Judge Blocks Trump Administration’s $1.8 Million Fines for Migrants

A federal judge in Boston blocked the Trump administration from enforcing civil fines of up to $1.8 million against migrants who failed to leave the country after receiving final deportation orders, foxnews.com reported on October 6, 2026. U.S. District Judge George O’Toole granted preliminary relief in a class-action lawsuit, ruling that the Department of Homeland Security imposed the penalties unlawfully and violated federal rulemaking standards.

Judge George O’Toole Issues Preliminary Injunction in Boston Federal Court

U.S. District Judge George O’Toole issued the ruling on October 6, 2026, in response to a class-action lawsuit filed the previous year by two affected migrants and the Immigrant Legal Resource Centre, TRT World reported. O’Toole, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, described the proposed financial penalties as exorbitant and astronomical, according to dailymail.com. The legal challenge targeted DHS and Department of Justice policies that removed a 30-day notice period and streamlined fine assessments without evaluating whether an individual’s failure to leave was “willful” or “voluntary.”

The administration defended the penalties by arguing that individuals who refuse to depart after a final removal order face fines of $998 per day, which were applied retroactively for up to five years, dailymail.com noted. By July 2025, DHS reported issuing more than 103,000 such fines totaling approximately $84 billion since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, foxnews.com reported. O’Toole found that the agency failed to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act because it did not offer the public a chance to comment on the streamlined fine process before implementation.

Migrants Face Immediate Financial Ruin and Precarious Living Conditions

O’Toole wrote that the plaintiffs already lived in an economically precarious position before the government introduced the penalties, TRT World reported. The judge highlighted the case of plaintiff Nancy M., a laborer working two jobs for more than 60 hours a week to escape political violence, who received a fine exceeding $1.8 million and experienced severe anxiety affecting her health, foxnews.com stated. The court found that forcing migrants to address the penalties could push them into immediate financial insolvency through wage garnishment, vehicle and home seizures, and federal collection lawsuits.

Dailymail.com reported that the fines formed part of a hard-line immigration crackdown aimed at encouraging migrants to “self-deport.” Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that the retroactive penalty system violated the Administrative Procedure Act, the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, and other constitutional protections, dailymail.com noted. O’Toole concluded that simply requiring the government to vacate the fine notices at a later date would not make the plaintiffs whole or restore their previous circumstances, foxnews.com reported.

Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department Review Court Decision

Dailymail.com reported that DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment following the October 6 ruling, while a spokesperson stated that the Department of Justice was reviewing the decision. Congress authorized civil penalties under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, but no previous administration attempted to impose them until Trump’s first term, foxnews.com stated. Alex Padilla and Dick Durbin, previously urged DHS and DOJ to pause the application of certain civil penalties to law-abiding immigrants under the Immigration and Nationality Act, foxnews.com reported.

Legal challenges against broader administration policies continue to move through federal courts alongside the fine litigation, dailymail.com noted. These include a separate lawsuit filed by 20 states seeking to block a rule that would make it harder for immigrants to obtain visas and green cards, foxnews.com reported. The administration has also revoked hundreds of thousands of visas for migrants and green card holders authorized to live and work temporarily in the US and ended Temporary Protected Status designations for most countries, dailymail.com stated.

Uncertainty remains over how the Department of Justice will respond to the preliminary injunction.