Friends, families, and faith leaders face increasingly urgent need to respond to ICE arrest and detention of community members. Documented and English-speaking allies (like many clergy) often play a crucial role in coordinating support.
Access to clergy and religious services—like access to lawyers—is a codified legal right, making it especially valuable for engaged faith leaders to work or volunteer in ministries serving detained immigrants, who might otherwise have little access to support or information for seeking release.
This guide walks through some key steps for assisting community members in immigration detention:
It also discuss some advance preparation that communities should consider in anticipation of potential ICE arrest of at-risk members.
This is a part of a larger guide for faith communities striving to be sanctuaries for immigrants. Consult the full guide for adjacent issues like how to manage congregational spaces and deliver religious and social services a manner that minimizes the risk of ICE raids or other immigration enforcement actions; as well as how to more effectively advocate for policies that keep communities safe from ICE.
1. Locate the member using the ICE detainee locator.
ICE operates a website through which you can identify a detainee’s location, based either on their A-number or biographical information.
Once you’ve identified the location, search for the detention center in the ICE facilities directory. The page for each site should outline access rules for lawyers, clergy, and other visitors, as well as instructions for how to send messages to detainees, post bonds, or deposit money into their commissary accounts.
(Access rules for ICE detention facilities are fragmented partly because most are run by private, for-profit prison companies. More on this in future posts.)
2. Help secure legal representation.
Ideally, the community will have access to a lawyer who can either directly assist the detained member or make a referral.
However, finding lawyers servicing locations in which the member is being detained may be challenging, as ICE detention centers tend to be quite remote. Immigration Advocates Network hosts a directory through which users can search for legal service providers that serve specific facilities.
Many pro bono immigration lawyers are currently operating at capacity, which means that immigrants often have to pay for private legal representation. Immigration-legal scams are extremely common, making it crucial to confirm whether someone holding themselves out to be a legal service provider is actually an attorney. You should always conduct a basic google search for the lawyer’s name to ascertain their role and and organizational affiliation before hiring them. Also consider using resources like American Immigration Lawyers Association search engine , National Immigration Project Members Directory, and Refugee and Immigrant Fund List of Legal Providers.
The offices of many elected representatives have dedicated caseworkers who can provide some legal support. Try reaching out to the offices of any pro-immigrant Senator or House Representative, as well as city- and state- level electeds, to seek assistance. Consider calling and writing to them with the following script:
My name is [name], a [position] at [community], a [congregation or organization type] of [number of people served] in your district. One of our members was taken by ICE on [date] while [occasion], and we would like immediate assistance. Please reach us at [contact].
New York residents can use the mygovnyc.org website to identify all of their city, state, and federal representatives.
3. Start a community fundraiser and circulate offering plates for the member.
Supporting members in immigration detention can be an expensive undertaking that requires the community to pull together its resources. The fund could go to hiring a lawyer, posting bond, depositing money for the community member to use in the detention center commissary, or providing care after release. Consider using not just a GoFundMe but alternatives for nonprofit causes like GiveButter or Chuffed.
4. Help the member seek release on a bail bond.
Most immigrants who entered the United States on a visa or a parole program and have no criminal records should be eligible to seek release on a bail bond. If you can communicate with the detained member, tell them about this right.
The initial request for bond should be made made to an ICE detention officer.
If ICE denies bond or sets the amount too high, the detainee can request a bond hearing from an immigration judge. You can identify the immigration court and judge with jurisdiction a case by plugging in the noncitizen’s “A-Number” and country of origin on the Executive Office of Immigration Review Automated Case Information website.
Ideally, a lawyer can represent the detainee at the bond hearing. Many immigration lawyers will charge between $1,000 to $3,000 to draft and submit a bond request, as well as to represent the detainee at the hearing.
Bond eligibility and amount are assessed based on whether the detainee poses a “flight risk” or “danger to the community.” Family and faith communities can often offer compelling testimony about the member’s connection to the community and good moral character as evidence against these risks, which can help secure release.
The required bond amount can vary widely, typically between $1,500 to $25,000.
5. Explore petitions for a writ of habeas corpus.
If the government is detaining the member illegally, they may be eligible for release on a writ of habeas corpus.
