联邦法官叫停对移民最高180万美元罚款政策：波士顿法院裁定处罚程序违法
波士顿10月6日——据路透社报道，联邦地区法官乔治·奥图尔（George O'Toole）周一（10月5日）在一项集体诉讼中裁定，叫停特朗普政府向未按最终递解令离境的移民征收最高180万美元罚款的做法。法官认为政府实施罚款的方式违法，并指出：若任由征收推进，原告很可能被推入破产境地——他们本就处于经济脆弱状态。国土安全部未立即置评。
罚款机制如下：本届政府自去年起对未按令离境者按每日998美元征收罚款，可追溯至多五年，上限180万美元；国土安全部称，截至今年7月已开出逾103,000张罚单、总额约840亿美元。国会1996年《非法移民改革与移民责任法》曾授权此类民事罚款，但历届政府均未动用，直至特朗普第一任期才开始实施；2025年7月，国土安全部与司法部又推出简化流程，取消30天通知期并缩短申诉程序——该流程与罚单使用模板表格、未个案审查「是否故意」的做法，一并遭到本案挑战，原告还包括移民法律资源中心。
法官奥图尔（克林顿任命）在裁定中写道，一名原告「南希·M.」被罚逾180万美元，她身兼两份工作、每周工作60多小时，罚单已严重影响其睡眠与生活；法官并认定政府的罚单通知违反《行政程序法》——未给出说明个案行为为何应罚的具体指控。裁定为初步 relief（临时救济），案件实体审理仍将继续，政府可上诉。本站数字均引自路透社报道的法庭文件与官方口径。
信息来源：路透社10月6日报道。
图片来源：John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse September 2024 — 4300streetcar / CC BY 4.0 (via Openverse)
Federal Judge Blocks Policy of Fining Migrants Up to $1.8 Million; Boston Court Finds Process Unlawful
BOSTON, Oct. 6 — A federal judge on Monday (Oct. 5) blocked the Trump administration's efforts to impose fines of up to $1.8 million on migrants who fail to leave the United States after receiving final deportation orders, according to Reuters. U.S. District Judge George O'Toole in Boston, ruling in a class-action lawsuit filed last year, said the administration imposed the fines unlawfully, and that halting the policies was necessary because collecting the fines would likely drive the plaintiffs into insolvency: 'The plaintiffs live in an economically precarious position even without the imposition of the government's exorbitant fines,' he wrote. The Department of Homeland Security had no immediate comment.
The mechanism: starting last year, the administration levied fines of $998 per day on migrants who failed to depart, applied retroactively for up to five years to a maximum of $1.8 million. DHS said in July it had issued more than 103,000 fines totaling about $84 billion since the president returned to the White House. Congress authorized such civil penalties in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, but no administration sought to impose them until Trump's first term. In July 2025, DHS and the Justice Department streamlined assessment by eliminating a 30-day notice period and shortening the challenge process — a process the plaintiffs, who include the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, challenged along with what they described as boilerplate fine notices issued without assessing whether a failure to depart was willful or voluntary.
O'Toole, a Clinton appointee, noted one plaintiff, 'Nancy M.,' a laborer working two jobs and more than 60 hours a week, was fined over $1.8 million, and found the notices violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to give specific allegations explaining why an individual's conduct warranted a penalty. The ruling is preliminary relief; the case continues and the government may appeal.
Source: Reuters, Oct. 6.
Photo: John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse September 2024 — 4300streetcar / CC BY 4.0 (via Openverse)
图片来源：John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse September 2024 — 4300streetcar / CC BY 4.0 (via Openverse)
