Check this out.

I did some work with another BEA who was working immigration bonds. I researched a few of these and I believe that ICE files charges against those who do not appear for deportation at the time they are required to do so. I don't know how this affects the bond as far as civil vs. criminal. There are only a few companies that are licensed to write immigration bonds from what I understand, and they hire local BEA in the areas they are supposed to be in to find and arrest their people. They have to be taken to the nearest ICE office and turned in for deportation. If the ICE office refuses to accept them the liability has ended. This is what I was told, at least. This BEA had to go through so much red tape with both the bonding company and ICE that he sent all the files back.

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Kathy Blackshear
Blackshear Investigations
Blackshear Bail Bonds
Sales Associate, Prepaid Legal Services, Inc.
Walsenburg, CO

Proud Member of the AB Reject Club

The cases I have worked were criminal in nature..i.e. the subject had committed a crime under U.S. law and had FTA'd. But since they were here illegally, they went through an INS bondsman to get out of jail.

The issues for me were complicated as I had never done one of these before. I had to spend several hours on the phone with LEO's from every dpt you could think of, ICE officers, telcons with the INS bondsman, etc.

The red tape, the jurisdictional issues, the stress, the head aches, etc just weren't worth it to me. 1 of the bondsman I performed services for still owes me $800.00 and I have not been unable to collect it from him so far.

Needless to say I have not worked any of his cases for him since then either.

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River City Associates
Decatur, Al. 35601

I am not to sure about that one mindtracker. They may have committed a crime but, that would be on the state level and the INS bond has nothing to do with that. The INS bond is strictly for deportation issues as I have been led to believe.

Here in Arkansas if they get an INS bond it is because they are here illegally and had not committed a crime but, would be able to bond out of jail pending the INS hearings. If they had commited a crime they would have a state bond with an INS hold for deportation, hence they would not be released period, even if they had bonded on the state crime issue because the INS had a hold placed on them which prevented them from being released. The Federal hold supercedes the State bond so, after bonding on the state issue they would remain in custody pending the INS deportation hearing. And if some bondsman bonded them knowing they had an INS hold on them they are liable for that bond here even if the Federal Government deports them. I have seen bonding companies pay forfeitures because of this.

At least that is the way it works here and, I am pretty sure that is how it works in most states.

Thats the way it is here, too. Such is the reason I've refused INS cases back in the day. An attorney friend researched it for me saying unless it is a bond for a criminal charge to leave the civil bonds alone. I did and I'm thankful for it. I've heard too many horror stories.

Ironically, the guy HGUNNER wrote about is the same one who argued with me saying what he was doing is legal. Next thing you know he is arrested for it. I won, he lost.

HGUNNER... what was his name? I forgot.

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Lance Allen Wilkinson
Recoveries by L.A.W.
Serving since 1984
“What is sought is found... what is overlooked escapes” (Oedipus Rex)

We need to remember that everything one does in their capacity as a BEA is civil in nature, it doesn't matter wether it's a State murder charge or an illegal alien who violated the terms of his release by failing to report for deportation, we arrest based on the contract between the bondsman and his client. As far as the BEA getting arrested in Mass for arresting a skip on an immigration bond we all know Mass has also arrested BEA's for arresting skips on criminal bonds, I thinks that situation had more to do with how Mass views BEA's than the actual legaility of BEA's arresting skips on immigration bonds.

When an alien violates the terms of his release ICE will send the bondsman a notice to deliver the alien, the bondsman or his agent have the right to apprehend the alien for this purpose.

Some of the confusion here may stem from the fact that ICE does not enter these aliens into NCIC or any statewide warrant system unless they are considered violent criminals, the only way to verify an ICE warrant is for Law Enforcement to contact ICE in Vermont and wait for a teletype, also if the alien has any motions pending in court that would delay deportation ICE will not accept them.

