A team of lawyers filed suit Thursday against federal authorities on behalf of immigrants facing what they called "ruinous civil fines" that reach up to $1.8 million.

Daily fines of $998, designed to encourage immigrants in the U.S. illegally to leave the country, have been imposed on more than 21,500 people who the lawyers said were trying to comply with immigration laws.

The fines are "grossly disproportionate to the gravity" of any immigration violations, said the suit, calling them unconstitutional.

The lawsuit was filed in a Massachusetts court on behalf of two immigrant women. It seeks class-action status to represent people facing fines that lawyers say have totaled more than $6 billion since President Donald Trump returned to office early this year and launched an immigration cr

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