ICE Hold/Detainer Requests:The BASICS

Who is ICE?

ICE= Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

Their job: identifying, detaining, and deporting noncitizens in the US

2009-ICE detained around 380,000 people in about 350 facilities across the country at a cost of more than $1.7 billion

Why should we care about ICE?

With a monstrous budget (5.82 billion for 2011) and expanded information-sharing technology, ICE seems to be everywhere.

In particular, ICE has increasingly co-opted the criminal justice system to achieve its immigration enforcement goals.

As a result, state and local police are very often the entry point into detention and deportation. This is where ICE holds come in…

What is an “ICE hold”?

An immigration detainer or ICE hold is a request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to local law enforcement officials.

Asks local officials to detain an individual, after he or she is eligible for release.

Request that local enforcement agency keep the person in custody for 48 hours longer than they otherwise would, in order to facilitate transfer to ICE.

What IS currently happening to immigrants?

1. Undocumented person is engaged by the police

2. Local law enforcement agency (LLEA) asks for State ID or Driver’s License

3. Immigrant gets taken to jail4. Jail contacts ICE

(a.) ICE rep talks with the person over the phone, but does not issue a detainer request.

(b.) ICE issues a detainer request

5. The sheriff’s dept. and jail comply with the ICE detainer request

6. The person is held at the jail for up to 48 hours AFTER they are eligible for release to allow federal agents to pick him or her up.

7. The person is taken by ICE and put in a detention center.

8. Once there, they could be deported, agree to voluntarily leave the country or be released on bond until future proceedings.

For an undocumented person being booked for a minor offense, which

would normally result in a few hours in jail, may instead lead to months of

detention followed by deportation

Why does ICE issue detainers? Most detainers are issued with the box checked

saying that ICE has:

Initiated an investigation to determine whether this person is subject to removal.

Detainer form makes no mention of the person’s specific immigration status

According to Sheriff Mike Emery: “Decisions on whether an individual will be picked up

by immigration are made by ICE and not shared with us”

Remember… an ICE detainer request is NOT:

Indication of undocumented or unlawful status Evidence of removability or evidence that a person is

deportable from the US Authorization for ICE custody Clear indication that ICE will take custody Clear indication that ICE will initiate removal

proceeding The equivalent of a judicial warrant or a criminal

detainer supported by a warrant An arrest warrant (in most cases) Probable cause of a crime or immigration violation Evidence that a noncitizen has been deemed a danger

to the community or a flight risk A mandatory order

I’ve heard of Secure Communities, Is this the same thing?

The short answer: NO In secure communities, local law enforcement

uses biometrics and an electronic database to report directly to ICE

The long answer: There’s not much of a difference… The use of ICE holds makes the relationship

more indirect But, the local law enforcement agency still

serves as a pass-through of information to ICE, and helps ICE detain immigrants

Implication of ICE hold use

For an undocumented person being booked for a minor offense, which

would normally result in a few hours in jail, may instead lead to months of

detention followed by deportation