How to Find Someone in ICE Detention: Full Guide · Verde Law
April 4, 2026·8 min read
How to Find Someone in ICE Detention (and Check Their Court Date)
The locator, the phone numbers, the systems behind the systems, and what to do when nothing shows up.
The cruelest part of a detention is often the first day, when a person seems to vanish into a system with no front desk. They have not vanished. The government tracks every person in its custody; the problem is that the tracking lives across several systems, none of which explains itself to a frightened family. This is the complete search guide: the locator and how to use it well, the phone numbers behind it, the custody systems that do not appear in it, how to find a child, how to check the court date once you find the person, and what each dead end actually means.
Start here: the ICE Online Detainee Locator
The locator at locator.ice.gov is the front door. It offers two searches. The first uses the A-number, the "A" followed by eight or nine digits, plus country of birth; it is the precise search, so if any old paperwork, work permit, or court notice in the house shows an A-number, use it. The second search uses the exact full name, date of birth, and country of birth. Three technique notes that solve most "no results" problems. Use the name exactly as it appears on immigration documents, including both surnames in the right order, accents dropped, hyphens tried both ways. Use the country of birth, not citizenship or the country the person lived in last. And try variations: names get entered by officers typing fast, so a missing second surname or a transposed name order is common.
The A-number hunt: where families find it at home
Because the A-number unlocks the precise search and the court system, spend thirty minutes hunting it before anything else. Check: any old work permit or green card of the person, where it appears on the card's face; prior immigration court papers or hearing notices; receipts from any application ever filed, where it sits near the top; border or parole documents; and the files of any lawyer or preparer who ever touched the case, who can be called and asked. Families are regularly sitting on the number without knowing which digits matter. It starts with "A" and has eight or nine digits, and once you have it, write it inside a kitchen cabinet door, because every step that follows will ask for it.
Why the search shows nothing on day one
The locator is not live to the minute. New arrests can take a day or more to appear while intake processing happens, and transfers between facilities create gaps where a person briefly shows in neither place. The rule for families: an empty result is an instruction to search again tonight and tomorrow, not a conclusion. Keep a note of each search you run and when, so you know what you have covered.
The custody systems the locator cannot see
Here is the fact that explains most frantic, fruitless searches: the ICE locator only shows people in ICE custody. Several other systems hold people too.
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CBP custody. People detained at or near the border, or at airports, are typically held first by Customs and Border Protection, which has no public locator. They appear in the ICE system only after transfer, which can take days. If the arrest just happened at a port of entry or near the border, the locator's silence likely means "still with CBP," not "missing."
Criminal custody. A person arrested on criminal charges sits in a county jail or federal facility first. County jail websites have inmate searches; the federal Bureau of Prisons has its own online locator. ICE often lodges a detainer and takes custody later, at which point the ICE locator picks them up.
Children. Minors who arrive without a parent are placed with the Office of Refugee Resettlement, a completely separate system with its own process for locating a child and its own national call center. If you are searching for a minor, stop searching adult systems and call the ORR line, and get a lawyer involved immediately, because reunification has its own rules.
When the locator stays empty: the phone tree
If two days of careful searching produce nothing, work the phones in this order. Call the ICE ERO field office for the region where the arrest happened; officers can confirm custody and location to family members in many cases. Call the detention facilities nearest the arrest directly; each has a main line and can confirm whether someone is there. If a criminal arrest started everything, call the county jail. And call a lawyer, because attorneys have channels families do not: a Form G-28 entered in the case opens direct communication, and a lawyer's call to ICE gets answered differently than a relative's fifth voicemail.
Calling facilities: the script that gets answers
Cold-calling a detention center works better with a script. Have ready: the person's full legal name spelled out, date of birth, country of birth, and the A-number if you have it. Say who you are, that you are trying to confirm whether the person is at that facility, and ask, if they are, for the visitation schedule and the phone account provider. Call during business hours, be unfailingly polite to whoever answers, and keep a log: facility, number, time, who you spoke to, what they said. If one facility says no, ask which nearby facilities receive new intakes. The log matters more than it seems: it prevents repeat calls, shows a lawyer instantly what has been covered, and, in the rare case something goes wrong with the system, documents your diligence.
