Detained Cases and Bonds

The United States Department of Homeland Security has authority to arrest and
detain  non-citizens whom it believes are illegally in the United States and are
subject to legal proceedings to remove/deport such persons from the United
States.

The Department of Homeland Security acts through the Bureau of Immigration
and Customs Enforcement(USICE or ICE).  USICE agents act on tips from
individuals and sometimes conduct workplace raids to interview and if necessary
arrest and detain such persons.

Sometimes USICE Agents arrest non-citizens who are already in prison serving
sentences arising out of criminal convictions. USICE has an in-prison program for
both Federal and State non-citizen prisoners. They are generally served with
papers by USICE seeking to deport them while they are still in prison. Sometimes,
however, USICE files a detainer(a legal document ) with the Warden of the prison
where the non-citizen is serving his or her prison sentence, which holds the non-
citizen until after his or her sentence is finished, so that USICE Agents can pick
up the non-citizen and transport him or her to a USICE facility or to a County
Prison for further removal proceedings.

No matter what the basis of the arrest and detention of non-citizens by USICE Agents may be, the result is that the person is served with a  legal document
called a Notice To Appear which details the government’s position as to why the
non-citizen should be removed/deported from the United States.

The non-citizen has the right to apply for bond before the Immigration Judge who
will preside over the case.  Certain offenses, such as drug offenses or theft
offenses will prevent the non-citizen from qualifying for a bond. The first question
for any non-citizen(alien) in proceedings to remove/deport him or her from the
United States is whether the non-citizen is ‘bond eligible.’ If the Immigration
Judge determines that the person is bond eligible, the Immigration Judge will
proceed to consider what amount of bond will assure the person’s appearance in Court if released from USICE custody.  The Immigration Judge will consider such things as prior criminal record, whether the non-citizen has any relief from removal(whether or not he or she will likely be able to stay in the United States), whether the person is a threat to the community, whether the person has
significant contacts with the community(usually family), whether the person has a
job and is working legally, whether the person is of good moral character, has or
has not paid U.S. taxes, and other factors which make the person a good or poor bond risk.

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