WASHINGTON – Wendy Elizabeth Ortiz Hernandez, a 32-year-old migrant living in Pennsylvania, was stunned when she received a notice from U.S. immigration authorities: she owed $1.8 million for remaining in the U.S. illegally after a final deportation order.
Ortiz, who earns $13 an hour working in a meatpacking plant and is the sole caregiver to her autistic 6-year-old U.S.-citizen son, called the fine “unfair” and questioned how someone like her could ever afford it.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has begun enforcing a little-used 1996 law that fines migrants $998 per day for staying in the U.S. after a deportation order. Notices were issued to 4,500 migrants, with total penalties exceeding $500 million. Some fines reviewed by Reuters ranged from a few thousand dollars to over $1.8 million—the maximum under this retroactive five-year framework.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued the fines, but Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is now tasked with processing them and potentially seizing property from those unable to pay, though logistics remain unclear.
Immigration lawyers across the country say they are baffled. “At first, I thought it was fake,” said Robert Scott, a New York attorney whose client also received a $1.8 million fine despite having lived in the U.S. for 25 years and being unaware of her 2013 deportation order.
Ortiz said she was released in 2015 to pursue asylum after showing credible fear of persecution in El Salvador, but never received her court notice and was deported in absentia in 2018. Her lawyer, Rosina Stambaugh, filed for prosecutorial discretion in January, citing humanitarian concerns and her son’s medical needs. Twelve days later, Trump took office and reinstated strict immigration policies.
Stambaugh is now seeking a 30-day extension and exploring legal options to fight the penalty. “It’s insane,” she said. “She’s a single mother, no criminal record. They have all her details.”
Legal experts warn the move could affect not only undocumented migrants but also those married to U.S. citizens or in the process of legalizing their status.
Rosa, a U.S. citizen in New York, said her Honduran husband was fined $5,000 after failing to leave the country due to her cancer diagnosis. “We’ve spent so much already,” she said. “Now this.”
This sweeping fines policy marks a return to Trump-era immigration enforcement tactics that were paused under President Biden. The future of the program and its legality may be tested in court.
