Summary: On October 26, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice in the Federal Register in which the Secretary of Homeland Security ratifies civil penalties that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) assessed under an interim rule between June 27, 2025, and October 13, 2026. The notice gives people who believe they were harmed by the interim procedures until November 16, 2026, to raise a claim with ICE.
What happened
On June 27, 2025, DHS and the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) issued a joint interim final rule changing how civil money penalties are assessed under three provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act: 8 U.S.C. 1324d(a)(1), 8 U.S.C. 1229c(d) and 8 U.S.C. 1325(b). These provisions cover fines connected to failing to depart after a removal order, failing to depart after a grant of voluntary departure, and entering or attempting to enter at an improper time or place. The interim rule moved these procedures to a new section of the regulations, 8 CFR part 281, effective immediately.
A final rule followed on October 14, 2026. According to DHS, the only change from the interim rule is that ICE may accept a late appeal when documents show a mail delivery delay that ICE finds was beyond the person’s control.
In the new notice, DHS says it is ratifying the penalties “out of an abundance of caution” to “resolve any uncertainty,” and that the ratification is not a statement that the fines would otherwise have been invalid. The ratification relates back to the original date of each penalty.
Who is affected
The notice covers final civil penalty decisions issued under 8 CFR part 281 from June 27, 2025, through October 13, 2026. It does not cover penalties that were reversed on appeal, are currently pending appeal, or were reopened and rescinded.
DHS says anyone who believes they were prejudiced by the interim regulations may raise that claim with ICE, which will decide whether prejudice was shown and what remedy, if any, is appropriate. DHS states this is not an additional appeal process, that ICE will not review claims missing the required identifying information, and that all claims must be received by November 16, 2026.
What it means
Ratification is a step agencies sometimes take to protect past actions from a possible legal defect. The notice does not create new fines or change the amount of any fine; it confirms fines already issued. It also does not explain what kind of “prejudice” ICE will consider sufficient or what remedies may be available, so how ICE handles these claims remains to be seen. Legal challenges to the civil-penalty rules, or to the ratification itself, could also affect how this plays out. People who received one of these fines may want to have their paperwork reviewed before the November 16 deadline.
Source: Federal Register – Ratification of Civil Penalties (FR Doc. 2026-21751, 91 FR 67325) (published October 26, 2026)
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This article is a news summary for general information only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Immigration law changes often and every case is different; only a legal consultation with Attorney James Betzold can determine how this news applies to you.