Dealing with ICE
What the agency may and may not do, in the order a family meets it: the knock, the stop, the arrest, the search for a detained person, the way out, and the plan made in advance. Beneath the guides, ICE's own press releases, 1,128 since January 2025, grouped by week, so what the agency says about itself sits next to what the law says about it.
Right now
- Find someone in detentionICE's locator: A-number and country of birth, or full name and country. Adults only, up to eight hours behind.
- Detention facilitiesEvery ICE facility: address, phone, visiting and legal hours, mail rules, how many are held, which court hears the cases.
- Check a court dateEOIR case information by A-number, or call 1-800-898-7180.
- Free lawyers, by stateThe court's own list. No lawyer is appointed in immigration proceedings.
- Report a problem in detentionDetention Reporting line 1-888-351-4024, weekdays 8 to 8 Eastern. Inspector General hotline 1-800-323-8603.
- Post a bondForm I-352 through CeBONDS, by a citizen or resident, a law firm or a nonprofit.
- ICE field officesThe office for your area, and the route to the deportation officer. See also which court covers where.
The guides
Preparing Your Family: The Caregiver Form for Your State, the Documents Folder, and the Numbers to Memorize
A plan settles who collects the children, pays the rent and calls the lawyer in the 48 hours after an arrest. The forms differ by state and some take weeks. What New York, California, Texas, Florida and Illinois provide, what goes in the folder, and what to tell the school.
Getting Out: Bond, Parole and Habeas Corpus in 2026
There are three doors out of ICE detention. Which ones are open depends on how the person entered the country, which federal circuit the facility sits in, and how long they have been held. A guide to the bond hearing, the parole request and the habeas petition, with the September 2026 map of where each works.
What ICE Is Looking For: Priorities, Places, Data, and Who Is Most Exposed in 2026
The official answer since January 2025 is that there are no priorities: anyone removable may be arrested. The practical answer is in the numbers, the places, and the databases. Where arrests happen, what records ICE reads, and who sits at the top of the list.
Finding and Helping a Detained Person: The Locator, the Officer, the Money, and the Oversight That No Longer Exists
The first task after an arrest is finding the person, and the government's own tool is exact-match, adult-only and hours behind. What the locator needs, how to reach the deportation officer, how money and calls work, and where to complain now that the detention ombudsman has been shut.
Stopped or Arrested by ICE: What to Say, What Never to Sign, and What Happens in the First 72 Hours
The right to remain silent belongs to everyone in the country and must be said out loud. There is no appointed lawyer. Three forms served in the first hours can end a case before it begins. A precise account of the encounter, the paperwork, and the two-year rule that now applies nationwide.
ICE at the Door: The Warrant That Lets Them In, the One That Does Not, and What to Say Through It
Agents may knock, speak and arrest without a judge. They may not enter a home without a judicial warrant or your consent, and ICE's own handbook says so. How to tell the two warrants apart through a closed door, what consent looks like, and what changed in 2025 and 2026.
This week from ICE
Every release is written by ICE's public affairs office and reads accordingly. The pattern is the point: which cases the agency chooses to announce, how many, and in which cities. Median 9 releases a week over the period.
Week of November 2, 2026
- ICE Washington, D.C. arrests illegal alien, gang member in Fairfax County, Va.
