This website explains how to file a claim for money damages if the U.S. government harmed you, using a law called the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). 

The FTCA process has two steps, and can take a long time. Step One is filing an administrative claim directly with the government agencies that harmed you. If you decide to file an FTCA claim, you must complete Step One within two years of when the harm happened. Step Two is filing a lawsuit in federal court. Some people never do Step Two. This website explains how to complete the first step.

Learn more about the FTCA process, including the benefits and risks of filing a claim.

You can file an FTCA claim against all of the federal agencies that were involved in harming you. You can file the claim against all of the federal agencies at the same time, using the same form. If you are not sure whether an agency was involved or not, you can include the agency to be safe. 

Here are some examples of federal agencies: 

• Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): If you were harmed by ICE officers, you can file the claim with ICE. You can also list the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the larger agency that ICE is part of. 

• Customs and Border Protection (CBP): If you were harmed by Border Patrol officers, you can file the claim with CBP. You can also list DHS, the larger agency that CBP is part of.

• Unknown immigration officials: If you are not sure whether the officers who harmed you were part of ICE or CBP, you can file a claim with both agencies. You can also list DHS, the larger agency that both ICE and CBP are part of. 

• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): If you were harmed by a USCIS employee or at a USCIS appointment, you can file a claim with USCIS. You can also list DHS, the larger agency that USCIS is part of.

• Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR): If you were harmed by an employee of the immigration courts or at an immigration court hearing, you can file a claim with EOIR. You can also list the Department of Justice (DOJ), the larger agency that EOIR is part of. 

• Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): If your claim is related to medical care provided by a U.S. health employee, you can file a claim with HHS. 

However, if you were harmed by someone who works for a state government, or who is a private contractor, or who does not work for the government at all, then the FTCA is not the right legal process. You may be able to seek money damages using a different process. 

You can find a blank version of Standard Form-95 here. If more than one person in your family was harmed, fill out a separate Standard Form 95 for each family member. Below is information on how to fill out each box of the form. 

• Box 1: List all of the federal agencies in the U.S. government that were involved in harming you. There could be one agency, or multiple agencies. See Step 2, above. 

• Box 2: List the name of the person making the FTCA claim and the address where you can receive mail. You can file an FTCA claim for yourself, your minor child, or in some cases a family member who has died.  

  • If the government agency wishes to settle your claim, they should reach out to the address listed on this form. But it could take many years to hear from the government, so you want to make sure this is an address where you will receive mail for many years. 

  • If you have a lawyer, you can list the lawyer’s address instead of your address. 

• Box 3: This box asks whether you were employed by the U.S. military or whether you are a civilian, which means you were not employed by the U.S. military. Most people will check the box for “civilian.”

• Box 4: List your date of birth. The date should be written with the month first, followed by the day, followed by the year.

• Box 5: State if you are married, single, widowed, or divorced.

• Box 6: List the month and year that you were harmed by the U.S. government. If the harm happened over a period of time, list both the month and year the harm began and the month and year the harm ended.

• Box 7: This box asks for the time of day when you were harmed. If you were harmed during both the morning and night, you could write A.M. and P.M. 

• Box 8: This box asks you to explain what happened when you were harmed by the government. If you want to include additional information that does not fit in the box, you can also write “see attached” and attach a document where you have written more information. Here are some questions to think about and answer here: 

  • What did the government employees do to harm you? How did you know they were government employees? What government agency do you think they were from? If there were multiple events of harm, you can summarize all of them. 

  • When did the harm happen? You can list a general time frame, using months and years. You do not need to list specific dates on the form. If the harms happened over a period of time, you can say the overall time period. 

  • Where did the harm happen? 

  • Were you physically hurt or injured? Was your child physically hurt or injured?

  • Did anyone threaten, intimidate, or mistreat you? 

  • Did you suffer emotional distress because of your interaction with the government employees? 

  • Was your property damaged, for example your car or your home? Or did the government employees take your property and not return it?

  • Were you separated from your child, parent, spouse, or other family member?

  • Were you wrongfully arrested or detained? 

  • If you were arrested or detained, what was your experience like? How were you treated when arrested or at detention facilities by government employees?

  • Did you experience any medical problems or receive inadequate medical treatment? 

  • Were you wrongfully deported to a country that is not your country of origin?

  • Did you lose income because of what happened? 

• Box 9: This box asks if your property was damaged in the United States. If your property was damaged, for example your car or your home, you can include that information. If your property was not damaged, you can write “not applicable.”

• Box 10: This box asks you to explain the injuries that you suffered. In this box, you can list any physical injuries, emotional distress, and other harms. 

• Box 11: This box asks for the names and addresses of witnesses. The witnesses can include you, family members, friends, medical experts, and employees of the U.S. government. For example, under “Name,” someone might write “Employees of the federal agencies listed in Box 1 above, myself and my family members and friends and medical experts.” Under “Address,” someone might write: “Federal agencies listed in Box 1 above, myself and my family members listed in Box 2 above.” 

