Unaccompanied Minors Face New Hurdles as Trump Administration Levies Unprecedented Fees

By Oisakhose Aghomo

Reporting Texas

 

Immigrant children seeking asylum in the United States are facing thousands of dollars in new fees and other hurdles mandated this year by Congress, Texas refugee advocates say.

“Policy changes that we’ve seen over the past few months …  all have one thing in common, and that is targeting the rights of migrant children to access protection in the United States,” said Trudy Taylor Smith, an advocate at Children’s Defense Fund-Texas.

The Trump administration has sent fee notices to unaccompanied minors across New York, Pennsylvania and Texas, according to The Intercept. In Michigan, MLive.com reported on the case of a teenage immigrant receiving a $5,000 fee for crossing the southern border. This development comes after the administration launched a stipend program dubbed “Freaky Friday,” promising child migrants $2,500 to self-deport with 24 hours to respond.

The One Big Beautiful Bill, or House Resolution 1, approved by Congress this summer included two $5,000 immigration fees — the Aliens Ordered Removed in Absentia Fee and the Inadmissible Alien Apprehension Fee.

The Inadmissible Alien Apprehension Fee would apply to asylum seekers, including minors, who are “apprehended between ports of entry.”

“The $5,000 fee, impacting anyone 14 years of age and older who crosses between ports of entry, is egregious and ostensibly intended to serve as a deterrent,” said a spokesperson for RAICES, an immigration advocacy group in Texas.

The group said it hasn’t seen a case of asylum being denied because of failure to pay the fees. But they noted nonpayment could be considered by immigration officials who have the power to use their discretion in determining the outcome of these cases.

In some instances, the recipients of these notices have received an even higher bill, totaling $5,250.

Lillie Hinkle, senior policy associate from Acacia Center for Justice, said that although these new fees seemingly have been created “from thin air,” they are hoisted by civil penalties authorized under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

“So these two separate things, to be super clear, we got our fee that’s related to the provision in HR1 right, that’s our $5,000,” Hinkle said. “And then in some of the things that I’ve seen pursuant to the INA you can also invoke or impose a $250 civil penalty for the same, for entry without inspection.”

Hinkle cautioned that the use of maximum civil penalties, plus the new fees, alongside the $2,500 stipend program could persuade unaccompanied minors to make decisions against their best interest.

The other $5,000 fee for removal “in absentia” would apply for any asylum seeker, including minors, who miss a court proceeding.

“What we know about migrant children, especially those who show up without a parent or guardian who are unaccompanied, is that in many cases, they don’t have access to an attorney,” Smith said. “They may not speak English. Many of them are very, very young.”

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, around 56% of unaccompanied minors had access to a lawyer in 2023. Millions of immigration cases remain in the system with only roughly 600 judges to preside over them. Yet, in February, the U.S. government informed legal aid organizations that it was terminating their contracts for legal services for unaccompanied minors.

“We had the government canceling a $200 million contract for legal aid services to unaccompanied children,” Smith said. “This affected the legal representation of about 26,000 children and youth.”

In April, after 11 organizations sued the Trump administration, a federal judge in California ruled that the administration must temporarily restore the funds to the legal aid organizations.

Acacia Center for Justice was one of the organizations affected by the cancellation, although their program is now reinstated.

“Organizations like Acacia … have had to pivot pretty dramatically from a position of being able to expand services, improve services, increase reach to a point of survival and trying to protect the existing services,” Hinkle said

Smith said she has been receiving more phone calls looking for attorneys available to take the cases of  unaccompanied children.

“Many attorneys who were working with groups serving unaccompanied children in particular, have been furloughed … as a result of the funding cuts,” Smith said.

Advocates say the addition of these fees complicates a strained system.

“We don’t know yet exactly what the impact of this fee will be on children’s cases. But we imagine that this is going to cause a lot of fear, stress, misinformation,” Smith said.

Other fees in the bill include a $100 initial fee for seeking asylum and the $100 Annual Asylum Fee. According to the USCIS, the annual asylum fee is for any asylum seekers with a pending asylum application for “the entire period of Oct.1, 2024, through Sep. 30, 2025.”

But a Maryland judge halted the $100 annual asylum fee on Oct.30. until the administration can give clear directives on the collection process.