Bail Bonds

The for-profit bail industry in the U.S. is highly localized and decentralized, with corporate involvement spread among thousands of privately owned bail bond agencies. In exchange for upfront, monthly, and other fees, these agencies post bail on behalf of incarcerated individuals and detained immigrants.

In the wake of several major insurance companies divesting from their bail businesses, Fairfax Financial Holdings is the only publicly traded company involved in this industry.

For more information on the for-profit bail bond industry in the U.S., see here.

Further Information
"All profit, no risk: How the bail industry exploits the legal system," Prison Policy Initiative report, 2022
"Bail bond firm duped immigrants into wearing 'shackles' and paying to have them removed, feds say," CBS News, 2021
"How ICE's Bail Bond Scheme Lets Corporations Profit Off Migrants," The New York Review, 2020
"Selling Off Our Freedom: How insurance corporations have taken over our bail system," ACLU and Color of Change report, 2017
"Detaining the Poor: How money bail perpetuates an endless cycle of poverty and jail time," Prison Policy Initiative, 2016
The list of companies involved in this sector
Select private companies are listed below publicly-traded companies.
(!) symbol means this company is on our divestment list
Publicly-Traded Companies
Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd
Canada

A Canadian financial holding company. Its subsidiary Crum & Forster is the largest bail insurance company in the US.

Private Companies
Action Immigration Bonds and Insurance Services Inc
Florida

A Florida-based immigration bail bond company that operates across all 50 US states. It claims that it has posted bail for "tens of thousands" of people detained by US immigration authorities.

AIA Surety
California

A California-based bail bond insurance company—comprised of Allegheny Casualty, Associated Bond, and International Fidelity—that underwrites jail and immigration bonds. It operates across all 50 US states and Puerto Rico.

American Surety Company
Indiana

An Indiana-based property and casualty insurance company that specializes in underwriting immigration and jail bonds. It operates in 46 US states.

Bankers Financial Corporation
Florida

A Florida-based financial holding company whose bail bond surety subsidiary Bankers Surety provides surety services for immigration and jail bonds. It operates in over 40 US states.

Gonzales & Gonzales Immigration Bonds and Ins. Agency Inc
New Jersey

A New Jersey–based immigration bail bond company that operates across all 50 US states. 

Lexington National Insurance Corporation
Kentucky

A Kentucky-based property and casualty insurance company that specializes in underwriting jail and immigration bail bonds. It operates across all 50 US states. 

Libre by Nexus Inc
Virginia

A Virginia-based bail bond services company that secures immigration bonds for individuals detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in exchange for monthly and other fees. Owned by private e-carceration company Nexus Services, the self-proclaimed "legal aid" provider has been sued and investigated numerous times for "preying on undocumented immigrants" and "acting as an unlicensed bail bond agency."

Statewide Bonding Inc
California

A Virginia-based immigration bail bond company that operates across all 50 US states.

This page was last updated on
22 June 2023