ICE Detained a Family Member: What to Do in the First 48 Hours

The call comes without warning. Someone you love was picked up by ICE this morning, and now the phone is quiet and nobody can tell you where they are. What you do in the next 48 hours matters more than almost anything that follows, because early mistakes are the hardest ones to undo. Here is the plan, in order, along with what your loved one needs to know on the inside and the traps waiting for families on the outside.

What your loved one needs to know right now

Before the family checklist, the message to get to the person detained, through any call you receive:

• You have the right to remain silent. Beyond identifying yourself, you do not have to answer questions about where you were born, how you entered, or your immigration history. Anything said becomes part of the file.
• You have the right to speak with a lawyer. The government does not pay for one in immigration cases, but nobody can stop you from hiring one, and you should say clearly and repeatedly that you want to speak with an attorney.
• Sign nothing you do not understand. More on this below, because it deserves its own section.
• You can ask to contact your consulate. Consular notification is a right, and some consulates help families locate detained citizens.
• Assume calls are recorded. Regular detention phone lines usually are. Do not discuss the facts of the case on them. Properly arranged attorney calls are treated differently, which is one more reason counsel matters early.

Step 1: Find the A-number

The Alien Registration Number, or A-number, is a number starting with "A" followed by eight or nine digits. It is the key to everything: locating your loved one, checking the court system, and letting a lawyer enter the case. Look for it on any old immigration paperwork, a work permit, a prior court notice, a previous application, or a border document. If your loved one manages to call, the A-number is the first thing to write down. If no A-number exists yet because this is a first encounter, the full legal name, date of birth, and country of birth become your search keys instead.

Step 2: Locate them

Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator at locator.ice.gov. You can search with the A-number and country of birth, or with the full name, date of birth, and country of birth. Three warnings from experience. First, the system can lag by a day or more after an arrest, so an empty result this morning does not mean an empty result tonight. Second, people are frequently transferred between facilities in the first days, sometimes across state lines, so keep checking even after you find them once. Third, spelling matters: try the name exactly as it appears on immigration documents, including both surnames and any hyphenation, because the database does not guess.