File #: Res 0328-2022    Version: * Name: Increase oversight of the immigration bond industry and curb abusive practice. (S7475B/ A7770C)
Type: Resolution Status: Filed (End of Session)
Committee: Committee on Immigration
On agenda: 9/29/2022
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution calling upon New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, S7475B/ A7770C, which would increase oversight of the immigration bond industry and curb abusive practices.
Sponsors: Crystal Hudson, Shahana K. Hanif, Farah N. Louis, Gale A. Brewer, Lincoln Restler, Rita C. Joseph, Shaun Abreu
Council Member Sponsors: 7
Attachments: 1. Res. No. 328, 2. September 29, 2022 - Stated Meeting Agenda, 3. Hearing Transcript - Stated Meeting 9-29-22, 4. Minutes of the Stated Meeting - September 29, 2022

Res. No. 328

 

Resolution calling upon New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, S7475B/ A7770C, which would increase oversight of the immigration bond industry and curb abusive practices.

 

By Council Members Hudson, Hanif, Louis, Brewer, Restler, Joseph and Abreu

 

                     Whereas, There were more than 21,000 immigrants booked into Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) detention as of June 2022, according to data by Syracuse University; and

                     Whereas, Immigrant New Yorkers are detained in approximately 76 different detention facilities in New York State; and

                     Whereas, Some immigrant detainees are bond eligible and can be charged between $1,500 and $10,000 for a bond, according to Documented; and

                     Whereas, According to Documented, the median bond is $7,500 in New York City; and

                     Whereas, Many bond companies require immigrant detainees to pay fees greater than $400 to wear an ankle monitor in exchange for a bond; and

                     Whereas, According to Human Rights First report, the average wait time in New York State immigration courts is at least 2 years; and

Whereas, As a result, detained immigrants sometimes end up paying thousands of dollars for ankle monitor fees alone; and

                     Whereas, For example, a Virginia-based for-profit bond company, Libre by Nexus, reportedly charged one immigrant detainee $420 a month for an ankle monitor over the course of three years as the detainee waited for his case to proceed; and

                     Whereas, In 2021, New York Attorney General Letitia James, along with U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the attorneys general of Massachusetts and Virginia, sued Libre by Nexus in federal court, for alleged deceptive and abusive practices; and

                     Whereas, S7475B, introduced by State Senator Jamaal Bailey, and companion bill, A7770C, introduced by State Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, would impose restrictions on immigration bail businesses and prohibit immigration bond businesses from requiring electronic monitoring as a condition of an immigration bail; and

                     Whereas, S7475B/A7770C would also establish a cap on immigration bond premiums; and, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, S7475B/ A7770C, which would increase oversight of the immigration bond industry and curb abusive practices.

 

LS9550

8/16/2022

KMD