Immigrant Wants to Pay $368,000 in Fines, but Broken Payment System Won’t Let Him

Daniel, an immigrant from South America, arrived in the U.S. two decades ago with a tourist visa. He then filed an asylum application, which was denied. Eleven years ago, he married a U.S. citizen and had two children who are also citizens. Daniel was subsequently issued a deportation order, preventing him from legally staying with his family.

Recently, he received a government letter stating he owes around $368,000 in fines. President Donald Trump, through an executive order, began levying fines on immigrants who willfully fail or refuse to leave after receiving a removal order. The fines increased from $500 to $998 per day to account for inflation. Over 100,000 immigrants received notices of fines, totaling over $84 million as of July.

The government says it will forgive the debts if immigrants leave the country. However, Daniel cannot pay the fines because the government never provided the necessary information. The letters from the government are brief and don't explain how the fines were calculated or when they started accruing interest. They only require recipients to submit a contestation request within 15 business days, which is often past the deadline.

The payment system, pay.gov, is frequently down and doesn't accept cashier's checks or money orders, forcing immigrants to pay with debit or credit cards. Daniel's wife and attorney at New York Legal Response Team at Neighbors Link have tried various payment methods, including his Social Security number and alien number, without success.

Despite Daniel's willingness to pay, the lack of information and functional payment system presents a significant hurdle.