New York Legal Assistance Group Sues DOJ Over Freedom of Information on Immigration Bond Hearings

New York Legal Assistance Group Sues DOJ Over Freedom of Information on Immigration Bond Hearings

• May 11, 2026
• 4:42 pm

NEW YORK - Today, the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) filed a complaint against the U.S. Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) for failing to comply with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on how immigration judges make bond determinations.

The complaint, filed by NYLAG's Special Litigation Unit in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York (SDNY), is against EOIR, which failed to respond to NYLAG's FOIA request for information regarding how immigration judges are making and evaluating bond hearing determinations, given that the federal administration has not released any public information about new guidance or policy changes regarding immigration bond determinations. NYLAG submitted its initial FOIA request 51 days ago on March 2, 2026-more than double the legally required 20-business-day response period. NYLAG filed this suit to make EOIR comply with their obligations to turn over these essential materials.

"NYLAG is suing EOIR because the Trump administration's immigration judges are churning out denials, skyrocketing the number of people who remain detained," said Kate Fetrow, associate supervising attorney for NYLAG's Special Litigation Unit. "Every day, NYLAG fights against Trump's deportation machine, and our attorneys and clients are witnessing immigration judges essentially eliminate a crucial tool for immigrants to seek release from immigration detention. Given this administration's lack of clear public notice or public policy, this FOIA response will help us uncover why bond hearings now feel so predetermined against immigrants and utterly divorced from the facts of an individual's situation."

Under previous administrations, when ICE detained an immigrant, an immigration judge would typically conduct a bond hearing to determine if that person was a flight risk or a danger to the community. If the immigration judge determined the person was neither, they would release the person on bond. But the Trump administration took the position that judges are not required to hold bond hearings in the vast majority of cases, overturning decades of consensus and leaving thousands of immigrants stranded in detention.

The Trump administration's stance resulted in a flood of federal habeas cases arguing that detention without a bond hearing is illegal. In the last year, hundreds of federal courts across the country rejected the government's unlawful practice of detention without a bond hearing. However, even when immigrants have bond hearings-including after they win a federal lawsuit seeking that bond hearing-immigration judges still deny immigrants release on bond at unprecedented rates and in situations where under a previous administration the immigrant would have been released. Former immigration judges and EOIR officials have sounded the alarm about the increased pressure to deny bond, pointing to evidence that these hearings are effectively predetermined and no longer provide a fair opportunity for detained immigrants to seek release from detention.

Fetrow continued, "Every immigration attorney should be able to review any and all new guidance for immigration judges on bond hearings so that we all can serve our immigrant clients and protect our communities from a system that is hellbent on detaining and deporting people, rather than giving anyone a fair chance at the American Dream. This lawsuit is one step towards transparency in how to keep people home with their families and communities."

NYLAG is a nonprofit civil legal services organization that provides free, high-quality representation to low-income New Yorkers, including thousands of immigrants facing detention and removal proceedings each year. Through its Immigrant Protection Unit, NYLAG represents detained individuals in bond hearings, removal proceedings and related habeas litigation, and conducts systemic advocacy aimed at combating unlawful detention practices. For NYLAG, access to information regarding how immigration judges make bond determinations-and how bond hearing orders are implemented or disregarded-is critical to fulfilling its mission, protecting its clients' liberty and engaging in informed advocacy on behalf of New York's immigrant communities.

Per the complaint, NYLAG is seeking the Southern District of New York:

• Declare that EOIR violated FOIA by unlawfully withholding the requested records;

• Declare that EOIR's failure to produce the requested records in a timely manner is unlawful; and

• Order EOIR to conduct a reasonable search for the requested records and to disclose them in their entireties and requested format as soon as possible.

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