Nexus Services, a firm providing services for immigrants in federal detention, was ordered Tuesday to pay over $811 million in restitution and penalties in a lawsuit that claimed it engaged in abusive and deceptive practices.
The order was issued by a federal court in the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg, requiring Nexus Services to pay around $231 million in restitution and fines of $13.8 million to New York, $7.1 million to Virginia, and $3.4 million to Massachusetts.
The Virginia-based firm, its subsidiary Libre by Nexus, and its three executives will also have to pay over $111 million in civil penalties. The decision, according to New York Attorney General Letitia James, is a win for the thousands of immigrant families that the corporation preyed on.
She added in a statement that Libre by Nexus illegally and unethically abused immigrant families and vulnerable immigrants for financial gain.
Nexus Services Accused of Breaking Federal and State Consumer Protection Laws
Letitia James, along with her Massachusetts and Virginia counterparts and the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, sued the firm in 2021. They claimed that it had broken both federal and state consumer protection laws.
According to The Associated Press, the firm lied about the nature and cost of its services and offered to obtain the release of immigrants on bail while their immigration petitions were being processed.
Authorities said the company raked in thousands of dollars more than the bonds were worth and subjected immigrants to uncomfortable ankle monitors.
In her ruling, US District Judge Elizabeth Dillon noted that the firm was not a surety company registered with the US Treasury or a licensed bail bond agent but a service provider that mediates between "immigration detainees and sureties and their bond agents."
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Nexus Services Reveals Plan to File an Appeal
According to AP, Nexus Services announced its intention to appeal the decision, which it described as a "shocking departure from normal American jurisprudence" due to lack of evidence, trial, and 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 said in a statement.
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