ACLU sues feds over bond hearings for immigrants

BOSTON (AP) — A class-action lawsuit alleges that the federal government is illegally detaining immigrants without giving them a fair chance of being released on bond.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union affiliates in Massachusetts and New Hampshire on behalf of several jailed immigrants.

They are challenging the government’s practice of requiring immigrants at bond hearings to prove they should be released because they aren’t a danger or a flight risk.

They want the court to order that the burden must be on the government to prove that someone should be detained.

The lawsuit seeks to help immigrants detained in Massachusetts and those in other New England states who appear in Boston Immigration Court.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman said the agency doesn’t comment on pending litigation.