Lawsuit challenges up to $1.8 million in fines levied on immigrants by Trump administration

A lawsuit was filed Thursday against the federal government on behalf of immigrants who face fines of 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 who lawyers say were trying to comply with federal immigration laws. The fines were put in place to encourage immigrants to leave the country.

The lawyers said their clients were hit with “ruinous civil fines” that were “grossly disproportionate to the severity” of any immigration violations, arguing the fines were unconstitutional.

The lawsuit, filed in Massachusetts on behalf of two immigrant women, seeks class-action status to represent people facing fines that lawyers say have totaled more than $6 billion under President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policy.

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A lawsuit has been filed against the federal government on behalf of immigrants who face fines of up to $1.8 million for staying in the United States illegally. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP/Getty Images)

“The people we serve are doing exactly what the law requires: seeking legal relief from the courts and immigration agencies,” Hasan Shafiqullah, supervising attorney at the Legal Aid Society, one of the groups representing immigrants, said in a news release. “In exchange, the government threatens to seize their wages, their cars and even their homes.”

One of the two plaintiffs, a woman residing in Florida who was identified in the complaint only as Nancy M. to protect her from retaliation, was ordered to leave the United States but also had a “supervision order” and met annually with immigration officials as she attempted to become a legal permanent resident.

Despite this, she received a bill earlier this year for approximately $1.8 million, which appears to have been obtained through daily fines of $998 over the past five years.

The lawyers said their clients had been hit with “ruinous civil fines” that are “grossly disproportionate to the seriousness” of any immigration violations. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The Department of Homeland Security claimed the lawsuit was “just another attempt to overturn federal immigration law through activist litigation.”

“The plaintiffs in this case are here illegally and are suing so they can remain in the country illegally without any consequences or penalties – contrary to a decades-old federal law,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

Shortly after Trump returned to the White House in January, his administration revealed a series of measures aimed at encouraging immigrants to leave the country, including DHS’s announcement in February that illegal immigrants could face “significant financial penalties” if they choose not to self-deport.

DHS IMPOSES $1,000 FEE FOR MIGRANTS GAINED HUMANITARIAN PARLUS

The Department of Homeland Security claimed the lawsuit was “just another attempt to overturn federal immigration law through activist litigation.” (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

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Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “have a clear message for those 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 enforce,” she added at the time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.