About

The Fair Fight Bond Fund is the only community-sourced immigration bond fund based in Washington State and the Pacific Northwest paying to release people from the violence and injustice that is immigration detention.

As a network of community activism rooted in the direct requests of immigrants and detained people, the Fair Fight Bond Fund provides support in and outside detention through physical, emotional, linguistic, and financial assistance. We exist to provide hope and comprehensive support to detained immigrants with the goal of freeing people from detention, reuniting them with their loved ones, and working toward a larger vision of eliminating detention centers altogether.

This fund is an initiative of the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN).

Many people detained in immigration cases can’t afford the high cost of posting bond. Immigration bonds on average cost between $5,000 and $12,500, and can range up to $25,000.

For many low-income individuals, this expense is prohibitive. An estimated one-in-five individuals who are granted a bond option remain incarcerated because they can’t afford the cost of the bond. At the Northwest Detention Center this equates to approximately 250 people each year.

There are enormous benefits accrued to an individual, their family, and their community, when they are released from a detention center during their immigration proceedings. These include:

The mission of the Fair Fight Bond Fund is to channel resources of the immigrant justice movement in Washington State to liberate immigrants and refugees from detention as a strategy for defense against deportation. 

The goal of the Fair Fight Bond Fund is to ensure that all those granted a bond option can take advantage of it. Furthermore, once our community members get released, the Fund will work in conjunction with WAISN partners to:

• Meet the basic needs of bond recipients and ensure they get back to their loved ones safely
• Ensure individuals have sufficient access to legal and community resources over the course of their legal proceedings
• Simplify, explain, and support logistical planning for court proceedings.

Anyone detained by United States immigration authorities in any part of the country who has had a bond set that they do not have resources to pay is eligible to receive support from the Fair Fight Bond Fund. 

We will consider all applications received but will give priority to people detained in Washington State and the Pacific Northwest or who have connections to Washington State and the Pacific Northwest.

We believe that nobody should be detained and that detention is unjust and dangerous. However, due to limited resources, we cannot cover every request that we receive. We will give priority to people who face exacerbated vulnerabilities in detention due to any of the following situations:

• People with serious physical or mental health disabilities, chronic illnesses, pregnancy, or in need of urgent medical attention;
• Primary caretakers of dependents—particularly minors, elders, and/or people with serious disabilities or chronic illnesses—who are facing immediate hardship due to the applicant’s detention;
• People who identify as queer or transgender;
• People who face exacerbated vulnerabilities in detention based on their gender, sexuality, language, faith, or other identity factors;
• People who have been detained for more than 3 months by any federal, state, or local law enforcement agency.