A New York legal services group has hauled the U.S. Department of Justice into Manhattan federal court, asking a judge to force the agency to turn over internal guidance and communications about how immigration judges decide when to deny bond to detained immigrants. The lawsuit says the Justice Department blew off a Freedom of Information Act request and is hiding those policies, leaving people who once would have been released stuck in detention for months. Advocates say the shift has quietly rewritten who stays locked up during deportation proceedings, with real fallout for families across the city.
In a complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, the New York Legal Assistance Group alleges the DOJ failed to answer its FOIA request for materials and communications between the department and immigration judges that shape bond denials. As reported by amNewYork, the suit argues that any internal direction - if it exists in a form that can be documented - could help explain why judges are turning down bond at far higher rates than in past years.
According to NYLAG attorneys, the filings highlight a dramatic drop in bond grants: just 346 immigrants were granted bond between January and March of this year, compared with roughly 2,400 people released on bond per month a year earlier. NYLAG attorney Kate Fetrow warned that "this realigning of who is detained has a huge impact on thousands," while co-counsel Shannon Lee said the group is trying to uncover what standards immigration judges are actually using. The organization says lawyers have increasingly turned to habeas corpus petitions as a backup route to seek release for clients who remain in custody. amNewYork has reviewed the key claims in the suit.
Why Advocates Say The Rules Matter
Legal-services groups argue that any secret instructions knock the legs out from under detained immigrants trying to understand or challenge why they are being held while their removal cases drag on. Attorneys around the country report a spike in habeas petitions from people denied bond who are now turning to federal judges instead, creating crowded dockets and uneven outcomes. As outlined by The Washington Post, that surge is part of a broader scramble by courts and defenders to fill in the gaps when immigration-court procedures shift without public notice.
A National Legal Fight
The battle over how bond hearings should work is unfolding in federal courts across the country, producing conflicting rulings that advocates say make transparency all the more urgent. In February, a federal judge vacated a Board of Immigration Appeals decision that had backed the administration's approach to mass detention, as reported by Reuters. Other federal panels have come out the other way, leaving a patchwork of law where the rules can change depending on which court is hearing the case.
Case Status And Next Steps
The FOIA case, New York Legal Assistance Group v. United States Department of Homeland Security (No. 26-CV-3201), is pending in the Southern District of New York. A court order dated April 22, 2026, directed the parties to file a joint letter about discovery and scheduling, according to the docket. Records at Justia show the case is still in its early procedural phase. If a judge eventually orders the Justice Department to hand over the requested communications, attorneys say that material could change how bond decisions are challenged in immigration courts.
For New Yorkers with relatives or neighbors in detention, advocates stress this fight is anything but abstract: it helps determine who walks out while a case moves through the system and who stays behind bars for months. NYLAG and its partner lawyers say they plan to keep pressing both the FOIA lawsuit and individual habeas petitions as the litigation moves forward.
