The first 24 hours.
Four things first: find out where they are, get their A-number, photograph every piece of paper ICE gave them, and make sure they sign nothing they have not read. Start calling lawyers at the same time — you do not need to know where they are to do that.
This is information, not legal advice.
1. Find out where they are
Most things go faster once you know which facility is holding them. ICE runs a public Online Detainee Locator System. It searches by A-number and country of birth, or by exact first and last name and country of birth.
People frequently do not appear in it straight away, and people who were just arrested often are not there yet. That is normal and it is not a sign that something has gone wrong. Our separate guide on how to find someone in ICE detention covers what to do when the locator comes back empty.
2. Get the A-number
The alien registration number — the “A-number” — is a seven-to-nine digit number, usually written with an A in front. It is the one identifier that every part of the system uses. The locator wants exactly nine digits: if it is shorter, add zeros at the front, so A12345678 becomes 012345678.
The locator works far better with it, and you will need it to post bond. A lawyer can start without it, though, so do not wait for it before calling one. It appears on ICE paperwork and on any previous immigration document. If your relative can read it to you over the phone, write it down and read it back to them digit by digit.
3. Photograph every document, front and back
Whatever ICE handed over matters more than any description of it. The papers tell a lawyer, in minutes, things that would otherwise take days to establish: which detention authority applies, whether there is already a removal order, whether a hearing is scheduled.
Look in particular for Form I-286, Notice of Custody Determination. That is the form recording ICE’s initial decision about custody, and it carries checkboxes for requesting review by an immigration judge. It matters a great deal — see can a detained person ask for a bond hearing?
Also look for a Notice to Appear, anything with a hearing date on it, and any order signed by a judge.
4. Do not let them sign anything they have not read
This is the one that is hardest to undo.
A person who is frightened, exhausted and being told that signing will get them out faster may sign away the right to see a judge at all. Some documents are agreements to leave the country. Some give up the right to contest removal. A signature obtained in an hour can take years to unwind, if it can be unwound.
If they do not understand a document, they can say so, and they can ask to speak to a lawyer before signing. They are allowed to say they do not wish to answer questions. None of that is refusing to cooperate.
Deadlines that may already be running.
These come from statute and regulation. Which ones apply depends on what has already happened in the case, and a lawyer needs to tell you that — but they are short enough that a week of finding out can cost the deadline itself.
- 30 days to appeal an immigration judge’s decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals — and the appeal has to arrive by then. Mailing it on day 30 is too late (8 C.F.R. § 1003.38).
- 30 days to file a petition for review in a federal court of appeals after a final BIA order.
- 90 days is the general deadline for a motion to reopen a case, with exceptions.
- 180 days to ask to rescind an in-absentia removal order for exceptional circumstances. Where the problem was lack of notice there is no fixed deadline, but sooner is better.
- 48 hours after an arrest without a warrant, ICE is supposed to decide whether to keep holding someone and whether to charge them — longer only in an emergency or other extraordinary situation (8 C.F.R. § 287.3(d)).
- 48 hours, not counting weekends and holidays, is the longest a local jail is asked to hold someone for ICE past their release time. A detainer is a request to the jail, not a court order (8 C.F.R. § 287.7(d)).
If anyone has mentioned a removal date, treat that as an emergency and say so to every lawyer you speak to. Removal scheduled within days needs immediate action, not an appointment next week.
Then, in the first day or two
- Find a lawyer or an accredited representative. The national legal services directory lists free and low-cost immigration providers by state. In most cases nobody is assigned a lawyer in immigration court. The exception is a detained person a judge finds not mentally competent to represent themselves, who can get one through the National Qualified Representative Program.
- Check the immigration court’s automated case information. EOIR’s system will tell you about hearing dates from the A-number.
- Work out who could post bond, if bond becomes possible. The person who posts it generally has to be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. Sorting that out before there is an amount saves days. See how to pay an immigration bond.
- Start a written log. Every call, every officer’s name, every date. It is tedious and it is repeatedly the thing that makes a difference later.
Two warnings
Nobody legitimate asks for bond money over the phone. Immigration bond is paid to the government through a specific process, not by wire transfer to a person, not in gift cards, not in cash to someone who says they can get your relative out today. Families are targeted with this exact scam within hours of an arrest.
“Notarios” are not lawyers. In much of Latin America a notario público is a trained legal professional. In the United States a notary public is not, and cannot give legal advice. Ask anyone offering help whether they are a licensed attorney or a Department of Justice accredited representative, and check.