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Basic Information About Immigration Detention in the United States

  • Updated

The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) provides free legal help to some refugees and displaced people. 

IRAP decides to help people based on their need and eligibility for immigration status. IRAP does not decide to help people based on any other social or political or religious criteria.

This website provides general information about legal processes available to some refugees. It is not meant as legal advice for individual applications. 

Requirements may change. Always check for current requirements from the government or agency deciding your request.

If you are a refugee in an emergency, we recommend that you contact the UNHCR office in the country where you live. 

NOTE: This information is from JUNE 7, 2024. We try to update it when there are important changes but it could have changed because U.S. immigration laws change quickly. This information is educational and is not legal advice.

 

What does this article include?

  1. Which U.S agencies can detain people?
  2. Who can be detained
  3. How long can people be detained
  4. What happens when people are detained
  5. People’s rights in detention
  6. How to find out if friends or family are detained.

1. Which U.S. Agencies Can Detain People?

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is part of the government. They have two agencies that may detain people under immigration law in the United States:

  1. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): is in charge of enforcing immigration laws in the United States. ICE can arrest and keep people for a certain amount of time in the U.S. who do not have proper permission to be there or did not follow the rules of entering the U.S.
  2. Customs and Border Protection (CBP): is in charge of letting people into the U.S. at entrance ports and making sure people follow the law at those entrances. CBP can hold anyone who comes through the U.S. entrances. CBP holds people trying to enter the U.S. at two locations, la hielera and la perrera, but other locations might keep immigrants for longer. 

2. Will I be Detained?

Anyone can be detained when approaching the U.S. border, including people who enter with an appointment, people who try to cross at a port of entry without an appointment, and people who cross without permission and are caught.

You are more likely to be detained if you:

  1. have been deported from the United States before; 
  2. have a criminal history in any country; 
  3. do not have an appointment with CBP;
  4. try to enter the U.S. without permission; and/or 
  5. are a single adult traveling without minor children.

Having an appointment at a port of entry makes it less likely that you will be detained. 

3. If I am Detained, How Long Will I Be Held?

Things that affect how long you are detained:

  1. What agency is holding you (ICE or CBP)
  2. If you are eligible for immigration relief
  3. If you have an immigration history in the U.S.
  4. If you have a criminal history in the U.S.

CBP takes migrants near the border into detention. What can CBP do?

  • They can deny entry into the U.S. by
    • Returning you to your home country or
    • Sending you to Mexico if you are from Mexico, Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, or Venezuela.
  • They can hold you for up to two weeks. 
  • They can hold you until they do Credible Fear Interviews or Reasonable Fear Interviews.
  • They can send you to a Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center.

If you are sent to an ICE detention center, what can ICE do?

  • Deport you, which can take days, months or years.
  • Release you to complete your case outside of detention or keep you until a court has made a final decision in your immigration case, which can take days, months or years. 

4. What Happens in Immigration Detention?

Most people who are detained will be quickly deported through a process called “expedited removal.” This often happens at CBP detention facilities. 

What is it like at CBP detention centers? 

  • It can be very difficult. 
  • Privacy, medical care, and showers are limited.
  • CBP may not have beds, and you may have to sleep on the floor. 
  • Belongings like phones and documents will be taken away. For that reason, people who may be taken into CBP/ICE custody should memorize important phone numbers and email copies of important documents to trusted people in advance. 
  • You have the right to speak to attorneys and family, but access to phones is extremely limited.
  • You may not have access to your case documents or even a pen and paper.

What is it like at ICE detention centers?

  • It can be very difficult.
  • Belongings like phones and documents will be taken away. For that reason, people who may be taken into CBP/ICE custody should memorize important phone numbers and email copies of important documents to trusted people in advance. 
  • You have the right to request physical, dental, and medical care, but often people receive inadequate care.
  • You have the right to speak to attorneys and family. You will have to pay for calls  you make from detention. You can make free calls to lawyers through special programs. . 
  • You can work on immigration applications in detention and you can request access to a law library on site.

If you are in the quick deportation process (“expedited removal”) and you tell U.S. officials that you are afraid to return to your home country, you will have to do a “Credible Fear Interview” or “Reasonable Fear Interview.” This is an interview where you will be asked questions about why you left your country of origin and an officer will decide if you can move forward and apply for asylum. 

5. What Rights do People Have in Detention?

Everyone has the right to talk to a lawyer alone when they are detained. However, the US government will not provide or pay for a lawyer. 

How can you talk to a lawyer?

  • In CBP centers,  you are only able to contact lawyers over the phone.
  • In ICE facilities, you are able to contact a lawyer on the phone or through an in-person visit. 

Finding a lawyer is very hard while in custody. However, speaking to a lawyer is the best way for someone to know their options on how to get out of detention. 

How do people find a lawyer?

  • At CBP facilities, it is harder because it is difficult to talk to family, and because interviews with immigration officers happen quickly - even within hours. At CBP facilities there should be a list of free attorneys in each phone booth. Family members should look at this list of helpful legal services that may be able to help someone who is detained: https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1582586/download
  • At ICE facilities, there are free legal service providers. These providers many times give information and help on how to request release from ICE custody. People with their own lawyers will not be able to receive help through these free legal service providers, but there are other services available to them. 

How do detained people call their family?

Detained people are able to make calls from inside the detention center, but need to pay for it. No one from outside of the detention center can call the center to speak directly to loved ones. However, people outside the detention center are able to leave messages for detained individuals. For more information visit: https://www.ice.gov/detention-facilities.

IMPORTANT: *Calls by phone or video with people that are not attorneys are recorded and reviewed by U.S. government officials.*

 

6. How to Find Out if a Family Member / Friend Is in Immigration Detention

When trying to find someone who may have been detained, use the ICE Online Detainee Locator System at ​​https://locator.ice.gov/odls/#/index

To search:

  1. Enter a person’s A-Number (their 9-digit immigration identification number) and country of birth. *If A-number has 8 digits, add a zero at the beginning. 
  2. Enter their personal information like their first and last name as it is on their immigration-related documentation, and country of birth. *If it does not work, try spelling the name differently. 
  3. If the two options above do not work and no record is found, please contact the ICE ERO Detention Reporting and Information Line at 1-888-351-4024.
  4. People detained in CBP custody for more than 48 hours can also be located in this system as of June 2024.

Once a person is found in the system, it will show their name and address of the detention facility they are at. 



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