The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has begun issuing $5,000 fines to unaccompanied immigrant minors for illegally entering the United States, according to advocates and fine notices reviewed by New York Focus.
At least ten minors in New York, ages 14 to 17, received the penalties in mid-October, said Meena Shah, managing director of the Legal Services Center at The Door, a New York nonprofit that assists immigrant youth. A similar notice was reported in Michigan, where attorney Ana Raquel Devereaux of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center confirmed her teenage client had been fined while in federal custody.
