About Us
Our Mission
The Brooklyn Community Bail Fund (BCBF) is committed to challenging the criminalization of race, poverty and immigration status, the practice of putting a price on fundamental rights, and the persistent myth that bail is a necessary element of the justice system.
Leveraging our groundbreaking work as a charitable bail fund, BCBF joined with other community-based organizations, immigration advocates and legal services providers to form the New York Immigrant Freedom Fund program (NYIFF). Operated by BCBF, the NYIFF program secures the freedom of New Yorkers held in ICE detention who cannot afford to pay bond.
Our Story
Ours is a radical intervention in a system that treats people differently based on wealth, skin color, immigration status and influence. Partnering with other community-based organizations to advocate for systems change, we’re challenging the criminalization of race and poverty, the practice of putting a price on fundamental rights, and the persistent myth that bail and pretrial detention are necessary elements of the justice system.
From 2015 through 2019, BCBF paid more $5 million in bail to secure the freedom of nearly 5,000 individuals accused of misdemeanors. Our work proved that money bail is not only unjust, but also unnecessary: 95% of our clients returned to court as required—often multiple times and over a period of months—with no personal financial incentive to do so.
In response to intensifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, deportations, and retaliatory enforcement of immigration laws, BCBF formed the New York Immigrant Freedom Fund (NYIFF) program to secure the freedom of non-citizen New Yorkers held in immigration detention and eligible for release during the pendency of their cases, but at bond amounts—the average is now over $8,500—they cannot afford. Leveraging our on-the-ground experience as a bail fund, we have secured the freedom of over 450 community members from ICE detention. We will harness our results to demonstrate that immigration bond and detention harm, and do not protect, our communities.
In 2019, we were proud to partner with community-based organizations, advocates, and members of affected communities to help win historic criminal justice reform in New York State that became effective on January 1, 2020. That legislation, however, has now been rolled back, resulting in the expansion of money bail, which will lead to the pretrial incarceration of up to tens of thousands more people. BCBF will continue to leverage our expertise, visibility and partnerships in the fight to end pretrial detention and #FreeThemAll.
Relevant Articles and Press Releases
BCBF Statement on #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd NYC Bail Outs (5/30/20, Medium)
Mexican Immigrant Tells of Detainment Amid Pandemic (4/29/20, Times Union)
NY Gov. Cuomo Signs Away Bail Reforms Despite COVID-19 Decarceration Calls (4/9/20, Filter Magazine)
Bailing Out (4/6/20, The New Republic)
Cuomo's Backroom Bail Reform Budget Deal Subjects Thousands More to Death (4/2/2020, Brooklyn Community Bail Fund Press Release)
Don't Let Fear Mongering Sabotage Criminal Justice Reforms (2/20/20, Times Union)
Reading Bail Reform Through a Critical Race Lens (2/14/20, Law and Political Economy)
New BJS Report Reveals Staggering Number of Preventable Deaths in Local Jails (2/13/20, Prison Policy Initiative)
Bail Reform Advocates Urge Cuomo and Lawmakers NOT to Tweak New Laws (2/11/20, New York Daily News). Read the full letter here.
How New York's Bail Reforms Are Playing Out in a Queens Court (2/3/20, The Appeal)
The Injustice of This Moment Is Not an ‘Aberration’ (1/17/20, New York Times)
Eyes Wide Open: Bail Fight Shows Power of Court Watchers (1/12/20, Law 360)
New York Politicians Are Using Anti-Semitic Attacks to Scare People About Bail Reform (1/10/20, Mother Jones)
Community Bail Funds & the Fight for Freedom (9/27/19, Medium)
Court Watch NYC Last Week in Court (updated weekly, Court Watch NYC)