Our goal is simple
Pass and enact the Stop Immigration Bail Abuse Act (SIMBAA) in New York State to end profiteering from immigrant families’ pain. Stop predatory and exploitative business practices. New Yorkers can’t wait!
Our solution is the Stop Immigration Bond Abuse Act (SIMBAA)
Our resources are available and free
Help Break the Shackles, learn about the issues, and stay informed about this fight for all New Yorkers.
Federal law regulates many aspects of immigration detention and allows for certain detainees to rejoin their families while cases are resolved. Yet, the ways through which detainees access these opportunities are impacted by state laws because of the immigration bond process.
An immigration bond’s average cost surged to $7,500 in recent years — a 50% increase in cost for an option intended to benefit neighbors who are most vulnerable and no threat.
Increasingly expensive immigration bonds force many families to turn to for-profit bond companies or remain separated from loved ones. Unfortunately, consumer protections are not currently in place in that industry to provide a healthy, transparent marketplace.
Predatory and exploitative business practices are rife within New York’s for-profit immigration bond industry: excessive (and hidden) fees are issued which routinely exceed the cost of an initial bond; false advertising and misleading contracts are used in vulnerable communities often unaware of available protections, resources, and rights; and the use of ankle shackles and other devices is mandated solely by profiteering companies, without government requirement, in ways which violate the privacy, safety, and dignity of fellow New Yorkers.
For example: Libre by Nexus, a particularly egregious offender, not only imposes ankle shackles, but then charges New Yorkers, including those confronting financial crises, hundreds of dollars each month in fees to “rent” devices which are not required by federal law or immigration procedures.
Reasonable reform, available this 2022 legislative session, protects New York’s own from those companies profiteering from New York families’ pain.
New York must pass the Stop Immigration Bond Abuse Act (SIMBAA) to:
Prohibit private companies from using electronic shackles.
Abolish fees and exorbitant interest rates on immigration bonds.
Ensure immigrants are not misled by profiteering businesses.
