A federal judge in Massachusetts halted a provisional process for imposing fines on immigrants accused of violating deportation orders, finding that plaintiffs may show the government failed to follow a lawful process and consider individual circumstances.

The September 30 order by Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. suspended the June 2025 rule and fines issued under it while the lawsuit proceeds.

In the class action Maria L. v. Mullin, plaintiffs accuse the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice of acting against that order by retaining the procedure and affirming fines; they filed two emergency motions in federal court.

The government published a final regulation on October 14 that largely retained the earlier procedure, then issued an October 26 notice affirming certain fines imposed from June 27, 2025, through October 13, 2026; the notice excluded fines overturned, still under appeal, or properly reopened and annulled.

DHS said the affirmations addressed uncertainty over earlier administrative decisions and did not concede the fines were invalid; plaintiffs say the actions conflict with the judge’s order, but the court has not found the government in contempt or definitively annulled the confirmed fines.

Filed on November 20, 2025, by Public Justice, The Legal Aid Society and RAICES, the lawsuit seeks to represent more than 21,500 people facing fines totaling over $6 billion, according to Public Justice.

The penalties can reach $998 a day for willfully violating a final deportation order, but simply remaining in the United States is not enough: authorities must establish deliberate refusal to leave or voluntary noncompliance.

The case is especially consequential for Cubans with final deportation orders who cannot return to Cuba; Sànchez, a Cuban resident in Arizona, received a fine of $1,820,252.

An I-220A alone is not a final deportation order and does not automatically make someone subject to these fines; individual circumstances, including obstacles to removal, may bear on whether the person voluntarily refused to leave.

People whose fines were affirmed have until November 16, 2026, to submit a specific administrative claim to ICE for harm allegedly caused by the provisional process; this is not a general appeal, does not guarantee a fine will be reduced or canceled, and the pending lawsuit does not extend the deadline.

The Massachusetts class action is separate from an October 21 Florida judgment imposing a penalty of more than $668,000 on a Honduran immigrant, which became enforceable and subject to government collection.