Florida woman, illegally staying in the U.S., fined nearly $2 million for failing to comply with removal order from 20 years ago
Florida – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has fined a Florida woman originally from Honduras $1.82 million for staying in the United States for two decades past a removal order. Officially delivered on May 9, the fine results from a 2005 order instructing her to depart the country—a directive she did not execute after skipping a court hearing almost twenty years ago.
Documentation from ICE’s civil fines office shows the woman, now with three kids born in the U.S., was fined $500 for every day she stayed following the first order. Her lawyer Michelle Sanchez called the daily penalty “exorbitant” and almost unpayable for any normal individual, totaling $1,821,350. Sanchez, who is managing the woman’s immigration case, said this is the first time in her years of experience that ICE has imposed such a large civil fee.
The penalty is authorized by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, a law that does permit civil fines against people who overstay orders to leave the country. Immigration authorities, therefore, point out that such sanctions are rarely applied in practice, which makes this situation somewhat exceptional.
Instead of putting people in jail, Sanchez said to reporters that ICE seemed to be intensifying its pressure by imposing large penalties.
“ICE is terrorizing individuals without even having to go pick them up,” Sanchez told CBS News. “They are terrorizing them by sending these notices where they are fining individuals an exorbitant amount of money that a person sometimes doesn’t even make that amount in their lifetime.”
Citing the woman’s clean criminal record and her U.S. citizen children, she has submitted a motion to reopen her client’s immigration case, arguing these circumstances should favor her for lawful residency. ICE turned down the earlier request this year, though, claiming no new guidance on prosecutorial discretion.
Sanchez has warned her client and others not to react promptly without first consulting legal counsel even if the ICE letter provides an opportunity to challenge the fine or ask for an in-person interview. She is getting ready to contest the fine, claiming her client never got appropriate notice on the prospect of such a severe punishment.
This enforcement operation occurs against a backdrop of heightened immigration crackdowns in Florida. A state policy roadmap reveals how Florida is boosting support for possible mass deportation initiatives, including more collaboration with federal agencies, enlarging detention facilities, and even helping with legal logistics and transportation.
Pew Research Center estimates show Florida now has roughly 1.2 million undocumented individuals. The state also takes part in federal-local partnership initiatives like 287(g), which let local police operate with certain federal immigration power. Critics include immigration activists and legal professionals say these harsh policies endanger fundamental due process and infringe on federal authority.
This woman’s situation draws attention to the larger discussion on how immigration laws are implemented and who suffers the most under state and federal changing policies.
