Some Idaho immigrants now face million-dollar fines. Here’s why

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — First, the undocumented Idaho mother’s partner of 18 years was detained by U.S. immigration authorities. Sick in detention, she said in Spanish, he opted to leave the country rather than fight.

Then came the notification of fines the U.S. government says he racked up by staying in America years after a deportation order — more than $1 million worth.

The woman’s partner is one of at least several Idaho immigrants who have received fines that local lawyers say they have never seen enforced before. She said in an interview that she’s afraid her family could be further traumatized by the government’s actions while she is fighting for her dream of a stable life.

“I don’t have material things … it’s a simple life,” the woman told the Idaho Statesman on condition of anonymity because she fears she could be separated from her kids. “You’ve already done enough damage.”

She described her partner as someone who was trying to do things right — paying taxes, working hard, staying out of trouble — but still was detained.

Her partner will miss her GED graduation, a longtime goal of hers since she couldn’t go to school as a girl. One of her U.S. citizen children doesn’t understand and asks where Dad is, the undocumented mother told the Statesman, crying, during the interview. She is left to care for her partner’s elderly mom, who battles Parkinson’s and dementia.

Her partner’s case is not unique. Idaho immigrants have received notices saying the U.S. government was fining them — in some cases, more than $1.8 million — for staying in the country after a deportation order, according to two Idaho immigration lawyers.

These fines for failing to leave, authorized under the Immigration and Nationality Act, can be levied at a rate of almost $1,000 per day.

The Idaho woman’s partner had been trying to work out his immigration status for decades, she said.

In other cases with fines, the two local Idaho immigration lawyers said some of the immigrants subject to removal orders had been checking in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That’s because sometimes authorities decide not to remove people, for reasons that can include the situation in their home country, another pending application or their family situation in the U.S., such as acting as the sole caretaker for a U.S. citizen.

And in some cases, immigrants who received the fine had been granted work permits, said Maria Andrade, owner of Andrade Legal. The fines, of hundreds of dollars a day, seemed disconnected from whether the immigrants had cooperated with the government, she said.

“There’s a recklessness,” Andrade said in a phone interview. “This may be a lot less about collecting money and a lot more about terrorizing people and causing people extreme fear and panic with the pretty clear goal that they just leave.”

In a statement, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security touted the fines, saying ICE had issued over 65,000 fines totaling more than $36 billion between President Donald Trump’s inauguration last year and mid-March 2026.

“Our message is clear: Illegal aliens in the country illegally should leave now or face consequences,” the spokesperson said in an email. “DHS is encouraging illegal aliens to voluntarily depart using the CBP Home app, which allows them to fly home for free and receive a $2,600 stipend, while preserving the option to return the legal, right way. Illegal aliens who do not depart will face fines of $1,000 per day, as well as arrest and deportation without return.”

Andrade and the other lawyer, Neal Dougherty, one of the founding partners at Boise-based Burnett & Dougherty, said they’ve never seen the tactic of fines used before personally or at such a large scale nationwide.

“It really does put the fear of God into people,” Dougherty said. “It serves as an impetus for people to leave.”

In the past, immigration authorities could exercise their discretion by not focusing resources on people who were otherwise law-abiding and maybe had a family, Dougherty said. They weren’t “super lenient,” he said, but they had options. Now, everyone is a priority.

For some, that’s welcome news. Throughout the Idaho legislative session, some state lawmakers decried what they view as the harm that legal or illegal immigration presents to the U.S.

But others have worried about the logistics and ethics of going for widespread immigration enforcement. Ultimately, lawmakers failed on almost every immigration bill in 2026, save for one aiming to strengthen a 2025 law that a judge partially blocked in Idaho court.

“It is literally impossible for us to enforce every single law against every single person all of the time,” Dougherty said. “Granting the boots on the ground the ability to exercise discretion in how they’re going to do that is good for law enforcement.”