An immigrant legal advocacy group filed suit Monday against the Department of Justice in an effort to elucidate what new policies federal immigration judges
Monday against the Department of Justice in an effort to elucidate what new policies federal immigration judges are being directed to follow when denying bond toalleges the DOJ didn’t respond to its Freedom of Information Act request seeking materials and communication between the Justice Department and immigration judges, like those at 26 Federal Plaza, regarding policies, practices, guidance documents and directives governing when bond should be granted or denied, which it filed in Manhattan federal court after bond denials spiked during Trump ’s second term.told amNewYork that, previously, immigration judges would grant bond to detained immigrants as their removal cases proceeded as long as they weren’t a flight risk or a threat to society.
Now, the attorneys say, clients who would’ve been let out of detention are being kept locked up for months on end for reasons that don’t make sense, and they can’t figure out why.
“We want to know what the standards are that immigration judges are using,” Lee said. “From NYLAG’s perspective, it feels like the Department of Justice is rewriting the rules to a game that none of us are privy to. If we don’t know what the rules are and the standards are, it makes representing our clients incredibly difficult.
”Just 346 immigrants were granted bond between January and March of this year – a shocking drop from just one year ago, when 2,400 immigrants were released on bond each month, according to NYLAG’s suit. The Department of Justice declined to respond to amNewYork’s questions on the suit and on the policies immigration judges are being directed to follow when denying bond, stating it does not comment on pending litigation.
NYLAG’s suit says that there’s an “important need” for the DOJ to provide it with this information, as bond requests are the main — and often the only — avenue detained immigrants have to challenge their detention and seek release. It accuses the Trump administration of rendering bond hearings meaningless, stating that the outcome feels predetermined against immigrants before they even step into the room, which, the group says, is a barrier to their safety and liberty.
Fetrow emphasized that immigrants detained who are seeking bond typically haven’t been convicted of a crime, calling the Trump administration’s bond denials a violation of the principles of a free society and saying the DOJ’s “undermined” the constitutional permissible rationales for denying bond.
“This profound realigning of who is detained … for absolutely no reason and with no way to meaningfully challenge that detention has a huge impact on thousands of people across the country, thousands of New Yorkers, as well as their communities and their loved ones,” Fetrow said. “It has vastly expanded the number of people who are being held in prison for no reason at all.
” Immigration judges denying bond in hearings at a higher rate due to unclear guidelines that attorneys find hard to understand is only part of the problem in immigration court, Fetrow and Lee said. Additionally, it is concerning that judges are denying the majority of bond hearings point-blank, meaning immigrants aren’t even getting the chance to be heard in court, however pointless those hearings seem.
That increased denial of bond hearings is part of what’s led attorneys to file habeas corpus petitions as an alternative to get their clients out of detention, Lee said. And, U.S. district judges in federal courts have alsocarried out arbitrary denials of habeas petitions, making things increasingly difficult for attorneys and immigrants and driving up the detainee jail population.
Fetrow and Lee say they hope that gaining clarity on the policies immigration judges are basing their bond decisions on will help them more effectively represent their detained clients. They said they expect the Manhattan federal court to compel the Trump administration to release this information.
Beyond helping attorneys litigate each client’s individual case, Lee said, the information might allow NYLAG to file additional legal claims against the Justice Department to challenge whatever the new policies actually are, though she said it’s too early to tell.
“At the end of the day, the goal is to pursue a broader sense of justice and ensure that the institution of immigration courts is being held accountable,” Lee said. “What you have is essentially a government entity that has extraordinary power over individual liberty that’s only held in the hands of executive branch adjudicators with almost zero oversight. We’re trying to open greater transparency into this process. ”Isabella Gallo covers courts and law for amNewYork Law.
She breaks down legal developments, court decisions, cases, lawsuits and the work of attorneys and judges to make the law more accessible to the public and provide a reliable resource to lawyers looking to understand how recent rulings could impact their practice. Fair Fares: There are plenty of plans to expand transit discount program. But will Mamdani adopt any of them?
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