How to Find a Detainee: Online Search Tool

By Lena Korial-Yonan, Esq.
Date: July 23, 2010

Finally, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) department has created an online tool where you can now locate an individual who has been detained for immigration reasons. You will need two pieces of information:

1. His or her Alien number (A#)
2. Country of birth.

The Alien number can be obtained on many USCIS issued documents, like an employment card, green card application, and other documents. If your family member or friend did not have one of those documents issued to them, then his or her Alien number can be obtained from the deportation officer. The deportation officer can provide the Notice to Appear, which is a required document that ICE must issue or else the detainee must be released.

If you cannot locate the detainee's Alien number, then you can instead enter into the search system the detainee's name, country of birth and date of birth. The system will also provide information on detainees that were released within the past 60 days.

As a test of the system, we did an online search for a detainee client of ours that was just released a few days ago. The system responded by stating the following: "The individual's status is "not in custody," which means the person was released from ICE custody within the last 60 days for any of the following reasons." Their information is absolutely correct. He was granted bond through a motion for bond that our Jacksonville Immigration Law Office filed, he has recently paid the bond and was released from custody two days ago.

The online locater can be accessed at Online Detainee Locator System

This online locator can find a detainee at any of the 250 detention centers throughout the US.

If you need help in obtaining bond for a family member or friend, please call an experienced immigration attorney to help you through the confusing immigration court process.

This article on "How to Find a Detainee: Online Search Tool" is written by US Immigration Law Attorney Lena Korial-Yonan, Esq. of Lena Korial-Yonan, P.A. Lena Korial-Yonan, Esq. has been practicing only US Immigration Law for almost 10 years in Jacksonville, Florida. She graduated from the University of Florida Levin College of Law located in Gainesville, Florida in 2000. She is an immigrant herself, as she came to the US when she was about 7 years from Iraq. Any comments or questions can be emailed to her at lena@needimmigrationhelp.com or you may call her office directly at (904) 448-6646. Lena Korial-Yonan, Esq. accepts and handles cases from all over the US.

You can read her entire profile at Immigration Law Firm Profile.
Her immigration law firm's website (home page) is http://www.needimmigrationhelp.com.

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