Immigration bond vs. California bail bond
| California bail bond | Immigration bond | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sets the amount | County bail schedule or a judge, under Penal Code §1269b | ICE at the outset, or an immigration judge on a bond redetermination |
| Where it is posted | The county jail or the court | Through ICE's federal bond process, not a county window |
| What it secures | Appearance in the criminal case | Appearance at immigration hearings and compliance with any final order |
| Typical range | Set by the schedule for the charge | Statutory minimums apply and amounts commonly run well into five figures |
| What release looks like | Out of county custody, often within hours | Out of an ICE detention facility, on the facility's schedule |
| Return of money | Cash bail returned; a bond premium is earned | A cash immigration bond can be returned to the obligor on cancellation; a bond premium is earned |
| Armstrong writes it | Yes — CA DOI license #1214401 | Yes — under our immigration bond authorization |
The most important practical point: a criminal case and an immigration hold are two separate locks on the same door. Posting county bail on the charge does not lift an immigration detainer, and clearing a detainer does not resolve the criminal case. Both may need to be handled.
How the process works
- Locate the person. Once someone is in ICE custody they leave the county system — the federal online detainee locator is where to look, not the sheriff's inmate search.
- Find out whether a bond has been set. ICE makes an initial determination; some categories are subject to mandatory detention with no bond available at all.
- If ICE denies bond or sets it too high, an immigration judge with the Executive Office for Immigration Review can hold a bond redetermination hearing. That is an attorney's work, and we will tell you when you need one.
- Once an amount exists, we prepare the bond and post it through the federal process with the obligor's information and documentation.
- ICE processes the posting and schedules the release from the detention facility.
- The bond stays in effect through the immigration case. Missing a hearing or failing to comply with a final order breaches it.
Timelines are different — plan for that
A county bail bond frequently means release the same night. An immigration bond usually does not. The posting has to be accepted through the federal process and the release is then scheduled by the detention facility, which can mean the next business day or longer, and facilities do not all operate on the same schedule.
- Federal processing generally runs on business hours, so a Friday evening posting often means a following-week release.
- Detention facilities set their own release windows and transport arrangements.
- A person may be moved between facilities, sometimes out of state, before or after a bond is posted.
- Any criminal hold, warrant, or other detainer must clear separately.
What a family should have ready
- The detained person's full legal name, date of birth, country of birth, and A-number if you have it.
- The facility where they are being held, if known.
- The obligor's identification and status documentation — the person posting is generally expected to be a US citizen or lawful permanent resident.
- Contact information and a stable address for the person being released.
- Any paperwork received from ICE, including a notice showing a bond amount.
- Details of any parallel criminal case, so we can tell you whether a state bond is also needed.
If there is also a state charge with a scheduled bail amount, that is the side we handle every day — see Los Angeles County bail bonds and San Diego County bail bonds.
Where this fits with the rest of the case
Two lawyers may be involved: an immigration attorney for the removal proceeding and a criminal defense attorney for any state charge, because how the criminal case resolves directly affects immigration exposure. We are the bonding side of both, not the legal advice side. On the state case, should you call a lawyer or a bondsman first covers the order of operations, and zero bail vs. no-bail holds explains how holds appear on a custody record.