A lawsuit was lodged this Thursday against the U.S. government representing immigrants who are facing fines as high as $1.8 million each for unlawful presence in the United States.
Daily fines of $998 have been assessed against more than 21,500 immigrants, whose legal representatives state that they were trying to abide by U.S. immigration regulations. These financial penalties were put in place as a way to motivate immigrants to depart the country.
The attorneys have stated that their respective clients were hit with “devastating civil fines” that are “extremely disproportionate to the seriousness” of any alleged immigration violations, claiming that these fines are not constitutional.
The lawsuit, submitted in Massachusetts on behalf of two female immigrants, aims to obtain class-action status to represent those facing penalties that attorneys claim have reached a total of more than $6 billion under the mass deportation policies of President Donald Trump.
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“The individuals we represent are precisely following the requirements of the law — seeking legal remedy via immigration courts and related agencies,” according to Hasan Shafiqullah, a supervising attorney with The Legal Aid Society, which is one of the groups providing representation for these immigrants, as noted in a press statement. “In return, the government is threatening to take their earnings, vehicles, and even their residences.”
One of the pair of plaintiffs, a woman living in Florida who was referenced in the legal filing strictly as Nancy M. to shield her from potential repercussions, was instructed to depart from the U.S., and also was under an “order of supervision,” meeting with immigration officials annually as she attempted to achieve legal permanent resident status.
Despite these factors, she was issued a bill earlier this year amounting to approximately $1.8 million, which appears to have been reached via daily fines of $998 over the preceding five years.
The Department of Homeland Security maintained that the legal action was “simply another effort to invalidate federal immigration law by means of activist-driven litigation.”
“The plaintiffs involved in this particular case are in the country unlawfully and are pursuing litigation in order to remain here unlawfully, with no consequences or penalty – which goes against federal law that is decades old,” stated DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
Soon after Trump’s return to the White House in January, his administration made public a number of measures intended to encourage immigrants to leave the United States, which included DHS’ announcement in February that illegal immigrants could be subjected to a “significant financial penalty” if they opted against self-deportation.
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Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “have a clear message for those who are unlawfully present in our nation: depart now,” McLaughlin commented in February.
“The Trump administration will be enforcing each and every one of our immigration laws — we will refrain from selectively choosing which laws will be enforced,” she added at that point in time.
The Associated Press assisted in the composition of this report.
