In response to a lawsuit alleging it employed abusive and misleading practices, a corporation that offers services to immigrants in federal custody was ordered on Tuesday to pay more than $811 million in penalties and compensation.
A judgment entered in federal court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg states that Nexus Services must pay penalties of $13.8 million to New York, $7.1 million to Virginia, and $3.4 million to Massachusetts in addition to about $231 million in restitution.
The Virginia-based business, Libre by Nexus, a subsidiary, and its three executives are also required to pay a combined total of more than $111 million in civil penalties.
“This judgment is a victory for thousands of immigrant families who lost their life savings and were targeted and preyed on by Libre,” New York Attorney General Letitia James stated. “Libre exploited vulnerable immigrants and their families to pad its pockets, and that is illegal and unconscionable.”
James filed a lawsuit in 2021 accusing the business of breaking both federal and state consumer protection laws alongside the state attorneys general of Virginia and Massachusetts as well as the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
According to the officials, the company disguised and misrepresented the true nature and costs of its services, although it did guarantee the release of immigrants on bond while their immigration petitions were being processed.
They claimed that the business compelled immigrants to wear uncomfortable ankle monitors and made hundreds of dollars in fees beyond the face value of the bonds.
The company is a “service provider that acts as an intermediary between immigration detainees and sureties and their bond agents,” according to U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Dillon, who made this observation in her ruling. The company is neither a qualified bail bond agent nor a surety company certified by the U.S. Treasury.
Calling the decision a “shocking departure from normal American jurisprudence,” the company said in a statement that it plans to appeal because it was made “without evidence, without a trial, and without a damages hearing.”
“We continue to remain committed to serving our clients – people who suffer and sacrifice for a better life, and who do not deserve to be political pawns in an American legislature or an American courtroom,” the company continued.
