IMMIGRATION DETENTION:
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
Tens of thousands of would-be immigrants are imprisoned in America’s Gulag all across the U.S. Some cannot make bail while others are being held without bail. When it comes to immigration detention, it is important to know your rights!
Many of these prisoners of our broken immigration system have committed no crime, but are being charged with being present in the U.S. unlawfully or having violated their temporary or permanent resident status. Often, their spouses and children are forced to live with relatives or to apply for welfare in order to support themselves while their loved ones remain locked up, waiting for their hearings before overworked Immigration Judges or for their appeals to be decided by either the Board of Immigration Appeals or the Federal Courts.
But, even though many of these persons have less legal protections than do individuals accused of a crime ( whatever their legal status), they still have some rights. We hope that this page helps you locate a family member who is in immigration detention and assists you in helping them assert their rights. We urge persons in state and local custody to take advantage of the ICE Detainee Hotline at (855) 448-6903
“I needed a super heavy weight immigration attorney because USCIS denied my naturalization application and started deportation procedures…Mr Shusterman and his team where able to reverse both immigration decisions and I am now a U.S. citizen…It takes a rare lawyer to be able to succeed in reversing BOTH such decisions. He saved my career and my family.” (More client reviews…)
GENERAL INFORMATION
- Online Detainee Locator System
- ICE Hotline for Detainees: (855) 448-6903
- Inmate Locator – Federal Bureau of Prisons
- Interactive Detention Map
- Immigration Detention Resources – American Bar Association
- Rutger’s Reform Alternatives to Immigrant Detention (7-3-12)
- Report on Immigration in the United States: Detention and Process (March 2011)
- ICE Detention Operations Manual (2011)
- Immigrant Detention Centers (2-23-10)
- DHS’s Plan to Reform U.S. Immigration Detention System a Good Start (10-6-09)
- Bill Passed to Improve Required Treatment of Detainees (10-3-08)
- Letter from Nurses Resigning from DHS’ Eloy, Arizona Detention Facility (7-11-07)
- Know the Truth About Immigrant Detention in the U.S. (MidWest Human Rights) (4-22-08)
- Immigration-Related Detention: Current Legislative Issues (1-30-08)
- Detention and Deportation Officers Field Manual (3-27-06)
- Immigration Detention and Removal: A Guide for Detainees and Their Families (October 2004)
- Federal Judge Holds DHS Custody Regulations Unconstitutional in Zavala v. Ridge (3-08-04)
- BICE Detention and Removal Memorandum to the Field on Implementation of DeMore v. Kim (5-15-03)
- INS Custody Regulations In response to Zadvydas vs. Davis (11-14-01)
- Detention Memo From Attorney General Ashcroft to the INS (7-19-01)
SUCCESS STORIES
SUPREME COURT OPINIONS AND DECISIONS
- Clark v. Martinez – Supreme Court Rules that ICE Cannot Imprison Inadmissible Aliens Indefinitely (1-13-05)
- Rasul v. Bush – Supreme Court Opinion On Guantanamo Detainees (6-28-04)
- Zavala v. Ridge (March 2004)
- Demore v. Kim – Supreme Court on Mandatory Detention of Criminal Aliens (4-29-03)
- Zadvydas v. Davis - Supreme Court Bars INS From Holding Deportees In Indefinite Detention (6-28-01)
PRACTICE ADVISORIES FROM THE AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAW FOUNDATION (AILF)
- Arrest, Detention, and Bond Procedures for Noncitizens Without Criminal Convictions (Updated July 2008)
- Introduction to Habeas Corpus (Updated June 2008)
- ICE’s Detention After Removal Hearing Program Practical Suggestions and Legal Analysis for Potential Challenges (4-9-04)