- Voter fraud crackdown continues as ICE arrests more aliens who voted illegally
- ICE arrests citizen of the Philippines for federal election fraud
- ICE HSI New Jersey arrests Jamaican national accused of voting illegally over 22-year span
- ICE HSI Chattanooga busts 2 foreign nationals accused of voting illegally in 2024 election
- ICE requests transfer of criminal illegal aliens, California jail chooses lockdown instead
- Illegal alien from Venezuela passes away in Texas after lengthy hospital stay
- Maple leaf, meet ballot thief: ICE HSI Tucson arrests Canadian for voter fraud
- In Nationwide crackdown on voter fraud ICE arrests dozens of aliens
- ICE Houston deports criminal illegal alien and accused child rapist who was granted conditional permanent resident status by Biden administration
- ICE arrests more than 180 illegal aliens during 5-day operation in Alabama
Week of October 26, 2026
- DHS Cyber Crimes Center expands global partnership to prevent youth cybercrime through InterCOP
- Illegal alien accused of assaulting NYPD officer released, now on the loose
- ICE continues to arrest dozens of illegal aliens in nationwide crackdown on voter fraud
- ICE HSI Philadelphia arrests Cuban national for alleged unlawful voting in 2024 election
- 144 suspects arrested following Las Vegas Homeland Security Task Force investigations
- Dozens of illegal aliens arrested in nationwide voter fraud crackdown
- ICE picks up Dominican criminal suspected of voter fraud
- Time runs out for Rolex
- ICE arrests criminal illegal alien convicted of shooting a man in face in Tennessee
- Criminal illegal alien from Guatemala dies in ICE custody in California
- Man, arrested for wife’s murder, tries to blame ICE
- Man accused of killing wife after claiming ICE had detained her
- Mark Zito named special agent in charge of ICE Homeland Security Investigations Carolinas
- Illegal alien vandalizes Iwo Jima Memorial in Quantico with sledgehammer
- ICE HSI Indianapolis makes significant contributions to massive COVID-era loan fraud crackdown
- ICE arrests violent criminal illegal alien with history of battery and assault and obstruction of police, driving under the influence, and cruelty towards wife
- ICE removes accused violent fugitive to face homicide charges in native Guyana
- Netherlands citizen arrested for illegally voting in 2024 election
Week of October 19, 2026
- Douglasville man charged in Atlanta ICE office firebomb plot
- Criminal alien from El Salvador dies in ICE custody in Georgia
- HSI issues warning about financial scam targeting attorneys
- ICE launches nationwide operation to protect SNAP benefits from illegal alien fraudsters
- ICE HSI arrests Mississippi woman following alleged threats against federal agents
- Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar participates in first VOICE roundtable with 8 Angel families
- ICE HSI St. Louis seizes weapons, cash, drugs during HSTF operations
- ICE Washington, DC arrests criminal illegal alien gang leader in Maryland
- ICE arrests more than 100 gang members in less than a week
- ICE lodges detainers for Dominican illegal aliens wanted for stabbing off-duty New York City detective
- Criminal alien from Mexico passes away in ICE custody in Texas
- ICE Boston arrests 82 illegal aliens during 3-day operation in Massachusetts
Week of October 12, 2026
- ICE turns over criminal illegal alien charged in newlyweds’ deaths to Oregon state officials for prosecution after county ignored detainer
- Bahamian charged with illegally voting in 2024 election
- ICE Washington, DC arrests criminal illegal alien convicted of possessing child sex abuse material in Virginia
- DHS, ICE comment on dangerous consequences of sanctuary policies
Week of October 5, 2026
- Federal partners seize 90 fuel shipments valued at over $2.8 million bound for sanctioned Cuban entity
- ICE Washington, DC arrests criminal illegal alien charged with felony sex crimes in Virginia
- Afghan alien recklessly released into US by Biden administration; sentenced to 35 years for multiple child sex offenses
Week of September 28, 2026
Week of September 21, 2026
- ICE Nashville arrests criminal illegal alien from Guatemala convicted of child rape
- ICE arrests 121 during summer enforcement initiative in Texas lake community, including 2 members of the Tren de Aragua terrorist organization
- 17 charged in California fentanyl trafficking network following HSTF investigation
- HSI Dallas dismantles sex-trafficking, money-laundering organization
- Criminal illegal alien in ICE custody passes away at Winnfield Correctional Center in Louisiana
- Chinese nationals sentenced after ICE HSI investigation in California
Week of September 14, 2026
- Colombian national sentenced for stealing U.S. citizen’s identity to vote; obtain citizenship, passport
- ICE Chicago removes former Liberian combatant who participated in killings, torture during Liberian civil wars
- ICE Boston arrests foreign fugitive wanted for aggravated homicide in El Salvador
- ICE HSI Dallas investigation targets child exploitation in Oklahoma
- ICE expands local 287(g) law enforcement partnerships in Tennessee
- ICE Washington, DC arrests criminal alien fugitive charged with child sex crimes in Colorado
- ICE Operation Safe Community nets more than 400 arrests in Indiana
- National of Bosnia and Herzegovina charged with attempting to fraudulently obtain US citizenship by failing to disclose role in abuse of prisoners
- ICE arrests 2 illegal alien CDL operators in New Jersey during separate targeted enforcement actions
What this section is. Plain statements of law and procedure from official sources, with the citations in each piece. It is not legal advice, and no guide replaces a lawyer at the moment one is needed. The resources page lists the free legal service providers the courts recognize.