Reuters: US slapped migrants with fines up to $1.8 million
4 Min Read
A controversial Trump immigration policy fined migrants up to $1.8 million for remaining in the US after deportation orders. Critics say the self-deportation policy disproportionately targeted low-income families and lacked due process.
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Law Enforcement officers detain migrants in the area in Carol Gables, Florida, January 28, 2025 (Pedro Portal/AP)
The Trump administration has imposed extraordinary financial penalties on thousands of undocumented migrants, some reaching as high as $1.8 million, according to Reuters. The controversial deportation fines were part of a last-minute enforcement push to pressure individuals into “self-deporting” from the United States.
Wendy Ortiz, a 32-year-old Salvadoran immigrant working at a meatpacking plant in Pennsylvania, was stunned to receive a notice from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) demanding $1.8 million. Ortiz, who earns $13 an hour and supports her six-year-old autistic son, a US citizen, told Reuters, “It’s not fair… Where is someone going to find that much money?”
She is among 4,500 migrants who received such notices in the last few weeks. According to a senior official speaking anonymously to Reuters, the total fines exceeded $500 million.
These fines, rooted in a 1996 law, were enforced beginning in 2018 and retroactively charged migrants $998 per day for remaining in the country after receiving a final deportation order.
Wendy Ortiz’s case highlights scale and impact of ICE penalties
Ortiz had been allowed to pursue her asylum claim after crossing the US border in 2015. Her legal team stated she never received a court notice and was ordered deported in 2018 in absentia. On January 8, 2021, her attorney filed a request for humanitarian relief, noting the threats she faced in El Salvador and her son’s need for specialized care. Just 12 days later, Trump officials launched the massive fines campaign.
“She is a mother of an autistic child, she has no criminal history, and they have all of her background information,” said her attorney Rosina Stambaugh. “I just think it’s absolutely insane.”
Immigration lawyers told Reuters the scale and scope of the fines were unprecedented. Robert Scott, a New York-based immigration attorney, said one of his clients, a Mexican woman living in the US for 25 years, also received a $1.8 million fine. She had a removal order from 2013 she was unaware of, and is currently fighting to reopen her case.
“At first you look at something like this and think it’s fake,” Scott said. “I’ve never seen a client receive anything like this.”
Attorneys reported that those targeted included spouses of US citizens and migrants trying to legalize their status. In some cases, medical emergencies or miscommunications led to missed court appearances, triggering automatic deportation orders and subsequent fines.
Fines based on 1996 law weaponized under Trump administration
The fines were authorized under a 1996 immigration law but remained largely unused until 2018. ICE issued the penalties, while Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was tasked with processing them and potentially seizing assets if migrants could not pay.
According to Reuters, CBP struggled with the logistics of property seizures, and no clear protocol had been established before Trump left office in his previous administration. While some earlier fines against migrants in church sanctuaries were dropped following legal challenges, smaller penalties continued.
Ortiz and others were given just 30 days to contest the penalties under oath and with documentation, a timeline immigration advocates argue was neither reasonable nor humane.
Biden rolls back fines but damage to families persists
In 2021, the Biden administration formally rescinded the Trump migrant fines, calling them ineffective and overly punitive. But for many families, the psychological and financial toll has already been devastating.
One US citizen named Rosa told Reuters her Honduran husband was fined $5,000 after failing to leave in 2018. He remained in the US to care for her while she underwent treatment for uterine cancer. “This whole process has cost us so much money,” she said. “And now we’re being fined like criminals.”
Lawyers warn that unless the laws are revisited and reformed, future administrations could revive these harsh enforcement measures. The Reuters investigation reveals how obscure legal tools were used to pressure migrants, raising ethical questions about due process, financial targeting, and immigration policy at large.
