Three-fold Difference in Immigration Bond Amounts by Court Location

Using the latest available case-by-case court records, current through May 2018, this report examines the outcome of custody hearings before immigration judges. At custody hearings, the judge decides whether or not the immigrant can be released from ICE custody after posting a bond. Both the likelihood of having bond motions granted, as well as the dollar amount of the bond required, varied markedly from one court location to another.

The National Picture

In recent years somewhat over one in four detained individuals were ultimately successful in obtaining an Immigration Court custody decision that allowed them to be released by posting a bond[1]. So far this year, this success rate has been 30.5 percent, up from 18.4 percent during FY 2014. See Figure 1.


Figure 1. Percent of Detained Individuals Granted Bond in Immigration Court,
FY 2014 - FY 2018
(Click for larger image)

This increase occurred primarily because more and more of those detained are receiving custody hearings. Judges have been actually no more willing to grant bond at these hearings. During FY 2014 in slightly less than half the cases (48.8%) were bond motions granted. A slightly lower proportion (47.1%) have been granted during FY 2018.

Nationally, for bond hearings thus far during FY 2018, the median bond amount set was $7,500. This amount is up by 50 percent from the median of $5,000 five years ago. A median bond amount of $7,500 means half of all individuals who were successful in having their motions granted had to post a bond of $7,500 or more. Nearly 40 percent had to post a bond of $10,000 or more. Five percent had their bond amount set at $25,000 or more. Only 1 percent were released without having to post a dollar bond. And only one in twenty had a bond amount that was less than $2,500. See Table 1 for details on bond amounts at the end of this report.

Wide Differences in Bond Outcomes by Court Location

This year there was also a three-fold difference in the median bond amount set depending upon the particular Immigration Court that decided the matter. Median bond amounts ranged from a low of $5,000 to a high of $15,000 depending upon court location. The highest median bond amounts were required by the Tacoma, Washington Immigration Court and the Hartford, Connecticut Immigration Court.

The grant rate on custody hearings also varied markedly from one court location to the next. At one location only one out of six bond motions were granted. In other locations, around three-quarters of the bond motions were granted.

The highest grant rate in the country among courts deciding at least 50 custody cases was in the California Immigration Court based in Imperial. Three out of four of the 1,072 cases with bond hearings had their motions granted. The median bond amount set, however, was $12,000 - fourth highest in the country.

The next highest grant rate took place in the Florence, Arizona Immigration Court. There immigration judges granted 73.1 percent of bond motions - roughly comparable to the success rate in the Imperial Court. However, bond amounts were markedly lower. In Florence the median bond amount was $8,000 - a third less.

The other extreme, with the lowest grant rate at bond hearings, occurred in Charlotte, North Carolina. Immigration judges in Charlotte granted only one out of every six (17.8%) bond motions. When bond was granted, the median amount was the same as in Florence -- $8,000.

In Orlando, Florida, immigration judges had the second lowest grant rate on bond motions - just 26.9 percent. However, median bond amounts set were among the lowest in the country - just $5,000.

See Table 2 at the end of this report for details on bond decisions at individual Immigration Courts.

What Explains These Differences?

While there was some variation by nationality in bond outcomes, sharp locational differences persisted irrespective of the nationality of the immigrant seeking release from custody. What mattered the most was which court ruled on their motion. For example, outcomes depending on court location for Mexicans varied from a success rate of 67.5 percent all the way down to only 15.3 percent. The differential for those from Guatemala - the nationality with the second largest number of bond hearings - was even greater. Depending on court location, bond grant rates for Guatemalans ranged from 84.7 percent down to only 14.4 percent.

More information is needed before the factors that give rise to these differences can be fully understood. We do not know, for example, the extent to which ICE policies on custody differ by detention facility, or whether bond amounts set by ICE vary markedly by location. This could influence whether an individual finds it necessary to seek a bond hearing before an immigration judge, as well as what ICE argues at the hearing is a suitable or necessary bond level.

