The Trump administration will start charging a $5,000 fee to people apprehended who entered the U.S. illegally.

The “apprehension fee” will apply to anyone 14 or older who is arrested and determined to have crossed the border without authorization and is deemed inadmissible, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks said in a statement on X on Thursday. The fee was approved by Congress under President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included billions of dollars for immigration enforcement.

“This message applies to all illegal aliens — regardless of where they entered, how long they’ve been in the U.S., their current location, or any ongoing immigration proceedings,” Banks said in his tweet.

Arrests at the southwest border have plummeted in the past year, reaching monthly l

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