U.s. Immigration and Customs Enforcement June 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposes two changes that would apply to surety companies certified by the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) to underwrite bonds on behalf of the Federal Government. First, the proposed rule would require Treasury-certified sureties seeking to overturn a surety immigration bond breach determination to exhaust administrative remedies by filing an administrative appeal raising all legal and factual defenses. This requirement to exhaust administrative remedies and present all issues to the administrative tribunal would allow Federal district courts to review a written decision addressing all of the surety's defenses, thereby streamlining litigation over the breach determination's validity. Second, this proposed rule would set forth ``for cause'' standards and due process protections so that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a component of DHS, may decline bonds from companies that do not cure their deficient performance. Treasury administers the Federal corporate surety program and, in its current regulations, allows agencies to prescribe in their regulations for cause standards and procedures for declining to accept bonds from a Treasury-certified surety company. DHS proposes the for cause standards contained in this rule because certain surety companies have failed to pay amounts due on administratively final bond breach determinations or have had in the past unacceptably high breach rates.