The RecordExhibit 129
Fines of up to $1.8 million for immigrants who stayed after a deportation order
Ruled unlawful means: A court ruled against it. Some rulings are on appeal.
On Oct. 5, 2026, a federal judge in Boston blocked the administration's policy of fining immigrants $998 a day, up to $1.8 million, for failing to leave the country after a final deportation order. He said the fines were imposed unlawfully.
What happened
The administration began levying the $998-a-day fines last year (the reports we opened do not give the exact date the policy began, so this entry is dated to the ruling) and applied them retroactively for up to five years, which is how the maximum reaches $1.8 million. As recently as July 2026, Homeland Security said it had issued more than 103,000 fines totaling about $84 billion since Trump returned to office.
Two of the immigrants who were fined, joined by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, filed a class action in 2025. They challenged the policy and what they described as a practice by ICE of issuing fines on boilerplate forms without assessing whether a person's failure to leave was willful or voluntary. In one case reported by CBS News, a mother from Honduras living in Florida was fined more than $1.82 million over a removal order issued in 2005.
Where it stands
U.S. District Judge George O'Toole in Boston ruled on Oct. 5, 2026, in the class action. Reuters reported that he held the fines were unlawful and violated the Administrative Procedure Act because the forms lacked specific allegations explaining why a person's conduct warranted a penalty.
He wrote that the plaintiffs were already in a precarious financial position and that collecting the fines would likely drive them into insolvency, which is why he halted the penalty policies. The reports we opened do not say whether the order is preliminary or final, and no appeal had been reported when this entry was written.
The administration's side
Homeland Security had no immediate comment on the ruling, Reuters reported. Asked earlier by CBS News about a $1.82 million fine, an ICE spokesperson said people who violate immigration law and do not comply with a removal order face legal consequences such as fines, and that the best option is to obey the law and leave. A DHS spokesperson urged people to use the CBP Home app to leave on their own.
Sources
Permanent link: https://unredactedrecord.com/e/migrantfines/