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Chuck

Chuck you have a valid point. However the civil process that all of us are involved with deal with criminal proceedings and not civil ones. Could you imagine puting someone in jail for not showing up for a divorce hearing or while they were being sued in court. I know they are not out on bond! It is just that dealing with the Federal Detention centers on civil matters is a nightmare but, much more palatable when it is of a criminal nature. I know if they miss their deportation date then they are a criminal but, not in the eyes of the INS detention centers that have to house them. We will not do them anymore because we have picked up one guy three times and they released him everytime and informed us that if we did this again we would be arrested, hence the bonding company is still fighting about the forfeiture they have been ordered to pay.

Bob

ICE often issues a notice to deliver the alien but then will not accept them because they have a motion to re-open or some other proceeding pending that would delay deportation, this is probably why they kept releasing the alien you are referring to.

There is a way to check and find out if anything is pending so you can make sure ICE will accept them, I can understand why a lot of BEA's don't like immigration cases, ICE is so disorganized that one hand doesn't know what the other is doing, I don't see any problem with arresting a skip on an immigration bond, the alien is originally held in custody and only released because the bond is posted so it only makes sense that when the alien skips or fails to comply with conditions of release that the bondsman can return them to custody.

The biggest problem I have had with immigration cases is finding skips with no SSN. DL or other identifying information.

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Chuck

Chuck if i remember correctly LAW had an attorney friend of his check into immigration bonds and i believe title 8 of the federal immigration law spells out arrest authority --again from what i remember he had said we have none on these bonds --also many states require a copy of the warrent of arrest and as you said there is none---again this is all from my rather poor memory(getting old and tired- brain sometimes on vacation for extended periods)

I think that all of us agree that INS bonds are not worth the trouble. I have a case now that is old where, the lady to be picked up for one jurisdiction has an attorney and her INS hearings at another location and the bondsman wants her put in jail but, she has complied with all of the requests by INS and her attorney where she is currently having her case heard. The bondsman is not very happy but, we will not touch her and only provide him with the documents showing her compliance.

This thread and reply could go on for pages...and hours of typing would read more like a novel on immigrant recovery than a simple reply to all of the questions posted. I will try and answer some of the questions in hopes of clearing up a few of these issues. Remember, I am not an attorney nor do I claim to know every aspect of the laws regarding the recovery of illegal immigrants released on bond. These are just my thoughts supported by almost 4 years of INS skip recovery, dealing with ICE Offices, research and the experiences that BEA's nationwide have shared with me.

Most people arrested by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are arrested for simply coming into the country illegally or being found in the US illegally. People arrested by ICE who are found to have also been arrested on criminal charges or illegally entering previously should not be afforded the rights to bail however, with the inability of DHS to access LEO databases as well as the multiple databases used from one ICE location to the next, this has not happened nor has it been enforced due to lack of bed space as well as funding to house defendants at other detention facilities. Illegal immigrants who are in any manner of deportation proceedings that commit any illegal act and are charged, found guilty and have spent more than 6 months time in custody or on probation are found in violation of the KIM laws or 236 c (INA) violations regardless of felony or misdemeanor. This makes them automatically deportable per the INA. Per the Attorney General of the US all people who have failed to appear for any ICE hearing or deportation are and should be listed as Federal Absconders from Justice and NCIC listed; civil matter or not. This only happens if the alien has been charged with a felony and even then one can not guarantee this each and every time.

All immigration bonds are civil matters and not criminal. All court actions that have dictated the rules and regulations regarding deportation proceedings, detainment regulations and arrest authorities of ICE have been heard in civil courts not criminal courts.

