President Donald Trump's administration seeks to expand its immigration control strategy beyond the borders of the United States. According to documents obtained by WIRED, the Office of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intends to hire private investigators to locate deported immigrants in Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala, with the aim of delivering collection notifications for pending immigration fines.

The program, called Payment Location and Recovery, would have a budget of $9 million for the next two years. Contractors must verify addresses through photographs, service receipts, employment records or official documents and deliver a brochure, in English and Spanish, with details of the financial sanctions that CBP ensures that deportees still owe.

Fines of up to $1.8 million

According to information published by the aforementioned media, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has imposed more than $84 billion in fines on immigrants accused of not leaving the country after a deportation order. Penalties can reach $998 per day for up to five years, which has led to cases with debts of up to $1.8 million.

Hasan Shafiqullah, an attorney with The Legal Aid Society, said even some private collection agencies add up to $500,000 in additional administrative fees.

Experts question the legality of the plan

Immigration law specialists maintain that this measure could violate due process and increase pressure on people who have already been deported. Alina Das, director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at New York University, called the initiative a “significant escalation” in immigration enforcement tactics. For his part, Charles Moore, a lawyer at Public Justice, considered that the strategy seeks to discourage future arrivals of immigrants to the United States.

The documents also indicate that the contracted companies will receive a fixed payment for each person located and bonuses if they quickly deliver the notification. The recovered money would be allocated to a federal fund to finance actions to identify, detain and deport immigrants.

Until now, neither the DHS nor the foreign ministries of Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras had issued a position on the program, according to WIRED.

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