The composition of detainees as well as the relative availability of representation at some detention locations, among other factors, may also make it more or less challenging for immigrants to prepare and file successful bond motions. And different judges are based at each court location.

Table 1. Bond Decisions to Grant Bond or Release on Personal Recognizance*
Fiscal Year Number Median Amount Percentage by Bond Amount
$0 $1<$2500 $2500 <$5000 $5000 <7500 $7500 <$10,000 $10,000 <$12,500 $12,500 <$17,500 $17,500 <$25,000 $25,000 + Total
1995 9,053 $3,000 7.1% 32.6% 19.2% 16.2% 7.5% 8.2% 3.4% 3.1% 2.6% 100.0%
1996 9,002 $2,500 5.8% 40.7% 23.3% 13.3% 5.2% 5.7% 2.5% 1.9% 1.6% 100.0%
1997 11,453 $3,000 5.9% 29.9% 27.0% 15.7% 4.3% 8.1% 3.6% 2.8% 2.8% 100.0%
1998 15,550 $3,500 5.0% 19.6% 37.7% 17.6% 5.1% 7.3% 2.8% 2.6% 2.2% 100.0%
1999 8,495 $3,000 8.1% 28.3% 39.5% 13.9% 3.3% 3.6% 1.4% 0.9% 0.9% 100.0%
2000 10,318 $3,000 5.7% 25.7% 35.4% 20.1% 3.3% 4.1% 2.5% 0.9% 2.3% 100.0%
2001 13,534 $3,500 7.9% 17.6% 37.7% 23.1% 4.2% 4.2% 2.8% 0.6% 1.9% 100.0%
2002 14,454 $5,000 5.7% 14.1% 28.0% 23.5% 7.1% 8.6% 4.9% 2.5% 5.5% 100.0%
2003 12,398 $5,000 5.4% 15.2% 24.2% 24.6% 7.9% 8.8% 4.9% 2.9% 6.0% 100.0%
2004 9,598 $5,000 4.6% 13.0% 21.0% 29.3% 10.4% 9.5% 3.9% 3.4% 4.9% 100.0%
2005 8,177 $5,000 4.6% 12.8% 18.8% 31.1% 9.2% 10.7% 4.3% 2.6% 5.9% 100.0%
2006 10,659 $5,000 3.4% 14.5% 22.3% 27.4% 10.1% 10.2% 4.7% 2.8% 4.6% 100.0%
2007 15,852 $5,000 3.2% 12.6% 22.5% 26.1% 11.3% 11.9% 5.4% 3.3% 3.7% 100.0%
2008 16,068 $5,000 1.8% 10.4% 26.2% 28.0% 11.0% 11.9% 4.9% 2.7% 3.2% 100.0%
2009 18,516 $5,000 1.4% 10.3% 25.4% 27.7% 12.3% 11.6% 5.3% 2.7% 3.4% 100.0%
2010 18,475 $5,000 1.2% 12.5% 30.5% 27.6% 12.1% 8.7% 4.0% 1.8% 1.6% 100.0%
2011 30,161 $5,000 0.6% 10.9% 28.8% 27.6% 12.7% 9.7% 4.3% 2.5% 3.0% 100.0%
2012 31,368 $5,000 0.6% 10.0% 30.2% 29.9% 14.5% 8.6% 3.7% 1.3% 1.4% 100.0%
2013 20,305 $5,000 0.9% 7.4% 25.1% 31.4% 16.7% 10.0% 5.0% 1.6% 1.8% 100.0%
2014 25,271 $6,000 0.9% 7.1% 24.3% 28.1% 16.4% 13.0% 5.9% 2.0% 2.2% 100.0%
2015 28,193 $6,500 4.5% 6.3% 19.6% 23.7% 19.1% 13.0% 7.3% 3.7% 2.8% 100.0%
2016 28,425 $8,000 0.7% 3.9% 11.9% 19.6% 23.2% 18.5% 9.2% 6.6% 6.3% 100.0%
2017 31,355 $7,500 0.7% 5.1% 10.9% 22.7% 20.6% 19.4% 10.6% 5.6% 4.6% 100.0%
2018** 23,577 $7,500 1.0% 5.3% 14.0% 23.3% 17.8% 17.0% 10.8% 6.2% 4.6% 100.0%
* Where an individual had their custody reviewed more than once, the outcome at the last custody hearing is used.
** Covers the first 8 months of FY 2018 (through the end of May).
Table 2. Immigration Court Bond Decisions by Court Location, FY 2018 (first 8 months)
State Court Based In Immigration Court* Decisions on Bond Hearings Rank
Number Granted Percent Granted Median Bond Set Percent Granted Median Bond Set
All 50,098 23,577 47.1% $7,500 - -
               