The first phone call from inside: make it count
When the first call from your loved one finally comes, it may be short, expensive, and monitored. Decide in advance what must be exchanged: they give you the A-number and the facility name; you give them three sentences that protect the case. Sign nothing you do not understand. Say you want to speak with a lawyer, every time. Do not discuss the facts of how you got here on this phone. Then the logistics: tell them money is going on the phone account today, that the family is working with counsel, and that the next call has a scheduled time if the facility allows it. Ninety seconds, executed calmly, does more than an hour of tears, and there will be time for the tears later, in person.
Found them: do these five things the same day
Write down everything: facility name, full address, the A-number if you did not have it, and the facility's phone and visitation rules.
Fund the phone account. Calls from detention cost money, and a funded account converts silence into daily contact. Each facility posts its provider and process.
Check the court system. With the A-number, the immigration court's automated line at 1-800-898-7180 and the online case portal show whether a case is filed and when the next hearing is. Detained dockets move fast; check twice a week.
Start the bond folder. Our [Immigration Bond] article explains the money and our [Bond Hearings] page explains the fight; the evidence for both gets gathered now.
Get counsel moving before the first hearing, not after it. The [first 48 hours guide] lays out why the early hearings shape everything.
Keep tracking after you find them
Transfers are routine, sometimes across the country, and they do not mean the case changed. If the person disappears from the facility where you found them, run the locator again the same day and expect the new facility to appear within a day or two. A lawyer of record gets notices the family may not, one more reason the G-28 matters. And keep every scrap of paper the person or the facility generates: booking numbers, property receipts, hearing notices. Cases are archaeology, and families control the dig site.
If weeks pass and the trail stays cold
True dead ends are rare, and they have their own moves. An attorney can submit formal records requests to the agencies, which surface custody histories families cannot see. Your congressional representative's office runs constituent services that can make inquiries with ICE, a lever most families never think to pull and one that exists precisely for situations like this. The consulate of the person's country can sometimes assist in locating a detained citizen. And throughout, keep running the locator on a schedule, because transfers, releases, and system updates end more cold trails than any phone call. Silence in the systems has causes, and every cause has a next step.
Guard the house against the vultures
Every wave of detentions brings callers who "found" your loved one and can "get them out tonight" for a fee, gift cards, or a wire transfer. The government does not call families demanding payment. Bond is paid through official channels only, by a person with lawful status, with a receipt. Anyone selling shortcuts, secret contacts, or guaranteed releases is selling your desperation back to you. Verify every helper: licensed attorney or accredited representative, in writing, or no. When in doubt, the state bar's website confirms a license in two minutes, which is less time than a scammer needs to spend your rent money.
The locator says "in custody" but shows no facility. What does that mean?
It usually means the person is between placements: intake, transfer, or processing. Keep checking daily; the facility field fills in as the system catches up. A lawyer can call to confirm in the meantime.
Will ICE tell me anything over the phone?
Often yes, to family, within limits: custody and location are commonly confirmable. Case details flow much more freely to an attorney of record, which is one of several reasons to get one early.
How do I visit once I know the facility?
Every facility publishes its own visitation schedule, identification requirements, and rules, including dress codes and property limits. Read them before driving; being turned away at the door after a three-hour trip is a preventable heartbreak.
The person was just deported. Can I still find out where they were sent?
Removals are carried out to the country of origin under the travel documents in the file. The family is often told by the person after arrival; a lawyer can confirm removal status and, importantly, evaluate whether any post-departure options exist. Even after a removal, some doors are not fully closed.
The system is a maze, but it is a mapped maze. Search tonight, call tomorrow, and call us at any point in between. Free, bilingual consultation, seven days a week.
This article is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case depends on its own facts. For answers about your situation, schedule a free, confidential consultation with Verde Law, in English or Spanish, at (305) 786-3003.
