Immigrant fined over $1.8 million for not complying with 20-year-old deportation order

A Honduran immigrant faces a million-dollar civil fine in the U.S. for not having complied with a deportation order issued two decades ago. According to CBS News, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) imposed a penalty of $1,821,350, calculated with a daily fee of $500 since April 2005, when she was supposed to leave the country.

The woman, 41, and mother of three children born in the U.S., was penalized under a little-used clause of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. According to her lawyer, Michelle Sánchez, the deportation order originated after failing to attend a court hearing 20 years ago.

In 2024, the legal advocate requested the reopening of the case, arguing that her client meets the criteria for obtaining legal residency, thanks to her long time in the country, her clean record, and the impact that her departure would have on her children, all U.S. citizens.

Sánchez also warned about a worrying increase in this type of sanction. “ICE is using these fines as a tool of intimidation. They are imposing figures so high that most people will not earn that even in their entire life,” he denounced.

The notification received by the immigrant indicates that the fine can be appealed and that there is the possibility of requesting a personal interview to discuss the case.