En español... For years, it has been very difficult for families and attorneys to find their loved ones in Immigration detention.  People detained by ICE are frequently moved to different parts of the country, based on where ICE has available jail space to house the person.  Families were left waiting anxiously for a call from someone in detention to tell them where the person had been sent.  Sometimes the call never came, as it was simply too expensive for the detained individual.

As of July 25, 2010, ICE has now launched the first version of a publically available, on-line, system for people to find a loved one in detention, available at:

https://locator.ice.gov/odls/homePage.do

To use the ICE on-line detainee locator, you will need either...

• The detained individual's "A Number" and
• The detained individual's country of birth

Or...

• The detained individual's first and last name (as ICE has it in their records -- you may need to try different variations of the person's name until what you enter matches what ICE has in their records)
• The detained individual's country of birth
• (And optionally): The detained individual's date of birth

For more information about ICE' on-line detainee locator, go to ICE' Frequently Asked Questions on the detainee locator.  This FAQ also describes what steps may be taken if the person cannot be located by the on-line locator.

An "A Number" or "Alien Number" is the nine-digit case number assigned to an individual in removal proceedings.  One of the only ways to find out what A number has been assigned to a person by immigration is to ask the person for his or her A number when they call you from detention.  Sometimes the "A number" given to a person is only 8 digits long.  If that is the case, simply add a "0" in front of the number to use this system.