Wendy Elizabeth Ortiz Hernandez, a 32-year-old mother working in a Pennsylvania meatpacking plant, recently received shocking news: she had been fined $1.8 million by U.S. immigration authorities for remaining in the country after a deportation order.
Earning just $13 an hour, Wendy fled El Salvador ten years ago to escape domestic violence and gang threats. She now lives in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, raising her 6-year-old autistic son, a U.S. citizen. Struggling to make ends meet, she says the fine is not just unfair—it’s impossible.
“Where is someone supposed to find that kind of money?” she asked.
Wendy is not alone. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has issued fines to over 4,500 migrants, with penalties ranging from thousands of dollars up to $1.8 million. These migrants, all of whom have been ordered deported, have just 30 days to pay or contest the fines under oath and with supporting evidence.
This marks a sharp revival of a little-used 1996 law allowing such penalties, previously enforced during Trump’s first term. While President Biden reversed the policy in 2021, Trump’s return has brought it back—this time with more force. Migrants can be fined retroactively up to five years at a rate of $998 per day. The fines, in some cases, threaten to cost migrants everything, including their homes.
It’s still unclear how the administration plans to collect such massive fines or carry out property seizures. A Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official noted that logistical planning for potential forfeitures is ongoing.
Immigration lawyers across the country are stunned. Robert Scott, a lawyer based in New York, said one of his clients—a low-income Mexican woman living in the U.S. for 25 years—also received a $1.8 million fine. “At first, I thought it was a scam,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Wendy’s case is particularly troubling. In 2015, she was allowed to apply for asylum after proving she had a credible fear of returning to El Salvador. But due to what she claims was a missed court notice, she was ordered deported in 2018 without her knowledge.
Her lawyer, Rosina Stambaugh, submitted a humanitarian request in January, citing her son’s special needs and Wendy’s clean record. Less than two weeks later, Trump returned to office—and the crackdown began.
“She’s not a criminal,” said Stambaugh. “She’s a hardworking mother doing her best. It’s insane to think someone in her situation could pay this.”
Other migrants in similar situations, including spouses of U.S. citizens, are facing penalties despite their efforts to legalize their status. One U.S. citizen in New York said her husband was fined $5,000 after he missed voluntary departure due to her uterine cancer diagnosis.
“It’s just never-ending,” she said. “This process is draining us emotionally and financially.”
As thousands of families scramble to fight back against what they see as excessive and unfair fines, the debate over immigration enforcement under Trump’s return continues to deepen across America.
