Immigration Judges Ordered To Consider Conditional Parole

"A Washington federal judge on Monday ordered immigration judges in Seattle and Tacoma to start considering conditional parole for immigrants hoping to leave detention, rather than monetary bonds, and granted class certification and judgment to plaintiffs accusing the courts of requiring a bond of at least $1,500.  U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik ruled that the Immigration and Nationality Act “unambiguously states” that an immigration judge may weigh conditions for releasing an immigrant that go beyond a bond, and said plaintiff Maria Sandra Rivera’s immigration judge got it wrong.  “Plaintiff’s IJ mistakenly believed he had no such authority, a misunderstanding that conflicted with the law,” Judge Lasnik wrote.  The judge also certified a class of all bond-eligible individuals who are or will be detained and whose custody proceedings are under the jurisdiction of immigration courts in Seattle and Tacoma.  Immigrants who are being held without bond after a bond determination, and anyone who has been released, are excluded from the class." - Law360, Apr. 13, 2015.