ICE Detention in South Dakota: 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 South Dakota, it helps to know how detention is set up here. South Dakota has no long-term ICE detention facility. Instead, people detained by ICE in the state are held short-term in county jails, which serve as waystations, and then are often moved to other facilities in the region for longer detention. The jails most commonly used are the Minnehaha County Jail in Sioux Falls, in the eastern part of the state, and the Pennington County Jail in Rapid City, in the west. So your person is likely held first at a county jail, though they may be moved. The two most urgent things you can do are find exactly where they are being held, 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. In South Dakota especially, once a person is moved out of a local jail, the A-Number, along with their country of birth, is often the only reliable way to track where they have gone.

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 often moved out of local jails, check the locator again every few days. South Dakota falls under the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations St. Paul field office, located at Fort Snelling in Minnesota, and there is also a Rapid City ICE office, reachable at 605-355-4300, that handles the western part of the state. If you cannot find your person, call the ICE detention reporting line at 1-888-351-4024.

Where ICE holds people in South Dakota

South Dakota does not have a dedicated immigration detention center. ICE uses county jails to hold people for short periods. The Minnehaha County Jail in Sioux Falls handles most immigration holds in the eastern part of the state, the Pennington County Jail in Rapid City handles the west, and the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls is also used. The number of people held at any one time tends to be small and can change quickly as people come and go.

These jails generally serve as short-term holding before a person is moved. People are often transferred to other facilities in the region, or into the system overseen by the Fort Snelling field office, for longer detention. Because the place where your person is first held is usually not where they will remain, always rely on the live locator to confirm where they actually are.

How someone ends up in ICE custody in South Dakota

South Dakota has close cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE. County jails take part in programs that cross-check the fingerprints and status of people they book against federal databases, which can flag someone to ICE. There are also 287(g) agreements involving state law enforcement, and state level operations have increased immigration enforcement activity. A person can come into ICE custody after a local arrest, through a detainer, which is a request to hold someone for up to 48 hours so ICE can take custody, or through ICE's own enforcement.

One distinction matters for families here. A person held only on an immigration matter is usually moved out for proceedings or removal. But a person who has an ICE hold and is also charged with a crime is typically handled by the U.S. Marshals Service and can remain in a South Dakota jail until that criminal case concludes. If your person was first arrested locally, 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. South Dakota does not have its own immigration court, so cases are generally heard through the regional immigration court in the Fort Snelling area of Minnesota, usually by video from the facility. 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. South Dakota has relatively few immigration attorneys, so start the search early, and families often work with lawyers in the broader region, including the Minneapolis and St. Paul area. Have the A-Number ready when you call.

Learn the facility's system. The rules for adding money, phone calls, and visits are set by the specific jail. Call the jail where your person is held, whether in Sioux Falls, Rapid City, or elsewhere, to confirm how to add funds, how calls work, and what the visiting rules are.

Track every transfer. Keep checking the locator so you always know which facility your person is in, and remember that once they leave a local jail, the A-Number and country of birth are the keys to finding them. Money, phone, mail, and visitation all depend on where they are at that moment.

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 detained in a rural state, often far from family and from familiar resources, and possibly moved out of the area, can be deeply isolating, 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.