FROM FOX NEWS: A lawsuit was filed Thursday against the federal government on behalf of immigrants facing fines reaching up to $1.8 million each for staying in the U.S. illegally.
Daily penalties of $998 have been levied against more than 21,500 immigrants, whose lawyers say they were attempting to comply with federal immigration laws. The fines were implemented to encourage immigrants to leave the country.
The lawyers said their clients were slapped with “ruinous civil fines” that are “grossly disproportionate to the gravity” of any immigration violations, arguing that the fines are unconstitutional.
Two immigrant women have filed a class-action lawsuit in Massachusetts challenging fines that attorneys say now exceed $6 billion, imposed on individuals under President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies.
“The people we serve are doing exactly what the law requires — pursuing legal relief through immigration courts and immigration agencies,” Hasan Shafiqullah, a supervising attorney with The Legal Aid Society, one of the groups representing the immigrants, said in a news release. “In return, the government is threatening to seize their wages, cars, even their homes.”
One plaintiff, a Florida resident identified in the complaint only as Nancy M. to shield her from retaliation, had been ordered to leave the United States but was simultaneously under an “order of supervision.” She continued to check in annually with immigration authorities while pursuing lawful permanent residency.
Nevertheless, earlier this year she received a bill for approximately $1.8 million—calculated from daily fines of $998 accrued over the previous five years.
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