MIAMI (AP) – U.S. immigration authorities illegally kept more than $300 million in deposits paid by tens of thousands of low-income immigrant families and U.S. citizens, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
Motley Rice LLC, one of the companies that filed the lawsuit in federal court in the Eastern District of New York, said $240 million in unclaimed funds were left in the U.S. because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement held the funds for too long. The money was reportedly transferred to an account at the Ministry of Finance.
The lawsuit addresses long-standing complaints and seeks class-action status against people who paid cash to bail out family members in ICE custody. Motley Rice, which represents customers in various class action lawsuits, said it has been investigating the issue for two years.
Immigration bonds are set by ICE and immigration judges and allow noncitizens facing deportation proceedings to be released in the United States pending their sentencing in court. The average bail amount is $6,000, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims there are tens of thousands of class members, based on information obtained through public records requests and other cases. “The exact number and identity of class members may be ascertained from government records,” it reads.
Once an immigration case is concluded, family members and friends of those detained are entitled to refunds, sometimes immediately and sometimes within 60 days, according to ICE’s online handbook. But ICE “routinely fails to return these funds, even when all conditions are met and the case is closed,” according to the complaint.
ICE declined to comment, saying it does not discuss pending litigation.
The lawsuit, filed this week, is on behalf of Douglas Cortez, of Uniondale, New York, who posted $10,000 bail to release his friend from custody. Her friend’s case was dismissed in August 2023, but more than a year later, Cortez has not received any notice or refund of the cash she deposited.
“They extorted thousands of dollars from hard-working immigrant families who deserve their money back,” said Deepak Gupta, an attorney with the other law firm that filed the lawsuit, Gupta Wessler LLP. Ta. “We want ICE to fix this system and we want the courts to declare that ICE is in breach of its contractual legal obligations to prevent this from happening to other families in the future. I want it.”
Mr. Gupta said he arrived at the $300 million figure after careful review of government documents obtained through FOIA requests and court records.
Ada Salazar, 28, hasn’t received the money since her uncle sent her $5,000 in February 2016. She is from El Salvador, was granted legal status in 2021, and is now ready to join the lawsuit.
“I hope I get my money back. That’s my promise to them,” Salazar, a North Carolina food truck owner and mother of a 6-year-old, told The Associated Press.
