{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.lee.senate.gov/2026/6/lee-cosponsors-doubled-fines-for-illegal-immigrants-and-employers", "Lee Cosponsors Doubled Fines for Illegal Immigrants and Employers", "2026-06-12", "2026", "2026-06", "Republican", "Senate", "UT", "Mike Lee", "L000577", "www.lee.senate.gov", "mikelee", "https://www.lee.senate.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) today cosponsored the Illegal Immigration Cost Recovery Act with Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) to double civil financial penalties for illegal aliens residing in the United States and their employers.\n\n\u201cAmericans are footing the bill for illegal immigrants who use public services, benefits, and schools intended for citizens,\u201d said Senator Mike Lee. \u201cThe law has long required financial penalties for illegal immigrants, but no president other than Donald Trump has stood up for the American people by enforcing them. I\u2019m proud to cosponsor Senator Rick Scott\u2019s Illegal Immigration Cost Recovery Act to double civil financial penalties for illegal immigrants and claw back Americans\u2019 hard-earned money.\u201d\n\n\u201cIllegal immigration is \u2014 in fact \u2014 illegal and has consequences,\u201d said Senator Rick Scott. \u201cPresident Trump is working hard to restore law and order, and we in Congress needs to do our part to help. Decades of open border policies have created an enormous and unfair cost burden on Americans that needs to be offset to make things right; meanwhile, those that entered our country illegally should face consequences for their actions. This commonsense bill enforces the law and ensures illegal aliens can\u2019t keep ripping off our country and undermining the hardworking Americans who pay taxes and follow the rules.\u201d\n\nBackground\n\nWhile these penalties were signed into law nearly 40 years ago, President Trump is the first and only president to enforce monetary consequences for illegally entering the country. Under the Biden administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was specifically instructed not to issue these fines. ICE started issuing failure-to-depart fines again as of June 2025.\n\nHigher penalties will force illegal aliens to pay for the burden they have created for American citizens and impose penalties for breaking federal law.\n\nSpecifically, this legislation increases penalties for those who:\n\nEnter or attempt to enter the United States unlawfully.\n\nHave a final order of removal who fail or refuse to depart from the United States.\n\nThe bill would also assign financial penalties to employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens not authorized to work in the United States. These fines will generate revenue that will cover operational costs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).\n\nRead exclusive coverage by Breitbart News here.\n\nAccess the full bill text here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-06-13T06:32:19Z", "2026-06-13T06:34:27Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.lee.senate.gov/2026/6/lee-cosponsors-doubled-fines-for-illegal-immigrants-and-employers"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9503478650003672, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}