The Trump administration has levied billions in fines against illegal migrants who have refused deportation orders, according to a report.
Immigrants have been fined at least $6.1 billion since President Trump took office in January, with some people facing millions in fines for staying in the US years after they were ordered to leave, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In total, 21,500 fines have been issued, sometimes to the tune of nearly $1,000 for every day stayed past removal orders.
One migrant, a Brooklyn restaurant worker who was ordered to leave the country in 1998, was fined $1.8 million in June after daily fines were applied retroactively.
Those facing fines have been threatened with lawsuits by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), hounded by debt collectors and subjected to crushing IRS tax penalties, according to the newspaper.
Meanwhile, immigrants who chose to self-deport from the US are rewarded.
“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 Journal.
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin characterized the fines as a common-sense approach towards people who are blatantly ignoring the law of the land.
“These fines are targeted toward illegal aliens who ignore removal orders and do not honor voluntary departure agreements,” she said.
But some are calling it a deliberate attempt to terrify illegal immigrants into leaving the country.
“It’s psychological warfare,” immigration attorney LaToya McBean Pompy told the outlet.
“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 said.
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