Lawsuit challenges $1.8 million fine against an immigrant
The Legal Aid Justice Center filed a lawsuit on July 8 on behalf of an Alexandria resident facing more than $1.8 million in immigration fines imposed by the federal government.
LAJC calls the fine “one of the latest examples of the administration’s escalating effort to use extreme financial penalties as a weapon against immigrant communities.”
Fear and intimidation
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, challenges the Department of Homeland Security’s attempt to impose massive civil penalties under a little-known immigration law that allows federal officials to fine individuals who remain in the United States after receiving a removal order.
The civil complaint argues that the government acted unlawfully, violated constitutional protections, and failed to follow basic procedural safeguards.
The plaintiff faces financial ruin after the federal government imposed a daily penalty, which compounds over time.
LAJC is not releasing the name of the individual “due to the sensitive nature of the situation,” said attorney Daniela Czemerinski. “Our client is one of tens of thousands of people subject to these egregious fines.”
“We believe the reason these fines are so high is that it’s just another mechanism of the government to harass and sow fear among immigrants,” Czemerinski said.
A financial hardship
A $1.8 million fine in this type of case is pretty standard, she said. To be able to pay that, someone would have to make a minimum monthly payment of $15,858 over 31 years and would need an annual income of $424,000.
“This is really hitting working-class families,” Czemerinski said. People who don’t pay could have their wages garnished. Immigrants are worried the government will take their property, but she hasn’t seen that happening.
According to a June 20 report by the Marshall Foundation, the federal government has issued more than 65,000 fines to immigrants with deportation orders who remain in the U.S., seeking a total of more than $36 billion.
DHS also reduced the number of days’ notice that immigrants receive before collection efforts can begin, providing only a window of 15 business days to contest the fine.
The plaintiff in the LAJC suit has seen their fine increase despite the plaintiff’s efforts to address their immigration circumstances and with virtually no way to challenge its validity.
Unchecked power
“The lawsuit isn’t about whether someone violated the conditions of immigration. It’s about the crushing financial penalty,” Czemerinski said.
“The threat of the fine causes people to self-deport,” she said, even if they have valid claims for asylum.
There are many reasons why a person without legal status doesn’t self-deport, she said. They might be pursuing alternative forms of relief, and in many of these cases, the person subject to the fine is part of a mixed-status household where another family member is a citizen.
“A $1.8 million fine is not immigration enforcement. It is government intimidation,” said Rohmah Javed, director of LAJC’s Immigrant Justice Program. “The federal government is reviving obscure enforcement powers to financially devastate immigrant families and send a chilling message.”
“These fines are designed to create fear, not compliance,” Javed said. “No government agency should have unchecked power to impose this kind of life-destroying punishment.”
The lawsuit seeks to block enforcement of the fine, vacate the unlawful agency action, and ensure the federal government complies with constitutional and statutory limits before imposing penalties of this magnitude.
This is the only suit of its kind in Virginia. A similar suit has been filed in Massachusetts.
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