NewsUpdated: Nov. 04, 2025, 10:53 a.m.|Published: Nov. 04, 2025, 10:33 a.m.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is now fining people $5,000 for crossing the border illegally. These fines are being issued to anyone over the age of 14, meaning some unaccompanied minors are getting charged. A file photo of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent. (Getty Images)Maxine Bernstein
The federal government issued a $5,000 fee to an unaccompanied immigrant teenager who crossed the southern border and landed in Michigan.
It’s one of the first known fees to be levied against a teenager under President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which created the new financial penalty for people who are caught entering the United States illegally.
Rose White is an economic reporter for MLive.com on the investigative team. She primarily writes about how the economy impacts people across Michigan. This includes topic areas of immigration, labor, housing,… more
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