Reps. García, Omar, Call on DHS to Improve Accessibility of Immigration Bond Payments

WASHINGTON, DC — Representatives Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04) and Ilhan Omar (MN-05), joined by 24 Members of Congress, sent a letter today to DHS Secretary Mayorkas expressing deep concern about the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recent announcement that it will no longer accept in-person payment of immigration bonds and instead will require all bond payments be made through a new web-based system called Cash Electronic Bonds Online (CeBONDS).  

“We should be making it easier for families to navigate the immigration system, not harder. Keeping the in-person payment option for immigration bonds is fundamental to ensuring access to ICE bonds, and reuniting families without delay,” said Rep. García. “ICE must make this system accessible to under-resourced populations, people with disabilities or limited English proficiency, and to those who don’t have access to computers or are unbanked.”

“ICE’s new web-based bond payment system raises urgent concerns about accessibility and family reunification. By eliminating in-person payments and restricting hours, ICE is putting up unnecessary barriers that will prolong detention and separate families,” said Rep. Omar. “We cannot allow an unreliable online system to obstruct justice. ICE must act immediately to expand payment options, extend accessibility, and stop creating harmful new burdens for those simply trying to reunite with loved ones.”

The letter urges ICE to: 

• Diversify and expand the methods for individuals to post immigration bonds.
• Promptly improve accessibility of bond payments to people with disabilities, people with limited English proficiency, and people with limited or no access to broadband, a phone, or computer.
• Ensure that the bond payment process does not create new burdens and financial hardships on individuals.
• Rectify its misleading presentation of CeBONDS as an “automated” system.

A copy of the letter can be found here. 

Co-signers of the letter include: Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Tony Cárdenas (CA-29), Greg Casar (TX-35), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Raúl Grijalva (AZ-7), Pramila Jayapal (WA-7), Henry “Hank” Johnson (GA-4), Barbara Lee (CA-12), James McGovern ( MA-2), Eleanor Norton (DC), Delia Ramirez (IL-3), Raul Ruiz (CA-25), Janice Schakowsky (IL-09), Darren Soto (FL-09), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), David Trone (MD-06), Juan Vargas (CA-40), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07).

This letter is endorsed by 58 organizations: Community Justice Exchange, Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, NorCal Resist, Minnesota Freedom Fund, Prairielands Freedom Fund, La Resistencia, Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, Midwest Immigration Bond Fund, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, National Immigrant Justice Center, Society of the Flora, Fauna, & Friend, Beyond Bond & Legal Defense Fund, Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC), MN8, RCHP-AHC Still Waters Anti-Trafficking Program, NorCal Resist, Immigrant Legal Defense, First Friends of New Jersey & New York, Mauritanian Network for Human Rights in US, Immigrant Freedom Fund, Carolina Migrant Network, Inc., Legal Aid Justice Center, Minnesota Freedom Fund, Washington Defender Association, Legal Aid Justice Center, Just Detention International, Immigrant Defenders Law Center, Believers Bail Out, UnLocal, Cville Immigrant Freedom Fund, Louisiana Advocates for Immigrants in Detention, Tsuru for Solidarity, Black Immigrants Bail Fund, Black Immigrants Bail Fund, Envision Freedom Fund, Freedom for Immigrants, ABISA, ORALE, Alliance to Mobilize our Resistance (AMOR), Haitian Bridge Alliance, Kent County Immigration Bond Fund for Our Neighbors' Defense (Kent-IBond), Detention Watch Network, CT Bail Fund, California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, Tsuru for Solidarity, Fronterizx Fianza Fund, RAICES, Grassroots Leadership, LGBTQ Freedom Fund, Orange County Justice Fund, Southern Poverty Law Center, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, Minnesota Freedom Fund, New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia, Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, Indiana AID, Indivisible Skagit Immigrant Support Task Force, Skagit Immigrant Task Force, Strengthening Sanctuary Alliance, Olympia, WA.

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