The administration of Donald Trump has initiated a lawsuit of nearly $1 million against an immigrant who has remained in the US in defiance of a court order mandating her departure.
This lawsuit exemplifies the administration's overarching strategy to compel undocumented immigrants to exit the nation by imposing significant financial penalties, representing merely one facet of the President's comprehensive anti-immigration initiative.
The federal lawsuit seeks a civil penalty of $941,114 — in addition to accrued interest — from Marta Alicia Ramirez Veliz, who is allegedly residing in Chesterfield County, Virginia without legal authorization.
Who is Ramirez Veliz? Here's all we know about the case
However, the circumstances surrounding Ramirez Veliz's initial entry into the US remain unclear. She received an order of removal from an immigration judge in 2019, which was finalized after the Board of Immigration Appeals rejected her appeal in 2022, as per the Department of Justice.
{{/usCountry}}However, the circumstances surrounding Ramirez Veliz's initial entry into the US remain unclear. She received an order of removal from an immigration judge in 2019, which was finalized after the Board of Immigration Appeals rejected her appeal in 2022, as per the Department of Justice.
{{/usCountry}}In April, Ramirez Veliz was issued a notice indicating that she would incur a fine, and she did not submit an appeal within the required 30-day period, according to attorneys representing the government.
Officials determined the nearly $1 million amount by calculating a $998 fine for each day from the dismissal by the Board of Immigration Appeals until her notification in April.
“Defendant has not paid any of the penalty and remains liable to the United States for the full penalty amount plus statutory additions,” officials stated.
Legal experts react to lawsuit against Ramirez Veliz
Several legal experts have blasted the almost seven-figure fine, labeling it as one of the largest fines of its type on record.
“That does sound like the largest number we have heard when we were tracking this,” stated Charles Moore, a lawyer with Public Justice, a public interest law organization, in an interview with Politico. “We know that the amounts were as low as $3,000 and as high as several hundred thousand but, no, we hadn’t heard of anything close to $1 million.”
According to the UK Independent, the Trump administration had imposed around 21,500 fines by this summer, totaling more than $6 billion, on immigrants who have allegedly disregarded orders to leave the nation.
Immigrants who fail to settle these fines have faced threats of legal action, debt collection, and substantial tax liabilities.