Trump Is Targeting Immigrants With $1.8 Million Fines for Staying in the US |
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Sanchez was already nervous about receiving a letter from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, but nothing could prepare him for seeing the dollar amount the government said he owed them: $1,820,252.00
The Cuban landscaper, who came to the United States with his family 20 years ago, was floored. The Arizona Mirror isn’t identifying Sanchez by his full name because he fears he will be retaliated against for speaking out.
Just two years prior, at a checkpoint in El Paso, Texas, immigration officials had told him he had a valid green card and sent him on his way after he was pulled into a secondary search. Now, he was being told he owed the government $1.8 million for failing to deport.
“I can’t even sleep worrying about it. What am I going to do?” Sanchez told the Mirror, adding that he is worried about being able to provide for his three children, all of whom are U.S. citizens.
His ability to work has become difficult, as he now fears Immigration and Customs Enforcement will come take him. He’s avoiding his family for their safety and taking any odd jobs he can, he says.
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He said he feels like he is already in jail.
Sanchez isn’t the only immigrant facing seven figures in fines, either.
The fines are part of a new push by President Donald Trump’s administration to increase deportation figures. Critics argue it is an intimidation tactic meant to force immigrants into self-deportation and rob them of due process.
Sanchez’s case is one of thousands across the country where DHS is charging immigrants $998 a day for staying in the country. The fines can be levied for a maximum of five years, and that’s what’s happening to Sanchez and the others, who all have been saddled with the same $1.8 million fine.
“It is all about putting pressure on people, it is not about a reasonable expectation of collection,” said Hasan Shafiqullah, an immigration attorney who is part of a network of attorneys fighting back against the fines.
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Sanchez came to the United States 20 years ago at the age of 18 because his family was fleeing........