ICE demands $304,000 from asylum seeker

Austin-based Guatemalan asylum seeker Hilda Ramirez and her 13-year-old son, Iván, say they just want a normal life.

They live in St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in North Austin and have sought sanctuary there twice since 2016. In March, their request for extended deferred action to temporarily stay in the country was denied by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Fearing deportation, Ramirez decided instead to remain in sanctuary.

Now Ramirez could owe the federal government $303,620, according to a letter she received last week from ICE informing her of its intention to fine her. She’s among several asylum seekers living in churches across the country who reported receiving similar letters with hefty fines.

“I was honestly surprised by the amount they are fining me,” Ramirez said in a video statement. “They want to psychologically traumatize us, and the truth is I’m going to fight for my case.”

RELATED: Texas WWII internees support asylum seekers

The Austin Sanctuary Network calls the fine a “retaliation” for the mother and son seeking refuge at a church to protect themselves from deportation and the violence they faced in Guatemala.

Under a 2011 ICE policy, churches are considered “sensitive locations” where immigration enforcement should not be conducted. However, the policy has several exceptions. The sanctuary network has said it is concerned that ICE is “setting the groundwork to justify raiding churches.”

“If she goes back, she’s facing death,” said Jim Rigby, longtime minister at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. “What’s a mother supposed to do with a child?”

Rigby said the letters from ICE have had a “chilling effect” among sanctuary churches, something he feels the letters were “intended to do,” and said this will probably make it difficult for other churches to decide to open their doors to those seeking sanctuary.

St. Andrew’s, however, will continue to stand with Ramirez and her son, he said. “I don’t think any churches committed (to sanctuary) are going to change course.”

ICE officials said the Immigration and Nationality Act gives the agency the right to impose civil fines on immigrants who have been ordered removed or granted voluntary departure and haven’t left the United States. According to its notice, ICE said the fines can go up to approximately $799 for each day in the country illegally.

But Ramirez’s attorney, Stephanie Taylor, said she’s never seen that provision in the law enforced before. “It seems ludicrous,” Taylor said. “It’s another tactic (by this administration) to do everything and anything to terrorize the immigrant community.”

The number of notices sent out was not immediately available. ICE officials said that “many are pending appeal and the agency has not been able to confirm receipt of others.” Ramirez is among at least 10 people whom sanctuary advocates have been able to identify across the country who received the notice.

ICE has given recipients a 30-day period to respond before the agency makes a formal decision on whether to carry out the fine. According to the agency, it began issuing the notices in December.

“ICE is committed to using various enforcement methods — including arrest; detention; technological monitoring; and financial penalties — to enforce U.S. immigration law and maintain the integrity of legal orders issued by judges,” according to an agency statement.

Shortly after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, an executive order was signed calling on the Department of Homeland Security to collect fines and penalties from people who had entered the country illegally and those who facilitate their presence in the country. It’s unclear whether churches would be liable for the fines.

All legal options for Ramirez are being explored, according to her attorney, who is working in a nationally coordinated effort to fight the fines. “It’s a new legal battle that we’ve never faced before in this case,” she said.

The Austin Sanctuary Network this week announced a $10,000 fundraising effort to build a national information campaign and a legal strategy to fight the fines as well as “help keep churches safe from punitive action by ICE.” The network is working with immigration attorneys and lawmakers across the country and plans to send a delegation to Washington.

“To me it’s such a tragic situation both for her and the nation,” Rigby, of St. Andrew’s, said. “Their value as humans beings aren’t counted.”