Wendy Ortiz was taken aback when she received a fine from U.S. immigration officials—$1.8 million, to be precise. This hefty penalty is part of an initiative by the Trump administration aimed at enforcing strict immigration policies. Many people, including Ortiz, find such excessive fines bewildering.
At 32, Ortiz makes $13 an hour working at a meatpacking plant in Pennsylvania. She has lived in the U.S. for a decade after fleeing El Salvador, escaping a violent ex-partner and gang threats. Her income barely supports her living expenses and the needs of her six-year-old son, who is a U.S. citizen and has autism.
“That’s really unfair,” she remarked. “Who can come up with that kind of money?”
Recently, President Trump has implemented a plan to fine immigrants who fail to leave the U.S. following deportation orders. This plan includes sending notifications to approximately 4,500 immigrants, with total fines exceeding $500 million, although sources chose to remain anonymous regarding internal figures.
In conversations with multiple immigration lawyers, many reported fines ranging from a few thousand dollars to $1.8 million. Recipients of these fines are given a 30-day window to contest the penalties in writing and under oath. This new measure aims to pressure undocumented immigrants to “voluntarily self-deport.”
The plan, first detailed by Reuters in April, involves imposing fines of $998 against immigrants who remain in the country post-expulsion orders. Retroactive fines could stretch back five years, with the maximum penalty set at $1.8 million. There’s also the potential for the government to seize property from migrants unable to pay the fines.
How exactly these fines will be collected remains uncertain, though they are initially issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Customs and Border Protection is anticipated to take over some aspects of handling these fines and any necessary property confiscations.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has not commented specifically on this issue, but a spokesman suggested that undocumented immigrants should exit the country voluntarily.
These fines stem from a 1996 law, which was brought back into effect during Trump’s first term, targeting around 1.4 million immigrants who were removed by immigration judges. Previous legal challenges reduced some fines, particularly for migrants seeking sanctuary in churches, but penalties were still issued. The Biden administration dismissed the fines in 2021.
Robert Scott, an immigration attorney based in New York, expressed confusion when a long-time client, a Mexican woman living in the U.S. for 25 years, received an $1.8 million fine. “At first glance, I thought it was a joke,” he admitted, noting he had never seen anything like it.
Scott explained that the woman had a final deportation order issued in 2013 but was unaware of it at that time. She filed a motion to address this issue last year, though it is still ongoing.
“She’s not hiding,” he pointed out. “It makes me wonder if this is just random or targeted.”
After crossing the border in 2015, Ortiz was initially released while pursuing her asylum claim, having shown credible fear of persecution. However, she didn’t receive notification of her immigration court hearing and was consequently deported for failing to appear in 2018.
In early January, Ortiz’s lawyer sought humanitarian relief from the government, citing risks to her safety in El Salvador and the lack of services for her autistic son. They asked for reconsideration and dismissal of her case.
Just twelve days later, Trump’s administration intensified their crackdown on immigrants.
Ortiz’s attorney, Rosina Stambaugh, is now exploring legal avenues to challenge the fine and has requested a 30-day extension.
“She has a child with autism and no criminal background,” Stambaugh emphasized. “It just feels outrageous.”
Some of the fines have also reached spouses of U.S. citizens working to legalize their immigration status. Rosa, a U.S. citizen in New York, mentioned her husband from Honduras was fined $5,000. He was unable to leave after receiving a voluntary departure order in 2018 due to her cancer diagnosis. She hopes that explaining their circumstances will lead to an exemption from the fine; otherwise, it’s an added burden.
“It’s just one thing after another,” she lamented. “The whole ordeal has cost us a lot.”
