A new lawsuit filed in Massachusetts is trying to shield illegal immigrants from hefty federal fines—some reaching $1.8 million per person—sparking sharp criticism from the Trump administration, which calls the case nothing more than an attempt to dodge long-standing immigration laws.
The suit, brought on behalf of two immigrant women but seeking class-action status, challenges the daily $998 penalties that have been issued to more than 21,500 individuals who remained in the country illegally. Attorneys for the migrants claim the government has levied over $6 billion in fines under President Donald Trump’s renewed enforcement push.
Despite those staggering figures, conservatives argue the penalties are both legal and necessary to restore immigration order. The Department of Homeland Security dismissed the lawsuit bluntly, calling it “just another attempt to nullify federal immigration law through activist litigation.”
“The plaintiffs in this case are here illegally and are suing so they can remain in the country illegally without any consequence or penalty – contrary to decades-old federal law,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said.
One plaintiff, a Florida woman identified as Nancy M., had been told to leave the country but remained under an “order of supervision,” checking in yearly while trying to secure permanent residency. Despite that, she recently received a bill for roughly $1.8 million, calculated from years of daily fines.
Her attorneys argue the penalties are “grossly disproportionate” and “ruinous.” Hasan Shafiqullah of The Legal Aid Society, one of the groups behind the lawsuit, insisted the migrants were doing everything the system required.
“The people we serve are doing exactly what the law requires — pursuing legal relief through immigration courts and immigration agencies,” he said. “In return, the government is threatening to seize their wages, cars, even their homes.”
Since returning to the White House in January, President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have openly pushed policies designed to encourage self-deportation. In February, DHS warned that those who refuse to depart voluntarily may face “significant financial penalty.”
The message, officials say, couldn’t be clearer.
Trump and Noem “have a clear message for those in our country illegally: leave now,” McLaughlin reiterated earlier this year. “The Trump administration will enforce all our immigration laws — we will not pick and choose which laws we will enforce.”
