New Study Finds an Immigration Bond in Denver Was More than 13 Times the Median in Bloomington

The median immigration bond in Denver reached $20,000 in September, more than 13 times the $1,500 median in Bloomington, Minnesota, according to newly released court data showing a sharp geographic divide in the cost of securing release from detention.

The analysis by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, published Oct. 26, put the national median at $7,500. Denver's figure also held at $20,000 across fiscal 2026, while Bloomington's full-year median was $3,000.

Immigration judges granted bond to 2,646 people in September, the largest monthly total in two years. They held just under 10,000 bond hearings that month. Mexican nationals accounted for the largest number of hearings in both cities and about a quarter of bond grants nationwide during the fiscal year, followed nationally by Guatemalans and Venezuelans.

The $18,500 difference between the two September medians raises questions about how custody decisions translate into financial hurdles for immigrants and their families. The report does not establish how much of the gap reflects individual circumstances, differences in the cases reaching each court, or local decision-making.

Bond proceedings determine whether eligible immigrants can leave custody while their immigration cases continue. The Justice Department's immigration court practice manual explains that the Department of Homeland Security initially sets bond, and an immigration judge may reconsider it at the detained person's request.

Judges consider eligibility, potential danger to people or property, the likelihood of appearing for future proceedings and national security concerns. Some categories of detainees fall outside judges' bond jurisdiction.

Requests generally go to the court responsible for the place of detention. There is no filing fee to request a bond hearing. That hearing is separate from the proceeding that determines whether someone will be removed from the country.

A bond decision addresses custody during a case. The amount alone cannot establish the strength of an immigrant's claim to remain in the United States, and a court's median does not describe every person appearing there.

A 2026 Board of Immigration Appeals decision outlines additional factors judges may weigh, including a fixed U.S. address, length of residence, family connections, employment history and previous court appearances. Criminal history, immigration violations, attempts to flee authorities and manner of entry may also enter the assessment.

Those individual considerations limit what a comparison between cities can prove. Establishing why the medians diverge would require examining the circumstances behind the decisions, including the evidence presented and the population eligible for hearings.

Access to legal representation presents another uneven feature of the immigration court system. In a separate report published Sept. 15, TRAC found that only 24% of immigrants whose cases ended in removal orders in August had an attorney. That group included unaccompanied children.

Across completed immigration court cases, representation fell from 63% in fiscal 2021 to 32% in fiscal 2026 through August. Those figures cover immigration proceedings broadly and do not measure representation specifically at bond hearings.

The September report also identified large geographic differences in obtaining counsel. Among immigrants with new court cases filed during the preceding 90 days, 70.5% of Maine residents had representation, compared with 70.2% in Hawaii. West Virginia followed at 65.5%, Maryland at 59.1% and Massachusetts at 56.8%.

TRAC attributed the broader representation shortfall to demand outstripping available legal assistance. Unlike criminal defendants, immigrants in removal proceedings generally are not entitled to government-appointed counsel at public expense.