WA Tacoma 2,500 1,252 50.1% $15,000 16 1
CT Hartford 103 32 31.1% $15,000 35 1
MD Baltimore 537 316 58.8% $12,500 5 3
CA Adelanto 3,320 1,758 53.0% $12,000 13 4
GA Atlanta 1,525 747 49.0% $12,000 17 4
CA Imperial 1,072 810 75.6% $12,000 1 4
AZ Eloy 2,487 1,036 41.7% $10,000 24 7
TX Los Fresnos 900 312 34.7% $10,000 33 7
NY Batavia 832 341 41.0% $10,000 25 7
NM Chaparral 659 331 50.2% $10,000 15 7
HI Honolulu 59 17 28.8% $10,000 37 7
CA Los Angeles 1,992 889 44.6% $8,500 20 12
LA Oakdale 1,606 630 39.2% $8,500 26 12
LA Jena 1,590 520 32.7% $8,500 34 12
TX Houston - Detained 3,348 1,235 36.9% $8,000 31 15
TX Dallas 1,168 448 38.4% $8,000 28 15
OH Cleveland 1,099 703 64.0% $8,000 3 15
AZ Florence 966 706 73.1% $8,000 2 15
NC Charlotte 118 21 17.8% $8,000 39 15
TX Pearsall 1,872 1,095 58.5% $7,500 6 20
GA Lumpkin 1,647 733 44.5% $7,500 21 20
NJ Elizabeth 1,446 626 43.3% $7,500 23 20
VA Arlington 839 437 52.1% $7,500 14 20
PA York 1,823 967 53.0% $6,500 11 24
MI Detroit 1,167 560 48.0% $6,000 18 25
TX El Paso 692 367 53.0% $6,000 11 25
NE Omaha 680 314 46.2% $5,500 19 27
FL Miami - Krome 2,650 1,024 38.6% $5,000 27 28
IL Chicago 1,854 1,003 54.1% $5,000 9 28
CO Aurora 1,577 851 54.0% $5,000 10 28
NY New York - DET 1,357 514 37.9% $5,000 29 28
CA Otay Mesa 1,331 730 54.8% $5,000 8 28
CA San Francisco 1,282 455 35.5% $5,000 32 28
MN Bloomington 893 335 37.5% $5,000 30 28
NV Las Vegas 820 489 59.6% $5,000 4 28
MA Boston 802 451 56.2% $5,000 7 28
MO Kansas City 612 267 43.6% $5,000 22 28
FL Orlando 398 107 26.9% $5,000 38 28
TX San Antonio 292 85 29.1% $5,000 36 28
* Courts with at least 50 custody hearing cases from October 2017 - May 2018.

Footnotes

[1] A few - typically fewer than 1% -- of these are released on their personal recognizance which may impose other conditions but not require posting a bond. For those granted bond, having a bond set still was not synonymous with being released. While figures varied from year to year, previous TRAC research found about one in five remained detained at the conclusion of their case, presumably because they were unable to post the amount of the bond.

TRAC is a nonpartisan, nonprofit data research center affiliated with the Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Whitman School of Management, both at Syracuse University. For more information, to subscribe, or to donate, contact trac@syr.edu or call 315-443-3563.