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A total 21,500 fines worth at least $6.1 billion have been issued to illegal migrants for refusing deportation orders since President Donald Trump took office in January, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The amounts of the fines reportedly vary with some at nearly $1,000 for every day past removal orders, as well as individuals facing millions for staying in the U.S. long after they were ordered to leave. A Brooklyn restaurant employee who was ordered to leave the U.S. in 1998 faced a $1.8 million fine that was applied retroactively due to daily past fines accrued.
The individuals facing fines have been threatened with lawsuits by the Department of Homeland Security, debt collectors and subjected to IRS tax penalties, while others who chose to self-deport from the U.S. are being rewarded, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“It’s an easy choice: Leave voluntarily and receive [a] $1,000 check, or stay and wait till you are fined $1,000 [a] day, arrested and deported without a possibility to return legally,” a senior DHS official told the newspaper.
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the fines were a common-sense to punishing individuals who blatantly ignored U.S. laws.
“These fines are targeted toward illegal aliens who ignore removal orders and do not honor voluntary departure agreements,” McLaughlin said via the Wall Street Journal.
Others, however, view the penalties as a deliberate attempt to terrify illegal migrant into leaving the United States.
“It’s psychological warfare,” said immigration attorney LaToya McBean Pompy via the Wall Street Journal.
“It’s driving immigrants to the point where they feel like they will lose everything if they remain in the United States, so it’s better to cut their losses, pack up and self-deport,” she added.