Federal judge blocks Trump administration fines of up to $1.8M for migrants

Key Points:

• A federal judge in Boston blocked the Trump administration's effort to fine migrants up to $1.8 million for failing to leave the U.S. after final deportation orders, ruling that the process violated federal law and could push migrants into insolvency.
• Judge George O'Toole found that the administration's fines lacked specific allegations and failed to provide a fair process, violating the Administrative Procedure Act and due process rights.
• The ruling came in response to a class-action lawsuit by migrants who argued the fines were imposed without proper individual assessments of willfulness or voluntariness and that the streamlined fine process bypassed required public comment.
• Since January 2025, the Department of Homeland Security issued over 103,000 fines totaling about $84 billion, imposing penalties of $998 per day retroactively for up to five years, a practice initiated during the Trump administration.
• Congressional Democrats, including Senators Alex Padilla and Dick Durbin, have called on DHS and DOJ to pause the fines, arguing they are improperly applied to law-abiding immigrants under the Immigration and Nationality Act.