Per Gonzalez vs. Gonzalez (G vs. G) ICE has the authority to demand the appearance of a defendant on bond for any reason and also has the right to breach (forfeit) the bond if the defendant fails to appear, however, the only way the bonding company is released from the bond is when the defendant has a final order of removal and the defendant is then surrendered in accordance with the I-340 Deportation Notice. In accordance to mean at the location, date and time specified. The request to appear is sent to the bonding company via form I-340 hearing/interview/deportation notice. Each of these notices is very clear in that the bonding company is ordered to “surrender” the defendant for the purpose listed on the I-340. The bonding company is ordered to surrender the defendant for each and every I-340 issued regardless of purpose and in the event the I-340 is listed for interview or hearing the bond will not be released. Personally I have seen some defendants be called into ICE 3 or more times prior to reaching the Final Order stage. Some cases can drag on for 5 or more years. To check if a Final Order of Deportation has been reached or if the defendant has appeals filed on a removal order ICE has what is called the Executive Office of Immigration Review (E.O.I.R.) 1-800-898-7180. This is an automated computer system that will list the status of an alien’s case but this is not complete and can be outdated. There also exists a 24 hour manned line that law enforcement only can utilize to verify if a person currently has an order or removal against them and or has a “warrant” for detention. This “warrant” is actually called an order to detain.

The I-340s are what can get some BEA’s into trouble as well as be the saving grace. The verbiage is very clear on each of these forms; “Under the terms of the bond you posted for the release of the above named alien(s), The Immigration and Naturalization Service is making a demand upon you to surrender the above alien(s)” this taken from an I-340 issued by the Miami District office. Each office has its own form even though they are all form I-340 and some exclude the Immigration and Naturalization Service moniker. If the demand was followed to the letter a defendant could be apprehended in Mass. and delivered to San Antonio, TX. the BEA would then be committing kidnapping per Mass. state law. One of the agents who had been charged in Mass for kidnapping was attempting to have the defendant delivered to the TX office listed on the I-340. Please refer to Commonwealth vs. Doucette (sp). All kidnapping charges in that case were dropped due to the demand being issued by DHS and therefore superseding the state mandated laws. Please do not forget to read that the kidnapping charge was not the only one involved in this case to include assault w/deadly weapon (a blank/starter pistol), illegal restraint and a few other charges. In most areas to include some well known “no recovery states/areas” the verbiage has been useful in that BEA’s have been able to gain LEO assistance and have the defendants surrendered to an ICE Office most local to the apprehension due to it being a civil matter. It all boils down to how the situation is approached and the specific LEO involved. If you are in a no bail, no recovery situation the law of the land will dictate and no matter what you are told by an LEO of even its Officers, if you break the law you will end up in handcuffs needing bail yourself.

ICE holds or detainers – are one of the biggest jokes in law enforcement history. ICE can place a hold on any illegal in custody at any location nationwide. The problem again is the inter agency databases have no links and more often than not the defendant is released on bond prior to ICE gaining knowledge of the in custody status of an illegal. Whether or not ICE shows up to take custody is another story. If an ICE hold is in place ICE states it’s the municipality’s responsibility to hold the defendant until ICE can arrange transport etc. If that same defendant is currently on ICE bond it is then the responsibility of the bonding company to request a detainer/hold be placed by ICE and the bond be cancelled due to in custody status. Some states who have defendants in custody and ICE deports them prior to the states charges being heard is tough luck for the bonding company such as NJ or NC. The only thing that will work for exoneration is ICE to provide in writing they deported the defendant prior to the defendants FTA date with the state. This does not sound difficult until you try obtaining this information without the defendant’s alien registration number or what specific office did the deportation. Again not an impossible task but extremely hard to complete and even harder to obtain exonerations.

It is important to remember that for every rule ICE currently has in regards to surrender and cancellation, there is also a rule that states the District Director of each District Office has final authority to grant a request for early surrender, cancellation of a bond etc. They also have the right to not cancel the bond and the right to refuse any surrender of an illegal on bond if the alien does not have an Administrative Final Order of Removal. The creation of DHS has helped in many ways but it will still be many years before they get their collective heads removed from their plush bottoms. Far too many years of sitting back and doing nothing have made ICE one of the biggest conundrums in government history.

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Don Herbert
Surety Administrators, Inc.
645 Penn St. 4th Floor
Reading, PA. 19601
610-372-8811 xt 262