§1330 Collection of penalties and expenses

Summary

The Attorney General can sue in civil court to collect fines, penalties, or expenses that someone owes under certain immigration rules. Holding up or putting a lien on a ship or airplane is not the only way to get the money. The Treasury will keep a special "Immigration Enforcement Account" and put certain penalty money into it until it is spent. That money includes the penalty increases from sections 203(b) and 543(a) of the Immigration Act of 1990 and civil penalties collected under sections 1229c(d), 1324c, 1324d, and 1325(b). The account must repay appropriations for costs the Attorney General spent on enforcement work, such as finding and removing noncitizens who commit crimes, running and updating a tracking system for deportable or inadmissible noncitizens, and repairing or building border structures where illegal crossings are high. Refunds from the account must be made at least quarterly using the Attorney General’s estimates, with later corrections. From fiscal year 1996 on, refunds follow the Attorney General’s budget estimates and any changes require notice to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees as set out in section 605 of Public Law 104–134. The Attorney General must send Congress an annual report showing the account’s beginning balance, receipts, withdrawals, ending balance, and a projection for the next year.