An upstate federal judge has rebuked immigration judges who set high bail amounts on asylum-seeking immigrants held in Batavia, New York, ruling that the detainees’ ability to make payment must be considered when setting their release conditions.
U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Wolford of the Western District of New York has also declared that immigration judges must consider alternatives to cash bail when arranging for the release of the asylum-seekers, who say they have fled violence and persecution in their home countries and hope to start new lives in America.
