Freedom isn't free, literally, for some immigrants arrested at the hands of ICE agents in New York.
amNewYork has learned that some of those detained by the federal agency are required to pay thousands of dollars to be released from custody — and wear tracking devices like hardened criminals, even if they don't have a criminal record.
An Ecuadorian man who asked to remain unnamed while his open immigration case unfolds stood with his wife, Gloria, as he showed amNewYork a GPS monitor wrapped around his ankle.
This partial freedom came with a significant cost to the family — $20,000 — despite the man having no criminal record.
Gloria's husband arrived in the US from Ecuador in 2023. When he walked into an immigration appointment in Malta, NY, he thought he was following the rules and co