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.

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, whatever their legal status, accused of a crime, 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…)

• Online Detainee Locator System
• ICE Hotline for Detainees (855) 448-6903
• Inmate Locator – Federal Bureau of Prisons
• Immigrant Detention Centers (New York Times 2010)
• Detention and Deportation Officers Field Manual (629 Pages)
• Report on Immigration in the United States: Detention and Process (Inter-American Commission of Human Rights – Organization of American States (March 2011)
• DHS’s Plan to Reform U.S. Immigration Detention System a Good Start – Immigration Policy Center (10-06-09)
• Bill Passed to Improve Required Treatment of Detainees (October 3, 2008)
• Interactive Detention Map (Detention Watch Network)
• Letter from Nurses Resigning from DHS’ Eloy, Arizona Detention Facility
• ICE Detention Operations Manual
• Know the Truth About Immigrant Detention in the U.S. (MidWest Human Rights)
• Immigration-Related Detention: Current Legislative Issues – CRS Report to Congress (January 2008)
• Clark v. Martinez – Supreme Court Rules that ICE Cannot Imprison Inadmissible Aliens Indefinitely (1-13-05)
• Immigration Detention and Removal: A Guide for Detainees and Their Families (October 2004)
• Rasul v. Bush – Supreme Court Opinion On Guantanamo Detainees (6-28-04)
• Federal Judge Holds DHS Custody Regulations Unconstitional – Zavala v. Ridge (3-08-04)
• Zavala v. Ridge (March 2004)
• Demore v. Kim – Supreme Court on Mandatory Detention of Criminal Aliens (4-29-03)
• BICE Detention and Removal Memorandum to the Field on Implementation of DeMore v. Kim (5-15-03)
• Immigration Detention Resources – American Bar Association
• INS Custody Regulations – In response to Zadvydas vs. Davis (November 14, 2001)
• Detention Memo From Attorney General Ashcroft to the INS (July 19, 2001)
• Zadvydas v. Davis (6-28-01) – Supreme Court Bars INS From Holding Deportees In Indefinite Detention

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 (June 2008)
• ICE’s Detention After Removal Hearing Program Practical Suggestions and Legal Analysis for Potential Challenges (4-9-04)