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

If Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detained someone you love in West Virginia, you are probably trying to answer one urgent question first: where are they? In this state that question is harder than it sounds, because West Virginia has no large dedicated immigration detention center of its own. People are often held only briefly here and then moved, sometimes across state lines. This guide is written for families. It explains how to locate your person, how the system works in and around West Virginia, and what to do in the first days.

Begin with the single most important fact. Immigration detention is civil, not criminal. ICE is not holding your loved one to punish a crime; it is holding them while it decides whether to remove them from the country. That changes what to expect. There is no free government lawyer in immigration court. If your family member cannot afford an attorney, none will be appointed. So the two things that matter most early are finding your person and finding a lawyer, fast.

You also need one number. It is the A-Number, short for Alien Registration Number, a nine-digit number ICE assigns to each person in its system. It is the key to the locator, the court, the bond, and any attorney's work on the case. If your loved one kept any immigration paperwork at home, search it for that number and write it down in more than one place.

Finding your loved one when transfers happen fast

ICE runs a free public tool called the Online Detainee Locator System at locator.ice.gov. You do not need a lawyer to use it. You can search two ways: by the A-Number together with the person's country of birth, or by full name, country of birth, and date of birth. The A-Number search is the most reliable.

A few cautions matter especially in West Virginia. The locator matches on exact spelling, so enter the name exactly as it appears in government records, and try variations of hyphenated or compound last names. The system does not list anyone under eighteen. There can also be a lag of up to a day or two between an arrest and when a record appears. And because people are moved often in this region, check the locator more than once; the facility shown today may not be where your person is tomorrow.

If you cannot find your loved one, you can call ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations at 1-888-351-4024. West Virginia falls under the ICE Philadelphia Field Office, which also covers Delaware and Pennsylvania. That office is located at 114 North 8th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, and can be reached at 215-656-7164. Because ICE records who calls, some families ask a U.S. citizen relative or friend to make the call.

Where ICE holds people in and around West Virginia

This is where West Virginia is different from most states. There is no standalone long-term ICE facility here. Instead, ICE has used space in local and regional jails for shorter holds, along with a processing site in the Poca area used to process people before moving them on. The arrangements for holding immigration detainees in West Virginia jails have shifted during 2026, so you should not assume your person is still being held at the place they were first taken.

In practice, many people detained by ICE in this region are transferred out of state for longer-term detention, most commonly to the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. It is operated by a private company, the GEO Group, under contract with ICE, and with a capacity of roughly 1,876 it is the largest immigration detention center in the Northeast. If you lose track of your loved one after an initial hold in West Virginia, Moshannon Valley is one of the first places to check. InmateAid maintains a facility page for Moshannon Valley with visitation and contact details that can help you confirm where your person is and how to reach them.

The practical takeaway is simple: rely on the locator and your loved one's A-Number rather than on any single facility. Transfers in this region are common and often happen with little notice.

How a person ends up in ICE custody here

People come into ICE custody in several ways. ICE officers may arrest someone in the community, at a workplace, after a traffic stop, or at a scheduled check-in or court date. ICE can also place what is called a detainer on someone already held by local authorities. A detainer is a request that the jail keep the person for up to 48 hours past their normal release so ICE can take custody. It is a request, not a court order.

West Virginia has generally cooperated with federal immigration enforcement, including by contracting jail space to hold ICE detainees. That cooperation is part of why a loved one arrested here may pass through a West Virginia jail before being moved elsewhere. Knowing this helps you plan: do not be surprised if the place of detention changes more than once.

The court process and your loved one's rights

Immigration court is run by a different agency than ICE. It is part of the Department of Justice, through the Executive Office for Immigration Review. The judge deciding a case does not work for ICE.

West Virginia does not have its own immigration court. For people detained here or transferred out of state, hearings are typically conducted by video before an immigration court in another state. To find out whether your loved one has a scheduled hearing, you can call the automated EOIR case information line at 1-800-898-7180 and enter their A-Number.

A central early question is whether your family member can be released on bond while the case continues. Some people are eligible to ask a judge for bond. Others are subject to what the law calls mandatory detention and cannot be released, depending on their history. A lawyer can quickly tell you which applies.

One warning stands above the rest. Do not let your loved one sign a form agreeing to voluntary departure or giving up the right to a hearing without first talking to a lawyer. People sometimes sign out of exhaustion or fear, thinking it will speed things up, when it can permanently close off relief they qualified for. Slow down and get legal advice before signing anything.

How families can help right now

The most useful thing you can do is help your person get a lawyer. Immigration law is complicated, and the gap between having counsel and going it alone is enormous. Nonprofit legal organizations can be a starting point even if your family cannot pay for a private attorney, and immigration courts keep lists of free or low-cost legal providers.

Beyond that, practical support runs through whatever facility currently holds your loved one. You can usually add money to a phone or commissary account, arrange phone contact, and set up visits according to that facility's rules. Keep copies of all paperwork, especially anything showing the A-Number, and bring it to any attorney you consult. And if your loved one already has a lawyer, tell that lawyer the moment a transfer happens, because moves can affect court dates and deadlines.

Why staying connected matters most

Detention is isolating, and that isolation hits hardest at the exact moment your loved one needs to make clear decisions about their case. Steady contact from family does more than comfort. It keeps your person grounded, hopeful, and engaged in their own defense.

InmateAid can help you keep that connection alive. Our letter service lets you send real, physical mail and printed photos, prepared on facility-approved paper and sent through the U.S. Postal Service so it arrives the way the facility expects. Because people are transferred so often in this region, confirm the current facility through the online locator before you send anything, so your letter reaches the right place. When phone time is short and visits are far away, a letter your loved one can hold and keep is one of the most reliable ways to remind them they are not facing this alone.