On June 6, 2019, an immigrant detained in Irwin County Detention Center filed this putative class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. The plaintiff alleged that EOIR had a practice of setting unaffordable bonds. Such individuals often remain in detention for months or even years as they await the resolution of their immigration cases. These individuals suffer disproportionate consequences that detainees with greater financial means do not, separating them from their families, preventing them from employment, depriving them of adequate medical care, forcing them to endure harsh living conditions, and hindering their ability find attorney representation. The plaintiff sued William Barr, Attorney General of the United States; the Director of Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR); the Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); the Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); the Director of the ICE Atlanta Field Office; and the Warden of the Irwin County Detention Center. The plaintiff filed these claims under the All Writs Act; the Immigration and Nationality Act; the Declaratory Judgement Act; and Habeas Corpus. Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation Immigrants’ Rights Project and the ACLU of Georgia, the plaintiff sought declaratory and injunctive relief, claiming violations of Fifth Amendment due process and equal protection and the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Within the complaint, the plaintiff also sought to certify a class of “All individuals who are or will be detained pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) on a monetary bond set by an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer and/or an immigration judge in the Middle District of Georgia.” This motion was eventually withdrawn, and the plaintiff filed a new motion for class certification on August 14, 2019 for those who are or will be detained on a monetary bond set by an ICE officer and/or an Immigration Judge in the Middle District of Georgia.

The plaintiffs also filed a second motion for a preliminary injunction on August 14. They asked the court to enjoin the defendants to establish bond-setting procedures that would protect the entire class from unlawful detention based on their lack of financial resources.

As of October 4, 2019 there had been a hearing on the class certification and preliminary injunction motions scheduled for October 30, 2019. The case is ongoing.

Cedar Hobbs - 10/06/2019


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