ICE bond: how an immigration bond works

To free a detained person, you pay online through Cash Electronic Bonds, a federal system also called CeBONDS. This online tool lets you confirm bond eligibility, send cash payments, and receive electronic updates in your role as payer.

What steps do you follow on the CeBONDS website?

You must first confirm that your relative qualifies for release before you send any money. A bond can be posted through the ICE online bond page only for detained people who are eligible. Your account stays secure because the automated system relies on Okta sign-in.

Learning how to pay an immigration bond online means you can skip a trip to a federal building. Submit your request by following these 4 steps:

1. On your phone or computer, open the ICE CeBONDS website.
2. Go over the legal terms shown on the home screen.
3. Sign in with an Okta account by scrolling to the bottom of the screen.
4. Ask the system to verify the detained person's bond, then use the on-screen prompts to pay the cash amount.

Federal payment system rules

Signing in to the CeBONDS portal means you automatically accept the site's legal terms. The screen shows the Warning, the Privacy Act Notice, and the Rules of Behavior, which are all part of those terms. Before entering any personal details, read them carefully.

Only authorized use is allowed on this official U.S. government payment portal. Civil or criminal penalties can result from misusing the website. After ICE receives your payment, the same system emails you electronic notices about the bond. When the court case ends and you look into getting your bail money back, those saved messages will be your proof, so don't lose them. Expect to need those records each time the government sends notices to whoever posted the cash.

The lowest possible amount under federal law is $1,500, but the exact price varies with the person's case. The money that allows a detained person to stay home while a removal case is pending is called bail.

Federal law on minimum amounts and release rules

8 U.S. Code § 1226 allows the government to hold someone arrested on a warrant while it decides on removal. Federal law puts a $1,500 minimum on the immigration bond cost, with the Attorney General required to approve the security and conditions. The law also permits release on conditional parole, not just paying an ICE bond. With conditional parole, a person can leave custody under strict rules and pay no money.

Getting released doesn't give your relative the legal right to work right away. Federal law bars work authorization for anyone released on bond or parole, except lawful permanent residents. Phone the detention facility or the immigration court clerk to find out the precise dollar amount for your relative.

Could you request a lower amount from a judge?

A judge can review the price at your relative's request if ICE sets it higher than you can afford. Once a hearing is over, families asking how much is immigration bail can read the Florence Project bond booklet. This resource was written for detainees representing themselves by a nonprofit group, the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project.

The booklet doesn't offer legal advice, nor does it replace legal counsel. Topics include applying for a bond, requesting a bond hearing, and asking for a bond redetermination. It also describes what becomes of the money and advises detainees to ask a sponsor for a support letter. When a relative or friend offers housing and support in a letter to the judge, that person is a sponsor.

Posting cash for a detainee doesn't require finding a local bail shop or driving to a detention center. Through its central CeBONDS website, ICE takes care of cash bond verification and payments online.

Paying cash online from home

Looking up an immigration bond near me often leads you to county bail agents, who handle state arrests only. Federal immigration custody works differently, since the government gets paid directly on the ICE cash bond page. Using your phone, you can open the link on that site to request bond verification and pay cash.

You can help a relative who's being held in another state, since CeBONDS runs as an automated, web-based system. If the detained person qualifies, you can sign in through Okta and put up the bond online. Once payment is made, ICE sends electronic notifications directly to you, the person who posted the cash.

Getting in touch with a field office or detention center near you

There are times when online bond verification fails, or when you need answers from an officer near where your relative is. USAGov's detainee page says you should contact a field office of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations for help. The ICE locating factsheet notes that, before online tools existed, you could only find detainees by calling that office.

When you're sure which center holds your relative, reach out directly to that immigration detention facility. Find out from the staff whether a bond amount has been set for your relative and whether CeBONDS is an option. Talking straight to the field office or detention facility helps if the online records aren't current yet. If the person is still in a county jail, see how to locate someone in jail or try a federal inmate lookup.

You can find a detained relative online with the Online Detainee Locator System. The public tool lists adults held in ICE custody or by Customs and Border Protection for more than 48 hours.

Using an A-Number or personal details to search

First confirm which facility is holding your relative; only then can you post an ICE bond. According to ICE's detention factsheet, ICE created this web tool so that families and lawyers can look up detainees online. An A-Number is a number with 8 or 9 digits, shown on letters sent by Homeland Security or immigration court. When you have that number, ICE suggests starting with the A-Number search immediately.

Missing search results and language choices

Reading English isn't required for using the search tool. Several languages are available through the ICE locator language page, where you can change the screen language:

• Portuguese and Spanish
• Creole and French
• Chinese and Vietnamese

Records for people younger than 18 can't be searched with the online locator. When an adult relative doesn't show up, make sure you added a leading zero so the A-Number has 9 digits. Choosing the person's exact country of birth is also required. If the search still shows nothing, USAGov advises contacting a field office of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations. When you know the holding center already, phone the immigration detention facility directly.