For instance, the Trump Administration has directed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) and Immigration Courts to deny bond to all undocumented immigrants who entered the country without visa or parole, including millions who have been living in this country for years without any criminal record. This policy clearly violates the law, as confirmed by a vast majority of federal courts that have reviewed it in habeas proceedings.1 However, legal technicalities often require noncitizens detained and denied bond under this unlawful policy to file a writ of habeas corpus in federal courts, because administration employees who staff ICE and Immigration Courts will deny bond even to detainees who are legally entitled to it.
Other noncitizens have secured release on habeas after ICE arbitrarily revoked their supervised release agreements during a check-in and re-arrested them, or when noncitizens were arrested in retaliation for exercising constitutionally protected right like free speech.
The writ of habeas corpus must be filed with the federal court of the jurisdiction in which the member is currently being detained. (You can use the ICE detainee locator to identify where). If the arrest took place in a more immigrant-friendly jurisdiction like New York City, it can be helpful to move quickly to file before the detainee is transferred to much more hostile jurisdiction. Conversely, if the detainee has already been moved to Texas, Louisiana, or Mississippi, hiring a lawyer to file a habeas case may be less fruitful.
The lawyer you hire to file the habeas petition should be admitted in the federal court of the jurisdiction where the detention center is located. Many federal litigators will charge between $5,000 and $10,000 to file a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of a detainee and represent them in subsequent proceedings.
If it is impossible to retain a lawyer, the detainee can attempt to make a “pro se” (self-represented) filing, and the family/faith community member may be able to file a “Next Friend” petition. If you need to do this, you should contact the clerk of the relevant federal district court or the offices of pro-immigrant elected representatives to seek their assistance.
6. Consider applying for humanitarian parole.
Detainees with acute humanitarian needs like an urgent medical crisis may be eligible for release on humanitarian parole. As with bond applications, humanitarian parole determinations involve questions about whether detainees might pose a flight risk or danger to the community—something families and faith leaders can help vouch against.
7. Arrange for a visit
Visitation can be an invaluable source of both moral support and vital information for someone in immigration detention. Visits from clergy and friends who are American citizens may be the only friendly human contact many detainees have with the outside world, especially if their family members are undocumented or abroad.
Identify the facility at which the member is being held using the ICE detainee locator, then check the visitation rules for the particular detention center on the ICE website directory. Typically, there are different rules for how lawyers, clergy, and family can visit, listed under “Hours of Visitation” tab.
8. Send Commissary funds
Conditions in ICE detention facilities are generally inhumane, and many detainees are forced to purchase basic necessities like meals, soaps, and painkillers from the commissaries operated by the for-profit prison companies which typically run the detention centers themselves. Instructions on how to deposit money into detainees’ commissary funds can be found on the page for the detention center on the ICE website directory, typically under the “Sending Items to Detainees” tab.
Emergency Planning
It may be helpful for communities to engage in emergency planning in anticipation of ICE detention, even before any arrests takes place. This can be particularly important for immigrants facing high arrest risks, like those who were recently fingerprinted after a police arrest or have immigration court hearings and ICE check-ins at federal buildings in which ICE has been conducting a disproportionate number of arrests. In such circumstances, you should encourage the member to:
Memorize at least one phone number—ideally of a lawyer who can represent them in immigration proceedings, but at least of a documented family member, friend, or faith leader who can help coordinate support. ICE typically confiscates personal phones, so being able to recall a phone number can be crucial for reaching the outside world.
Download the ReadyNow app, which helps noncitizens at the risk of ICE detention with emergency planning, including outreach to emergency contacts, connection to legal support, and advance instructions for childcare, finances, and personal safety.
Make child custody arrangements as necessary, prioritizing the designation of emergency guardians.
Consider getting in touch with a pro-immigrant elected representative, especially if the person at the risk of detention does not have legal representation. The noncitizen can also pre-fill a privacy waiver that authorizes caseworkers from the office to access any legal information that might be helpful.
American citizen clergy should also consider:
Accompanying immigrants to court and ICE checkins.
Registering themselves as a minister or chaplain at nearby ICE detention centers for conducting pastoral visits, even if none of their own members are currently detained. Catholic Prison Ministries coordinates immigration detention ministries, and members of other faith traditions should consider starting similar programs within their own denominations.
The main exception is the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appeals court with jurisdiction over Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.