MIAMI — A recent lawsuit has revealed that U.S. immigration officials have improperly retained over $300 million in bond payments from numerous low-income immigrant families and citizens. This legal action was initiated on Tuesday, asserting that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has held onto these funds for such an extended time that approximately $240 million has been shifted to a U.S. Treasury account designated for unclaimed funds. The lawsuit was filed by Motley Rice LLC, a firm that has taken on this case in a federal court located in the Eastern District of New York.
This lawsuit addresses ongoing grievances and seeks to attain class-action status for individuals who paid cash to release detained family members from ICE custody. Motley Rice indicates that it has spent the past two years investigating these claims. Immigration bonds are determined by ICE and immigration judges, allowing noncitizens facing removal proceedings to be released while awaiting their court decisions. According to the lawsuit, the average bond payment amounts to $6,000.
The lawsuit asserts that there are tens of thousands of potential class members, drawing upon information obtained through public records requests and related cases. It claims that “the precise number and identification of the class members will be ascertainable from the government’s records.” Eligible individuals are entitled to their bond payments after the conclusion of immigration cases. However, the lawsuit maintains that ICE “regularly fails to return these funds, even when all conditions have been met and proceedings have concluded.”
ICE refrained from commenting on the matter, stating that it does not discuss issues involved in ongoing litigation. The lawsuit is filed on behalf of Douglas Cortez from Uniondale, New York, who posted a $10,000 bond to secure the release of his friend. Although his friend’s immigration proceedings were dismissed in August 2023, Cortez has received no communication and has not been refunded for the cash bond he submitted over a year ago.
Deepak Gupta, one of the attorneys representing the case, criticized the situation, stating, “They have taken thousands of dollars from hardworking immigrant families who deserve to have their money returned. We want ICE to remedy this system, and we seek a court declaration that ICE is in violation of its legal obligations under the contract, to prevent it from happening to other families in the future.”
The figure of $300 million was calculated by the legal team after thoroughly examining government documents procured through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and court records. Another claimant, Ada Salazar, aged 28, expressed her frustration at not receiving her funds after her uncle posted a $5,000 bond in February 2016. Originally from El Salvador, she became a legal resident in 2021 and is now poised to join the lawsuit.
“I hope to receive the money back; that is the promise they made,” stated Salazar, a mother of a 6-year-old and a food truck owner in North Carolina. Her sentiments reflect the distress and frustrations of many who are awaiting the return of their funds.