A woman living in southern Florida who first entered the United States illegally 20 years ago has been fined $1.82m by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for failing to leave the country.
The mother of three gave an emotional on-camera interview to CBS News Miami, in which she was identified only as “Maria,” to express her shock. The 41 year-old appealed for clemency, particularly on behalf of her children, all of whom are American citizens, who she said would suffer if she were to be deported.
Maria said she was originally from Honduras but had entered California without the proper documentation in February 2005.
After failing to appear at a scheduled immigration hearing two months later, she was ordered to return home but instead settled in Miami-Dade, Florida, where she has lived for two decades and raised her children, now teenagers.
Then, on May 9 this year, she received a letter from ICE informing her that, under the seldom-used Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, she was being fined $500 for every subsequent day she had spent in the U.S., a penalty that now stands at $1,821,350, which she was given just 30 days to pay.
“Ever since that day I live with anxiety,” Maria told the CBS affiliate. “I can’t sleep… I don’t feel. I don’t want to go back.
“It would be extremely painful to be separated from my children, this is their country, this is all they know. Please have mercy. I want to stay with them.”
On her decision not to attend her hearing back in 2005, Maria said: “I told the immigration officer I didn’t have any family in this country or a specific place to stay. I never received any document and they did not know where I was going to be.”
Michelle C Sanchez, her attorney, called the fine “absolutely nuts” and argued that her client was never properly informed of the consequences of her actions.
Presenting the letter informing Maria of the fine, Sanchez said: “They’re supposed to say on [here] the date that she was advised and this is blank because they never advised her of the penalties. So that’s going to be my argument.”
She added that she plans to appeal Maria’s case.
Sanchez also warned that Maria’s children would suffer “extreme and exceptionally unusual hardships” if their mother were forcibly returned to Honduras without them.
The Independent has contacted ICE for its response.
The episode is just the latest in a series of dramatic stories to have emerged as a result of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration since he returned to office in January, which he has touted as the largest mass deportation push in American history.
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