviews the challenge.

The single new amendment allows ICE to accept an appeal filed after that deadline when the person submits an explanation and available evidence that delayed delivery of the notice—or another qualifying postal delay—was beyond their control. ICE must evaluate the circumstances case by case. This is not an automatic extension of the appeal period.

What the federal court stayed

On September 30, U.S. District Judge George A. O'Toole Jr. stayed the 2025 interim rule and all fines issued under it, pending a further court order, in Maria L. v. Mullin, No. 25-13471-GAO. The judge found that the plaintiffs had shown a likelihood of success on claims involving inadequate individualized consideration of whether a failure to depart was willful or voluntary, as well as the government's decision to issue the 2025 rule without ordinary advance notice and public comment.

The court's order expressly names the 2025 interim rule. The October 14 final rule is a subsequent agency action. Its publication does not, by itself, vacate the September stay or resolve the enforceability of previously issued fines; whether the new rule changes the legal position of future penalties may require further litigation or court clarification. DHS and DOJ acknowledge the stay in the final rule but argue that it does not prevent them from making the finalized regulation effective immediately.

Factum Immigration reported the September court stay on October 7.

How extensive is the fine program?

In the new rule, DHS says ICE issued approximately 110,000 failure-to-depart penalties between June 27, 2025, and September 14, 2026. CBP issued an additional approximately 66,000 penalties for unlawful entry. These are agency-reported penalties issued, not proof that the amounts have been collected or that each notice has survived legal challenge.

The court case includes individual assessments running into hundreds of thousands of dollars, including one of about $1.82 million. The underlying statutes authorizing civil penalties remain in place; the dispute is over implementation, individual findings and procedural safeguards.

What the new rule means for someone facing a fine

The date and legal basis of the particular penalty matter. A notice issued under the stayed 2025 system is not necessarily in the same legal position as a notice issued under the final rule after October 14. Nor does a stay of fine procedures cancel a removal order or confer immigration status.

Recipients should not treat the publication of the final rule as proof that an old fine is now enforceable, or treat the earlier stay as permission to disregard a new notice. Any appeal deadline, mailing evidence and the current effect of the court order should be assessed against the individual's documents and subsequent court developments.

Official sources

Disclaimer: Factum Immigration provides general information, not legal advice. For guidance on an individual case, consult a licensed immigration attorney.