Resources.
To get the legal path to release for your person, start here. Everything listed below is run by other organisations: government systems for looking someone up, directories of free and low-cost immigration lawyers, and Know Your Rights material.
Finding someone in detention
- ICE Online Detainee Locator System — search by A-number and country of birth, or by name, country and date of birth. Generally lists people aged 18 and over who are in ICE custody. See our guide for what to do when it finds nothing.
- EOIR automated case information — hearing dates and case status from an A-number. There is also an automated phone line on 1-800-898-7180.
- ICE detention facility list — phone numbers, visiting hours, and each facility’s rules on mail and money.
- ICE ERO field offices — the regional office handling a case.
Finding a lawyer
There is no government-appointed lawyer in immigration court. Nobody is assigned automatically, including to children. Your options for getting someone out of ICE detention compares a lawyer with hotlines and self-help tools, by cost and limits.
- Immigration Law Help — the national directory of free and low-cost immigration legal services, searchable by state. This is the usual place to start.
- National Immigrant Justice Center — direct representation and a national network of pro bono attorneys.
- RAICES — legal services in Texas, and widely used resources beyond it.
- National Immigration Project — particularly where immigration and criminal law meet.
A notary public is not a lawyer in the United States, whatever notario público means elsewhere. Ask anyone offering help whether they are a licensed attorney or a Department of Justice accredited representative, and verify it independently before paying anything.
Know Your Rights
- ACLU — Immigrants’ rights — what to do during an encounter, at home, at work, and in a car.
- Immigrant Legal Resource Center — publishes red cards stating these rights, in many languages, in a form you can print and hand over.
- National Immigration Law Center — rights, benefits and policy.
Detention conditions and advocacy
- Detention Watch Network — a national coalition; useful for finding local groups working on a specific facility.
- Freedom for Immigrants — visitation networks and a hotline for people in detention.
Bond
- Bond funds — organisations that post bond for people who cannot afford it.
- CeBONDS — ICE’s electronic bond system, used by whoever posts the bond.
- How do I pay an immigration bond?
The law itself
If you want to read the underlying rules rather than a description of them:
- 8 U.S.C. § 1226 — detention pending a decision on removal, including mandatory detention.
- 8 U.S.C. § 1231 — detention after a final removal order.
- 8 C.F.R. § 1003.19 — custody and bond redetermination by immigration judges.
- Executive Office for Immigration Review — the immigration courts.
- USCIS forms.
Vadens is not affiliated with any of these organisations, and none of them has endorsed us. They are listed because they are useful. If you run one of them and would rather not be listed, or the details here are wrong, please say so.