Migrant Advocates Sue ICE to Halt Civil Immigration Penalties

A civil penalty regime that’s led to fines of nearly $2 million for some immigrants is unlawful and should be set aside, an immigrant advocacy group argued in a new complaint.

A class action complaint from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and two individual plaintiffs argues US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s penalty system violates the Administrative Procedure Act because it’s arbitrary and capricious and was rolled out without notice-and-comment. The fines also violate the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause, and the right to a jury trial under the Seventh Amendment, according to the suit ...