Rep. Chu Leads 29 Members of Congress Demanding Answers on Barriers to Release from ICE Detention

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28) led 29 Members of Congress in a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Mullin, Attorney General Blanche, and Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) Acting Director Owen demanding answers about rising immigration bond denials, increasingly unaffordable bond amounts, and concerns about the independence of immigration judges under the Trump administration. 

Immigration bond allows eligible individuals to be released from immigration detention while their cases proceed, subject to certain conditions, including appearing for future court proceedings. But since President Trump took office, bond denials have increased substantially, while individuals granted bond are increasingly being required to pay amounts that many families cannot afford.

According to data cited in the letter, immigration bond requests more than doubled from 34,845 in 2024 to 80,130 in 2025, an increase of approximately 130 percent. Meanwhile, the percentage of bond requests denied by immigration judges rose from approximately 36 percent in 2024 to 43 percent in 2025, reaching 55 percent in the first three months of 2026. The national median bond amount, which stood at $6,000 between January 2024 and November 2025, rose to $7,500 after November 10, 2025, with the average reaching $9,211.

These trends are particularly alarming at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, which Rep. Chu has fought to close for more than a decade. Since November 2025, immigration judges have denied 57 percent of bond requests from individuals detained at Adelanto, compared to 39 percent during the preceding period. The median bond amount at Adelanto has also climbed to $10,000, well above the national median. In one particularly troubling case, a man who had lived in the United States for 25 years, maintained steady employment, supported a family, and had no criminal record was assigned a $50,000 bond, an amount an amount immigration practitioners say has traditionally been reserved for exceptional cases.

The Members also raised serious concerns about potential interference with immigration judges' ability to make independent bond determinations. Following reports that judges were being required to provide written justifications to supervisors when granting bond, EOIR released heavily redacted records in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, leaving critical questions unanswered about what instructions or guidance immigration judges may have received. 

In their letter, the Members wrote:

"Taken together, these developments paint a disturbing picture. The sharp increase in bond denials and bond amounts, coupled with unresolved questions regarding potential directives and supervisory practices governing immigration judges, raises serious concerns about whether immigration judges retain sufficient independence to make individualized bond determinations based on the facts and applicable law."

“Everyone deserves a fair shot at freedom while they fight their case,” said Rep. Chu. “But under this administration, more people are being denied bond, and those who are granted it are facing amounts their families simply cannot afford. Immigration judges must be free to make decisions based on the facts and the law, not political pressure. The Trump administration owes the American people answers about whether immigration judges are being pressured to deny bond rather than make independent decisions based on the facts and the law.

“This sharp increase in bond denials shows yet again how the Trump administration is manipulating the court system to advance its anti-immigration agenda while jeopardizing the independence of judges and due process for families caught in the system,” said Kel White, Associate Director, Public Education & Training at Acacia Center for Justice. “The few people who do receive bonds are told to pay an exorbitant amount and in cash. Not only is this unheard of, especially for people with no criminal record, it is nearly impossible for a parent to do. Courts must rely on facts and the law, not an out of control anti-immigrant agenda, otherwise this is a slap in the face of meaningful due process.”

"The widespread use of bond denials and excessive bonds, regardless of the individual facts of a case, underscores why our immigration courts must be truly independent. Immigration judges should be empowered to independently interpret the law and weigh the facts of each individual case, not be reduced to rubber stamps for the administration’s detention policies. The growing practice of denying bond or imposing exorbitant bonds on people with no criminal history comes at a significant cost to not only the individuals caught in the web of injustice, but there is a cost to American taxpayers. At a time when families are struggling with affordability and rising healthcare costs, taxpayers are being asked to foot the bill for the unnecessary detention of people who have lived in our communities for decades and have no criminal record," said Benjamin Johnson, Executive Director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). 

The letter was signed by Reps. Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Lou Correa (CA-46), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Chris Deluzio (PA-17), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Daniel Goldman (NY-10), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Hank Johnson (GA-04), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), Christian Menefee (TX-18), Jerry Nadler (NY-12), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Nancy Pelosi (CA-11), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Juan Vargas (CA-52), James Walkinshaw (VA-11), and Maxine Waters (CA-43).

The letter is endorsed by Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE), Advocates for Immigrant Rights, AFT, AfghanEvac, African Communities Together (ACT), Al Otro Lado, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), American Immigration Lawyers Association, Americans for Immigrant Justice, Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, Asylum Clinic KC, Ayuda, BINATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, Borderlands Resource Initiative, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Center for Law and Social Policy, Children's Legal Center, Church World Service, Community Immigration Law Center, Community Lawyers, Inc., Criminal Law & Justice Center, Defender Association of Philadelphia, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, Envision Freedom Fund, Estrella del Paso, Frontera Federation, Hands United, HIAS Pennsylvania, Human Rights First, Immigration Center for Women and Children, Immigration Equality, Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy (ISLA), Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), Immigrant Legal Defense, Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Inspiritus, International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), Jalloh's Upright Services of North Carolina, Jesuit Refugee Service USA, Jewish Family Services of Greenwich, Justice in Motion, Just Detention International, Kids in Need of Defense, Kino Border Initiative, La Raza Centro Legal, San Francisco, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, Lawyers for Good Government, Legal Aid Justice Center, Life Span, Midwest Immigration Bond Fund, Minnesota 8, Mountain State Justice, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, National Immigrant Justice Center, National Partnership for New Americans, Neighborhood Justice Center, New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children, New York Immigration Coalition, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Oasis Legal Services, Open Immigration Legal Services, Pangea Legal Services, Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA), Pathways to Citizenship, Prisoners' Legal Services of New York, Public Counsel, Raksha, Inc., RISE for Immigrants, Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center, Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, Safe Passage Project, Self retired, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), So Cal Immigration Project, Social Justice Collaborative, Sonoma Immigrant Services, Tahirih Justice Center, Atlanta Office, Task Force on United Methodist Immigration Ministries of Ohio, Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors, The Advocates for Human Rights, The Resurrection Project, The Workers Circle, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Migration, UFW Foundation, VECINA, Vera Institute of Justice, VIDAS, and Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights. 

Read the full letter HERE.