A woman living in southern Florida, who first entered the U.S. illegally two decades ago, has been hit with a staggering $1.82 million fine by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for remaining in the country unlawfully.
The mother of three, identified only as “Maria” during an emotional CBS News Miami interview, expressed her disbelief and begged for leniency—especially for the sake of her American-born children, whom she fears would suffer deeply if she were deported.
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Maria, 41, said she originally came from Honduras and crossed into California in February 2005 without documentation.
After missing an immigration court date two months later, a judge ordered her to return to Honduras. Instead, she settled in Miami-Dade, Florida, where she has lived ever since and raised her children, who are now in their teenage years.
On May 9, she received a notice from ICE informing her that she was being fined under the rarely enforced Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. The penalty—$500 for every day she remained in the U.S. unlawfully—has now accumulated to $1,821,350. She was given only 30 days to pay.
“Ever since that day I live with anxiety,” Maria told CBS News Miami. “I can’t sleep… I don’t feel. I don’t want to go back.
“It would be extremely painful to be separated from my children, this is their country, this is all they know. Please have mercy. I want to stay with them.”
Reflecting on why she missed her court hearing in 2005, Maria explained, “I told the immigration officer I didn’t have any family in this country or a specific place to stay. I never received any document and they did not know where I was going to be.”
Her attorney, Michelle C. Sanchez, blasted the fine as “absolutely nuts” and said Maria had never been properly informed of the penalties she might face.
Holding up the ICE notice, Sanchez pointed out: “They’re supposed to say on [here] the date that she was advised and this is blank because they never advised her of the penalties. So that’s going to be my argument.”
Sanchez said she plans to appeal the case.
A billboard in Miami-Dade attacking Latino Republican politicians as “Traitors to Immigrants”—including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Representatives Maria Elvira Salazar, Carlos Gimenez, and Mario Diaz-Balart—was also seen in connection with rising immigration tensions.
Sanchez warned that deporting Maria would cause “extreme and exceptionally unusual hardships” for her children if she were sent back to Honduras without them.
ICE has been contacted by The Independent for comment.
This case is one of several unfolding amid President Donald Trump’s renewed push against illegal immigration since returning to office in January. He has called it the largest deportation campaign in U.S. history.
