If an inmate is not a United States citizen, deportation after serving a federal sentence is very likely. Immigration and Customs Enforcement routinely places detainers on non-citizen inmates, meaning the moment they finish their sentence they are transferred to ICE custody and removal proceedings begin. A lengthy sentence combined with a prior criminal record makes deportation even more probable. Dual citizenship changes the picture significantly. If someone holds both U.S. citizenship and citizenship in another country, the U.S. government cannot forcibly...

The online transfer services will not accept international cards. InmateAid offers a solution for international members but since it is not part of our core business, the service fee for doing so is a bit pricey. We charge $15 for the service but you also will have to pay the transfer fee for the service that the jail uses plus a credit card processing fee - the last two components are not fees for InmateAid but are necessary to get...

When you add money to an inmate's phone account online, it typically posts almost immediately. Online deposits through platforms like Securus are processed in real time in most cases, which means your family member can often start making calls within minutes of the deposit being confirmed. For SCI Smithfield in Pennsylvania, Securus Technologies handles the phone service. You can set up an account and make deposits at securustech.net. When you add funds, you will need the facility name and your inmate's...

The phone service at the all of the jails and prisons are set up through bid process. Whoever has the contract for all inmate outbound calling and to tape record the calls has a monopoly contract. Therefore, you have to use them to receive calls. The choice is whether you pay them for a long distance call or a local call. The price is usually a pretty sizable difference Here is how it works... We get you a local line matching the rate center of town...

USP Atlanta is one of the older federal penitentiaries in the Bureau of Prisons system. The facility has been operating for well over a century and the age of the building is something inmates and their families notice. Older infrastructure means the physical environment is less comfortable than newer facilities, and the population density at Atlanta has historically made conditions more difficult than at some other USPs where housing is less crowded. That said, a few things remain consistent across all...

All inmates must go through the Admission and Orientation Program which is designed to help them understand their responsibilities and the rules of the institution. Each inmate will typically be interviewed by their Case Manager and Correctional Counselor within the first seven days after commitment to the institution. During their orientation, they will also participate in various lectures, examinations, tests, and interviews. This means that numerous staff members, at one time or another, will participate directly or indirectly in the inmate's...

The beginning of her bid will be the hardest, getting used to being told where to be and when. Once she gets used to her daily routine, it becomes a lot easier to deal with. All of the inmates are looking for the same thing, and trouble in a women's prison is not something that happens as much as you would see on television. If she is easy-going, she will make friends and get into her own groove. The good-time...

The most important thing you can do is stay out of situations before they start. Prison is not universally violent, but conflict does exist and in many facilities it is the default way disputes get settled. The best advice is straightforward: keep your mouth shut and stay out of other people's business. Respect goes a long way inside. If you respect other people's space, their property, and their boundaries, you dramatically reduce your chances of ever finding yourself in a dangerous...

Yes, inmates can receive Valentine's Day cards through the mail, but keep it simple. Most facilities will accept a basic card, but anything with embellishments like raised stickers, glitter, metallic foil, pop-up elements, or any pieces that could detach risks being rejected at the mailroom. Correctional officers screen incoming mail carefully, and anything that looks like it could conceal contraband or introduce foreign materials into the facility gets turned away. Every facility has its own mail policy, and some are stricter...

We appreciate the kind words. InmateAid was built to help folks like you - let others know about us.  Getting the trial transcripts is not that hard to do, but they are going to charge you a fee (per page) to print and mail them to you. You need to find the Clerk of the Court where he was tried and make a formal request. This is something that the lawyers in other cases do all the time for researching...