MIAMI — U.S. immigration authorities illegally withheld more than $300 million in bond payments from tens of thousands of low-income immigrant families and U.S. citizens, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

Motley Fool Rice LLC, one of the firms that filed the lawsuit in federal court for the Eastern District of New York, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hid the money for so long that $240 million in unclaimed funds was transferred to a U.S. Treasury account.

The lawsuit, which addresses long-standing complaints, seeks class-action status for those who paid cash to rescue family members detained by ICE. Motley Fool Rice, a firm that represents clients in a wide variety of class-action lawsuits, said it has been investigating the matter for two years.

Immigration bonds are determined by ICE and immigration judges and allow noncitizens facing deportation proceedings to be released in the U.S. while their cases are decided in court. The average bail payment is $6,000, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges tens of thousands of class members, based on information obtained through public records requests and other lawsuits. “The exact number and identities of class members will be determined from government records,” it says.

Once the immigration case is concluded, families and friends of those detained will have the right to get their money back. But ICE “routinely fails to return these funds even when all conditions are met and cases are resolved,” according to the lawsuit.

ICE declined to comment, saying it does not discuss ongoing litigation.

The lawsuit, filed this week, was filed on behalf of Douglas Cortez of Uniondale, New York, who posted $10,000 bail to have his friend released from custody. In August 2023, his friend’s case was dismissed, but more than a year later, Cortez still has not received any notice and has not received a refund for his cash deposit.

“They took thousands of dollars from hard-working immigrant families who deserve to get their money back,” said Deepak Gupta, one of the lawyers who filed the lawsuit. “We want ICE to fix this system, we want the court to declare ICE to have violated its legal obligations under the contract so this doesn’t happen to other families in the future.”

Gupta said they arrived at the $300 million figure after carefully reviewing government documents and court records obtained through FOIA requests.

Ada Salazar, 28, did not receive her money after her uncle sent her $5,000 in February 2016. Ada Salazar, who is from El Salvador, gained legal status in 2021 and is now ready to join the case.

“I hope to get the money back, that’s their promise,” Salazar, a mother of a 6-year-old child and food truck owner in North Carolina, told The Associated Press.