Trump Ordered Immigration Fines; DHS Fined a Woman Under ICE Supervision $1.82 Million

DHS fined Nancy M. $1.82 million for not leaving while she lived here under ICE supervision; she later became a lawful permanent resident. Trump had ordered immigration fines assessed and collected. Judge George A. O'Toole Jr. found his agencies' process likely unlawful and stayed the rule and its fines.

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DHS and DOJ replaced advance notice of an intended fine with a decision imposing one. Recipients got 15 business days to appeal, down from 30 days to respond, with no extensions. The rule removed in-person interviews and Board of Immigration Appeals review, leaving appeals inside DHS.

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Judge O'Toole cited over 65,000 penalties assessed across the fines program, roughly $36 billion. DHS later reported about 110,000 ICE failure-to-depart penalties and 66,000 CBP unlawful-entry penalties under the June rule through September 14, 2026. Maria L. reported missing a month of work; Nancy M., who worked two jobs, reported anxiety disrupting sleep and eating. DHS abandoned an earlier effort as ineffective in 2021; its October 2026 final rule reported more departures and claimed success, but its comparison did not isolate the fines' effect.

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The government argued that Congress authorized these fines and that records and written appeals were enough to decide them fairly. A timely appeal did pause a fine, but DHS alone could reopen a final one; recipients were barred from asking. Judge O'Toole found the plaintiffs likely to win anyway: DHS gave no example of weighing a person's circumstances, and the agencies had skipped public comment the law likely required. In its later October 9 filing, DHS reported that recipients prevailed in 25 percent of decided appeals and that the appeal rate rose from less than 2 percent to nearly 3 percent, citing those results as evidence that appeals were meaningful.

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As of October 10, 2026, the stay of the June rule and its fines remained in force while the lawsuit continued. On October 9 the agencies filed a largely unchanged final rule intended to take effect October 14; that filing did not lift the stay. The stay cancels no debt and no removal order, and DHS may still pursue fines through its earlier procedures; the court stopped the shortcut.

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