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.
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.
No lawyer, no money, no options
Sanchez came to the United States 20 years ago at the age of 18 because his family was fleeing political persecution in Cuba. His father had been outspoken against the communist Castro regime and feared retaliation in a country that has a documented history of repressing dissent.
Ever since, he has worked as a landscaper and has had no major run-ins with the law.
He has found a partner and started a family, with three children aged 3, 10 and 12, who he said he rarely sees out of fear of putting them at risk of a raid by ICE.
The letter, which the Mirror viewed, is similar to ones sent to many others across the country. The letter is signed by “Immigration Officer 1” and includes little information other than the amount of money he owes.
The letter includes information about setting up a payment plan with a link to a QR code to scan. When asked if he had done this, Sanchez said no, adding he was worried it was a trap.
“People are rightfully nervous,” Shafiqullah said, adding that he was unaware of any enforcement action related to fines yet.
But that didn’t quell Sanchez’s nerves. He’s worried that even if he tries to pay, he’ll be put in a detention facility, and if he can’t pay enough, he’ll be put in prison — so he’s considering self-deportation. DHS has said previously that those who chose to self-deport through their application would have their fines forgiven, but he doesn’t trust DHS to be true to their word.
“DHS is encouraging illegal aliens to voluntarily depart using the CBP Home app, which allows them to fly home for free and receive a $2,600 stipend, while preserving the option to return the legal, right way,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement to the Mirror. “Illegal aliens who do not depart will face fines of $1,000 per day, as well as arrest and deportation without return.”
With no money and no attorney to fight for him, Sanchez said he isn’t sure what other options he has and he fears being put into a facility where stories of mistreatment have become commonplace.
And it’s unclear if self-deportation would lift the burden of the fines.
“You could self deport and still have the fine out there accruing interest,” Shafiqullah said.
And that means it would be impossible to ever return to the U.S. or to send money to family members who remain in America without it being seized.
Project Homecoming
Last year, Trump signed an executive order titled “Establishing Project Homecoming” to encourage self-deportation. It talks about using fines, including garnishing wages and property, as a means of pressuring immigrants to self-deport.
In a statement to NBC 7 San Diego, DHS stood by the fines, saying they had issued fines to about 65,000 people, totalling $36 billion.
DHS repeated that same statement to the Mirror.
“Between January 20, 2025, and March 18, 2026, ICE issued 65,101 civil fines to illegal aliens totaling more than $36 billion,” DHS said. “Our message is clear: Illegal aliens in the country illegally should leave now or face consequences.”
Trump is the first president to impose the fines, though they’ve been an option for presidents since 1996, when they were established as part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act.
And this isn’t even Trump’s first time imposing the fines. His first administration also levied fines against immigrants, though it was an unsuccessful initiative: The majority of the fines came back as undeliverable in the mail, and ICE collected a total of just $4,215. President Joe Biden did away with the policy during his term.
When Trump returned to office, DHS began implementing the fines again.
But it is unclear if they’ll even be able to get that money, and Shafiqullah is part of a lawsuit that is asking a judge to halt their implementation until the courts can decide on their legality.
Without a judgment against an individual, the government can’t do much in regards to getting the money. It can begin garnishing wages, but seizing assets would require a judgment.
Many cases end up being sent to debt collectors. Shortly after the Mirror interviewed Sanchez, his fines were sent to collections.
For Shafiqullah and the lawsuit, the fines represent the government acting in a way that is “arbitrary and capricious” — and also likely unconstitutional.
ICE has to prove that people like Sanchez and others are willfully not departing despite having orders to depart. In most of the cases, the individuals are seeking things like asylum, green cards or other pathways to citizenship.
Shafiqullah said such immigration procedures can sometimes take years through the legal process, and waiting out the process doesn’t mean someone is willfully not departing.
Additionally, the people getting these fines are often not given a chance to appeal or given a jury trial, and the notices are sent to a last known address with 15 days to respond. That violates the Constitutional right to due process, according to the lawsuit challenging their use.
But even if the fines are found to be illegal or a court imposes an injunction, it doesn’t bring much hope to Sanchez’s current reality.
“It has affected me a lot,” Sanchez said, looking down and wringing his hands.
He doesn’t want to bring danger to his family but needs to provide for them. He isn’t sure what to do.
A situation, he noted, that he knows many others are likely in, as well.
