DHS Imposes $1,000 Fee for Illegal Immigrants Paroled Into the US

Agency said new fee aims to cut down on fraud in the immigration parole system.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (2nd L) tours "Camp 57," a facility to house immigration detainees at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, La., with Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (3rd L) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deputy Director Madison Sheahan (L) on Sept. 3, 2025. Gerald Herbert/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Illegal immigrants who want to stay in the United States while awaiting a court date or medical procedure will now have to pay $1,000, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Oct. 16.

The agency said the new fee for foreign nationals paroled into the country, which became effective on Oct. 16, is expected to create more accountability and prevent fraud within the parole system.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the abuse of the country’s immigration system under the previous administration turned parole into a “de facto amnesty program” and allowed millions of unvetted illegal immigrants into the United States.

“Through the implementation of this new fee, President Trump and [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem are guaranteeing that foreign nationals who wish to stay here have skin in the game and do not exploit the system,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “This immigration parole fee notice is another tool to stop the degradation of our immigration system and restore law and order to our country.”

The illegal immigrant population, which includes an array of statuses, reached a record 14 million in 2023, according to the Pew Research Center’s latest data, published in August. That represented an increase of 3.5 million people in two years, the biggest increase on record.

“The increase from 2021 to 2023 was driven primarily by growth in the number of unauthorized immigrants who were living in the U.S. with some protections from deportation, such as immigrants paroled into the country and asylum seekers,” the center reported.

About 6 million illegal immigrants had some protection from deportation in 2023, up from 2.7 million in 2021. This was about a 440 percent increase from 2007, when roughly 500,000 illegal immigrants had some deportation protection.

The $1,000 fee applies to all foreign nationals granted parole under U.S. immigration law, including initial parole, re-parole, parole in place, or parole from federal custody, unless they qualify for one of 10 exemptions.

The exemptions include medical emergencies in which the illegal immigrant because of sudden illness cannot obtain necessary treatment in the state he or she is living in or in which the medical emergency is life-threatening and there is not enough time for the person to be admitted to the United States through the usual visa process.

Parolees are also exempt if they are the parents or legal guardians of a minor child who needs emergency care. An adopted child with an urgent medical condition is also exempt.

Also, if the foreign national is needed in the United States to donate an organ or other tissue for transplant, and there is not enough time for the person to go through the usual process, the individual will be exempt from the fee.

Illegal immigrants walk alongside the U.S.–Mexico border wall after crossing the Rio Grande into El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 1, 2024. John Moore/Getty Images

An illegal immigrant also will not have to pay the fee if the person has a close family member in the United States whose death is imminent and the person could not arrive in the country in time to see the family member alive if subject to the usual process. An illegal immigrant will also not have to pay the fee if the usual process would prevent that person from attending a family member’s funeral.

Exemptions will also be made if a lawful immigration applicant is returning to the United States from abroad, if an illegal immigrant has returned to a contiguous country and is being paroled in the United States to attend an immigration hearing, or if he or she has been granted the status of Cuban and Haitian refugee. The DHS secretary may also exempt an illegal alien after determining that the person will bring significant public benefit to the United States.

The fee is due when the immigrant is granted parole, not upon filing a parole request or receiving a travel document.

Any parole granted on or after Oct. 16 is subject to the fee, even if the request for parole was filed before that date.

The fee may be adjusted each year based on the cost of living, according to DHS.