Private debt collectors are helping the Trump administration impose massive civil penalties on immigrants accused of being in the country illegally as a way to encourage them to leave on their own.
The ongoing Scripps News ICE Inc. investigation found the companies are able to profit off both the tax dollars awarded to them in government contracts and in steep fees they are tacking onto fines that few migrants are actually paying.
A $1.8 MILLION FINE
About a year ago, a piece of paper arrived in the mail that would splinter 22-year-old Eric Amaya’s family.
It was a notice from the Department of Homeland Security saying Amaya’s father owed $1.8 million for ignoring a deportation order from 1996.
Federal law allows DHS to fine immigrants…