ICE Detention in Maryland: How to Find and Support a Detained Loved One

If someone you love has been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, in Maryland, there is one fact that shapes everything else: Maryland has no immigration detention facility. A 2021 state law ended immigration detention within Maryland, closing the facilities ICE had used here. As a result, a person detained by ICE in Maryland is typically processed at the ICE field office in Baltimore and then transferred out of state, most often to a facility in rural Pennsylvania. That means the window while your person is still nearby can be short, so the two most urgent things you can do are find exactly where they have been taken, and get an immigration attorney involved right away.

It helps to understand the nature of this. ICE detention is civil, not criminal. A person is not being held as punishment for a crime; they are being held to secure their presence for immigration proceedings or removal. And unlike criminal court, immigration court does not provide a free, government appointed lawyer, which is why finding legal help early is so important.

One number matters more than anything else through all of this: the Alien Registration Number, called the A-Number. It is a nine digit number assigned to the case, found on immigration paperwork, a work permit, or court notices. Write it down and keep it close, because it follows your person from place to place, and it is the key to locating them, posting any bond, and working with a lawyer.

How to find someone in ICE custody

ICE runs a free public tool called the Online Detainee Locator System, at locator.ice.gov. You can search by the A-Number, which is the most reliable way, or by the person's full name plus their country of birth and date of birth.

A few things make the difference between finding your person and coming up empty. The locator only matches names spelled exactly the way the government entered them, so if you get no result, try different spellings, swap the order of first and last names, and try with and without a middle name. Children under 18 do not appear in the system at all. And there can be a lag of a day or more before a newly detained person shows up.

Because people are moved out of state quickly, a search that shows your person in Baltimore today may show them in Pennsylvania next week, so check it again regularly. If you cannot find your person, call the ICE detention reporting line at 1-888-351-4024. Maryland falls under the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Baltimore field office.

Where ICE holds people from Maryland

Because of a 2021 state law commonly called the Dignity Not Detention Act, Maryland no longer allows immigration detention within the state. The law closed the facilities ICE had used in Maryland and ended the ability of local jurisdictions to contract with ICE to hold people. It is a state law, so it cannot stop ICE from making arrests in Maryland, only from detaining people here for the length of a case.

When someone is arrested, the usual first stop is the ICE field office in Baltimore, in a downtown federal building. There, officers process the person and typically issue a document called a Notice to Appear, which lays out the alleged immigration violations and a date to appear before an immigration judge. This office is meant for short term processing rather than long stays, though people have at times been held there longer than that brief period before being moved.

From Baltimore, people are generally transferred out of state. For years, the most common destination for Maryland residents has been the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, a facility in a rural part of central Pennsylvania, roughly a three to four hour drive from the Baltimore area. Some people are sent to other facilities around the country. Because people are moved and the destination can vary, always rely on the live locator to confirm where your person actually is.

How someone ends up in ICE custody in Maryland

Because Maryland law bars local jurisdictions from contracting with ICE to detain people, and because a number of Maryland counties and cities have moved to limit how much local agencies cooperate with immigration enforcement, the path of being booked into a local jail and handed directly to ICE is more limited here than in many states. As a result, people most often come into ICE custody through ICE's own enforcement, including arrests in the community.

If your person was arrested, ask the attorney exactly how they came into ICE custody, because the circumstances can matter to the case.

How the process and your person's rights work

Immigration cases are handled in immigration court, run by a separate agency called the Executive Office for Immigration Review, not by ICE. Maryland has immigration courts that hear cases for people who are not detained, but once a person is transferred out of state, the detained case is generally heard near where they are held, often by video. You can check case status through the court's automated system using the A-Number.

Here is what families most need to know about rights. A detained person has the right to be represented by a lawyer, but at their own expense, because the government does not provide one in immigration proceedings. They have the right to a list of free or low cost legal service providers. They generally have the right to a hearing before an immigration judge, and in many cases the right to ask that judge for release on bond. Some people are eligible for bond, which a judge can set and which can then be paid for release while the case continues; others fall under mandatory detention and are not eligible. One more thing worth knowing: a detained person should not sign documents giving up their rights, such as a voluntary departure form, without talking to a lawyer first.

How families can help from the outside

Find a lawyer first, and do it early. Maryland and the surrounding area have immigration attorneys and legal aid organizations experienced with these cases, including groups that work with immigrant communities across the state. Because your person may be moved out of state quickly, reach out as soon as you can, and understand that the case will likely continue in another state. Have the A-Number ready when you call.

Track the transfer. Keep checking the locator so you always know which facility your person is in, since money, phone, mail, and visitation all depend on where they are at that moment.

Learn the receiving facility's system. Once your person is at a facility in Pennsylvania or elsewhere, the deposit, phone, and visitation rules are set by that facility. Call it directly to confirm how to add money, how calls work, and what mail is allowed.

Keep the paperwork organized. Hold onto every document with the A-Number, every court notice, and every receipt, and share copies with the attorney.

Staying connected matters more than anything

Through all of the logistics, do not underestimate the simple power of staying in touch. Being moved hours away to another state, far from family and familiar lawyers, can leave a person isolated and frightened, and steady contact from home is one of the few things that genuinely helps a person hold on.

Letters and photos are the backbone of that connection. They are something your person can keep, read again on a hard night, and hold as proof that home has not let go, and they can follow your person from one facility to the next. InmateAid can help you send physical mail and photos to your loved one, printed and delivered the right way so it reaches them inside. Use it to send pictures of family, words of encouragement, or simply a reminder that someone is fighting for them on the outside. That steady contact, alongside a good lawyer, is the most practical support you can give while the case moves forward.