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Ask the Inmate

Subject: ICE-Immigration Enforcement

What is an ICE detainer and what does it mean?

An ICE detainer, officially called Form I-247A, is a written request from ICE to a jail, prison, or other law enforcement agency. It asks that agency to hold a person for up to 48 additional hours beyond when they would normally be released, so that ICE has time to come and take custody. There are several critical things to understand about detainers. First, a detainer is a request, not a court order or a warrant. Local law enforcement agencies are not legally required to honor ICE detainers. Whether they comply depends on the policies of that particular jurisdiction. Some cities and counties, often called sanctuary jurisdictions, have policies that limit or prohibit cooperation with ICE detainers. Others comply routinely. Second, a detainer can be issued at any point during involvement with the criminal justice system, including immediately after arrest when no charges have been filed and before any conviction has occurred. This means a person could be arrested for a minor offense, have the charges dropped, post bail, and still be transferred to ICE custody rather than being released. Third, a detainer is not the same as a Notice to Appear, which is the document that formally initiates removal proceedings in immigration court. A detainer just holds the person while ICE figures out next steps. If your family member has an ICE detainer placed on them, contact an immigration attorney as quickly as possible. The 48-hour window is short and early legal intervention matters.

Subject: General Prison Questions-Terminology

How would the inmate know you're trying to reach out to them. If you happen to setup an account for them.

They find out the same way most things get communicated inside: through the mail or through a phone call. If you set up a phone account through a service like Securus, GTL, or InmateAid, the inmate does not get an automatic notification from the carrier. The facility is not going to walk down to the unit and announce that someone set up an account for them. That information has to come from you. The most reliable way to let them know is a letter. Write down the account details, the number they should dial, any PIN or access information they need, and send it through the mail. InmateAid's letter service is a good option here because everything goes out with InmateAid's return address, your personal information stays private, and the letter arrives within a few days of sending. If you already have an established way to communicate, a phone call or a message through an approved platform like JPay or CorrLinks works too. But if this is a first contact situation where they do not yet have your number, the letter has to come first. For commissary deposits, the inmate typically receives a receipt through the facility's internal notification system showing that funds were added and in most cases a last name associated with the deposit. That gives them a clue without requiring you to send a separate message. The bottom line is that nothing happens automatically on their end when you set something up. You have to close that loop yourself, and a letter is almost always the most reliable way to do it.

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