Wendy Ortiz was taken aback when she learned that she was being fined $1.8 million by U.S. immigration authorities for illegally remaining in the country. It was the amount that truly stunned her.
Ortiz, 32, has resided in the United States for a decade after fleeing El Salvador to escape a violent ex-partner and gang threats. She earns $13 an hour at a meatpacking facility in Pennsylvania. This information was provided in both an interview and immigration paperwork. The rent and expenses for her six-year-old son, who is a U.S. citizen with autism, are scarcely covered by her salary.
“It is unjust,” she declared. “Where would an individual locate that sum of money?”
In the past few weeks, U.S. President Donald Trump has begun to implement a plan to penalize migrants who refuse to depart the United States following a final deportation order. A senior Trump official, who requested anonymity to disclose internal figures, stated that 4,500 migrants have received notices with penalties totaling more than $500 million.
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Reuters interviewed eight immigration advocates across the country, who reported that their clients had been fined a range of several thousand dollars to just over $1.8 million.
The recipients of the notices were advised that they had a 30-day period to contest the penalty in writing, under oath, and with evidence as to why it should not be imposed.
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