Immigration detention is the approach of holding individual persons suspected of illegal entry into the country (not having the proper documents of entry, such as a travel visa, passport, green card, or other important papers), staying in the United States after their visa has expired (i.e., “overstaying a visa“), and others who are subject to deportation and removal in detention until a decision can be made by the immigration authorities whether to give them a visa or to deport them back to their country.
The United States government has the power to detain undocumented immigrants even after their arrests are over. In 1996, Congress enacted the mandatory detention law based on the notion that aliens with specific criminal histories were reoffending and failing to appear in court. In short, the statute directs the government to put immigrants in mandatory detention when they’re released from criminal custody.
Therefore, this regulation permits and requires the government to lock up individuals, at any time, without a hearing until their deportation case is settled. When this occurs, loved ones may have difficulty locating their loved ones, as many individuals are jailed even though an immigration judge may uncover that they do not pose a flight risk or danger to the community.
Under this statute, there are circumstances where individuals with minor possession offenses or traffic offenses are imprisoned many years after serving their sentences or going through rehabilitation.
Individuals from countries worldwide work their whole lives to come to the USA to find more economic opportunities for themselves and their kids. Others find their way here to pursue asylum from tyrannical or crumbling governments. However, immigrants in the US whose legal status is in question must live with the worry of arrest, detention, and deportation.
When an immigrant’s visa expires, or their status does not allow them to be in the country, they can be arrested by federal immigration enforcement officers and put into immigration detention.
The Goal of an Immigration Detention
When an immigrant is put into detention, it is typically because the federal government wants to deport the person. Equivalent to the criminal justice system, the deportation or removal method is complicated. And there is a limitation to the amount of time a person can be held in detention without being delivered an opportunity to have a bond hearing and be released on a bond pending resolution of the deportation proceedings.
How to Find an Immigrant Detainee
If a family member or friend was taken into custody for immigration detention, locating them may be easy as going online to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement website. To use their online locator system, you should have the proper spelling of the individual’s full name and birth date, birth country, and A-number.
If the individual you’re searching for is not found with ICE, they may be in the custody of local law enforcement. Many local law enforcement departments collaborate with ICE and hold immigrant detainees until ICE can either deport or take charge of the detainees. This case corresponds with local jails and prisons, which generally have procedures for resolving if someone you know is in custody.
Why Is the Person Being Detained by Immigration?
As mentioned above, the goal of the mandatory detention regulation was to detain immigrants the United States government considered to be a flight risk or danger to public safety. Mandatory detention provides that the undocumented immigrant will appear before the Immigration Court on their court date.
There are numerous explanations for why someone may be detained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
These reasons include, but are not limited to the following:
- The immigrant has perpetrated a crime or multiple crimes;
- The immigrant arrived at the border without the right documentation or visa before formally applying for asylum or refugee status;
- The immigrant has an outstanding deportation order on record, pending or past due; or
- The immigrant skipped prior immigration hearing dates.
How Can I Locate Someone Who Immigration Has Detained?
The ICE’s website is the soundest place loved ones can look to locate a detainee. This website lists people based on their alien numbers (assigned when detained), green card numbers, and work permits. Alternatively, you may run a search for the individual’s date of birth, country of birth, and name as it would emerge in the ICE’s system.
Spelling mistakes may occasionally happen, so you may need to try different names or spellings of names. If the person has newly been detained, ICE’s system may not have been edited yet, so you may need to try other means of finding them.
Further, if the individual is under 18, the system will not provide you details on the individual. In these two latter circumstances, you may have to reach the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations field office nearest you to find them.
Additionally, suppose the person is not locatable in the ICE system. In that case, they may have been detained by the Department of Homeland Security or taken to a local jail or correctional facility. In these circumstances, you may reach the Department of Homeland Security or local jail or correctional facilities describing who you are and ask for details regarding their whereabouts.
Regardless, please be careful of calling the Department of Homeland Security if you are uncertain that an undocumented immigrant is there. Suppose an undocumented immigrant was never detained in the first place. In that circumstance, you may have tipped off the deportation officer of the undocumented immigrant’s whereabouts and thus, gotten the undocumented immigrant deported.
In all of the above examples, another alternative is to enlist the assistance of a well-qualified and experienced immigration attorney to help you find the individual and keep lines of communication with the ICE and deportation officers.
How Can I Free the Detainee from Immigration Detention?
It is essential to act quickly in cases of mandatory detention, as a detainee may be deported within a few days after their initial detention. This is particularly true when the detainee has been deported before or has an outstanding deportation order.
Although the detainee does not have the usual due process rights given in every other case in the United States for a hearing before being imprisoned, they do have the privilege of a bond hearing. When you find the detainee, you may begin freeing them by filing a motion for a bond hearing.
Once again, an experienced immigration attorney may help you with this process. All detainees have a right to a bond hearing to determine whether they can be released. If the release is granted at the bond hearing, a bond will be set and must be paid before the detainee may be released.
Do I Need to Hire an Attorney for Issues with Immigration Detention?
Although not mandated, if you need help in finding a detainee or if you or a loved one have any inquiries regarding the enforcement of immigration regulations, it may be in your best interest to enlist the help of a licensed and experienced immigration lawyer.
An immigration lawyer can help represent you before the federal agencies, assist you in locating the detainee, filing a motion for a bond hearing, ensure that you or your loved one’s rights are respected, and furnish you with legal advice and guidance to ensure that you do not act irrationally or put the undocumented immigrant in harm’s way. The attorney can also represent you or your loved one if you need to appear in front of the Immigration Court for a hearing.
