Company fined US$811 million for exploiting vulnerable immigrants

RICHMOND, Virginia: This week, Nexus Services, a company that provides services for immigrants in federal detention, was fined more than US$811 million in restitution and penalties in a lawsuit alleging it used deceptive and abusive tactics.

According to a judgement filed in federal court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg, in addition to some $231 million in restitution, the company must pay penalties worth $13.8 million to New York, $7.1 million to Virginia and $3.4 million to Massachusetts.

The Virginia-based company, its subsidiary Libre by Nexus, and its three executives must also pay more than $111 million each in civil penalties.

In a statement, New York Attorney-General Letitia James said, “This judgment is a victory for thousands of immigrant families who lost their life savings and were targeted and preyed on by Libre. Libre exploited vulnerable immigrants and their families to pad its pockets, and that is illegal and unconscionable.”

The attorneys-general of Virginia and Massachusetts and the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also joined in the 2021 lawsuit, which accused the company of violating state and federal consumer protection laws.

Officials said Nexus pledged to secure immigrants’ release on bond while their immigration claims were being processed but concealed and misrepresented the true nature and costs of its services.

It also collected fees worth thousands of dollars above the face value of the bonds and forced immigrants to wear painful ankle monitors, they added.

In her decision, U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Dillon said the company is a “service provider that acts as an intermediary between immigration detainees and sureties and their bond agents,” but it is not a licensed bail bond agent, or a surety company certified by the U.S. Treasury.

In response, the company said it will appeal the judgement, which it called a “shocking departure from normal American jurisprudence” as it was decided “without evidence, without a trial and without a damages hearing.”