What happens to bank savings accounts if one gets deported?

I always hear rumors of people saying that if we get deported they freeze all bank accounts and take all the money away. Is that actually true?

Don't go by rumors as each case is individually different.A person's assets is not frozen usually during removal if their only issue was being undocumented.

I am not sure but you can give it to the power of attorney or a family member? Why would they take it away if it is your assets?

They would probably take most of it if not all if you never paid any taxes on that money. If you didn't, I'm sure they can come up with all sorts of fines and penalties that add up to whatever amount of money you got saved up. If you did pay taxes and can prove it then they won't bother you nor take your money.

Sometime ago i saw on the news the story of this undocumented man from Guatemala, I believe, who got detained trying to leave the country with 60k cash in his pocket and the government took it away from him because he'd never paid any taxes+fines+penalties (trying to leave the country with such amount without reporting it) and deported him. I don't know the details though but I'm sure IRS can be a bitch if you owe them money!

What if an undocumented immigrant won the lottery?

Tax rate is effective around 30% - 40%. You can win the lottery undocumented, but the IRS will get their money.

Taxes are still paid on lottery money. The government will seize that tax money before they even let you cash in your prize. Every state has different lottery laws and most will probably require a U.S. government ID to claim a prize but I've heard of undocumented immigrants that successfully claimed lottery money after they took their case to court or challenged the lotto's policies.

You can give a family member power of attorney giving control over your bank account. or best resource yet...approach the bank and add a name to the account with full authority or draw a power attorney from the banks specification for that particular purpose(go through the bank). If you do get deported you can always request the court an extension. For example i need extra time to sell my house, etc. And if the money is in the bank you can wire it to another account

Thanks for all the responses. That's great info!