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A lawsuit was filed against the federal government on Thursday on behalf of Immigrants face fines up to $1.8 million each for staying in the United States illegally.
Daily fines of $998 have been imposed on more than 21,500 immigrants whose lawyers say they tried to comply with federal immigration laws. The fines were imposed to encourage immigrants to leave the country.
The lawyers said their clients were hit with “ruinous civil monetary penalties” that were “disproportionate to the seriousness” of any immigration violations and argued that the fines were unconstitutional.
The lawsuit filed in Massachusetts on behalf of two immigrant women seeks class-action status to represent people who were fined more than $6 billion under the president, lawyers say Donald Trump’s Mass deportation policy.
A lawsuit has been filed against the federal government on behalf of immigrants who face fines of up to $1.8 million for being in the U.S. illegally. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP/Getty Images)
“The people we serve are doing exactly what the law requires — seeking legal protection through immigration courts and immigration authorities,” Hasan Shafiqullah, a senior attorney at The Legal Aid Society, one of the groups representing immigrants, said in a news release. “In return, the government threatens to confiscate their wages, cars and even their homes.”
One of the two plaintiffs, a woman living in Florida identified only as Nancy M. in the lawsuit to protect her from retaliation, was ordered to leave the U.S. but also had a “supervision order” and met annually with immigration officials as she tried to obtain legal permanent residency.
Still, she received a bill earlier this year for about $1.8 million, apparently paid for by $998 in daily fines over the past five years.
The lawyers said their clients were hit with “ruinous civil penalties” that were “disproportionate to the seriousness” of any immigration violations. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The Ministry of Homeland Security claimed the lawsuit was “just another attempt to override federal immigration law through activist lawsuits.”
“The plaintiffs in this case are here illegally and are suing so they can remain in the country illegally without consequences or punishment — contrary to decades-old federal law,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Shortly after Trump returned to the White House in January, his administration unveiled a series of measures to encourage immigrants to leave the country, including DHS’s announcement in February that illegal immigrants could face a “significant financial penalty” if they choose not to self-deport.
DHS charges a $1,000 fee for migrants granted humanitarian parole
The Department of Homeland Security claimed the lawsuit was “just another attempt to override federal immigration law through activist lawsuits.” (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
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Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “have a clear message to those who are in our country illegally: Leave now,” McLaughlin said in February.
“The Trump administration will enforce all of our immigration laws – we will not choose which laws we want to enforce,” she added at the time.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.