• Box 12a: This box asks for the amount of money you wish to claim for any property damage. If your property was not damaged, you can leave this box blank. If your property was damaged (for example your car or your home), you can estimate the cost of the damage and enter that amount. The amount you put in this box is the maximum you could receive from the U.S. government for property damage. Listing an amount of money on the form does not mean that you will receive that much money, even if you win your FTCA case.  

• Box 12b: This box asks for the amount of money that you wish to claim for the injuries that you have suffered. This includes both physical injuries and emotional distress. For example, we have seen people list amounts from $1,000,000 to $10,000,000 as an estimate for the physical harms, lost income, medical bills, emotional distress, and other harms that they suffered. The amount you put in this box is the maximum you can receive from the U.S. government for your injuries. Listing an amount of money on the form does not mean that you will receive that much money, even if you win your FTCA case. 

• Box 12c: This box asks for the amount you wish to claim for wrongful death. If you are not filing a claim because someone died, you do not need to fill out this box.

• Box 12d: This box asks for the total amount that you wish to claim for the injuries that you suffered. The amount in this box should be the total of boxes 12a, 12b, and 12c. 

• Box 13a: This is the box where you will sign your name. After you have filled out the form, print as many copies as you need and sign your name in blue ink on each one. If the form is for a child under 18 years old, a parent can sign the form for them. 

• Box 13b: List a phone number. If the government agency wants to offer you money to resolve your claim, they are supposed to reach out to the number listed on this form. 

• Box 14: Include the date when you are signing the form.

• Box 15: This box asks if you have accident insurance. If you do not have accident insurance, check the box for “No.”

• Boxes 16, 17, 18, and 19: These boxes ask additional questions about accident insurance. If you do not have accident insurance, you can leave these boxes blank.

If you need more space for any of the answers on the form, you can include a separate document. In the document, you can write “Standard Form 95 - Attachment” at the top, and write your name. Then you can write the number of the answers you need more space for (for example “Answer #8”), and the additional information you want to include. 

Also, if you have evidence about what happened to you and the harms you suffered, you can choose to include it with the Standard Form-95, or you can save it for later. For example, you might have photographs of your injuries, medical bills, bills for property damage, or other types of evidence. If you choose to include evidence with the Standard Form-95, be sure to submit copies, not the originals. 

Whether or not you include the evidence with Standard Form-95, it is a good idea to save any evidence you have now, because it will be important to have later if you decide to file a lawsuit in federal court. 

Print as many copies of the Standard Form-95 and the attachments as you need. You should have one copy for every agency listed in Box 1, and also an extra copy to save for your records. 

On each copy, sign Box 13a, preferably in blue ink. If the form is for a child under 18 years old, a parent can sign the form for them. 

Mail a packet to the mailing addresses of each of the government agencies that harmed you. Some common addresses are listed below. If possible, get a tracking number when you mail the packet, and save the mailing receipt and proof of delivery. This shows the date that you filed your FTCA claim. 

ICE: 

Office of the Principal Legal Advisor
District Court Litigation Division
500 12th Street, SW, Mailstop 5900
Washington, DC 20536

For ICE, you can also choose to email your FTCA claim instead of sending it by mail. If you choose to email, send the entire packet as an attachment to this email address: OPLA-DCLD-TortClaims@ice.dhs.gov.

CBP: 

CBP says to send your FTCA claim to the CBP location closest to where the harm happened. So you will need to look up the mailing address on a CBP website:

• If the harm happened at a Border Patrol station or detention center, you can find a list of stations on this CBP website. Click on the station, and you should see a mailing address displayed. 

• If the harm happened anywhere else, for example at a border crossing or in the city where you live, you can visit this CBP website, click on the state, and then select the location closest to where the harm happened. You should see a mailing address displayed. 

USCIS: 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Office of the Chief Counsel
20 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Room 4210
Washington, DC 20529-2260

DHS: 

Office of the General Counsel
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
245 Murray Lane, SW
Mailstop 0485
Washington, DC 20528-0485

EOIR: 

Executive Office for Immigration Review
5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 2600
Falls Church, VA  22041

DOJ: 

Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

HHS: 

U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services
Office of the General Counsel
General Law Division
Claims and Employment Law Branch
330 C Street, SW
Attention: CLAIMS
Switzer Building, Suite 2100
Washington, DC 20201

After you submit your claim, the agencies might send you a letter confirming that they received it, or they might not. They might ask you for evidence that the harm occurred. They might deny your claim. They might offer to pay you money. Or, they might ignore you for a long time. 

Depending on what the agency does, you can decide whether to take the next step, and file a lawsuit in federal court. The federal court process can take years. If the agency denies your claim, you have 6 months from the date of the denial to file a lawsuit in federal court. Some people never do this step. If the agency has not made a decision on your claim for more than 6 months, you can choose to file a lawsuit in federal court at that time, or you can continue to wait. 

Learn more about the overall FTCA process.