Find an ICE Detainee: Guide

Need to find a family member detained by ICE in Indiana? This guide walks you through the process. In this post, we also share details on upcoming events.

First, thank you to all who have reached out seeking guidance on how to effectively support individuals affected by ICE’s harsh detention practices.

This guide was created to help answer a common question: What’s the best way to determine if someone has been picked up by ICE for detention, deportation, or other legal proceedings?

This guide is intended to provide general information. For case-specific questions, please contact a qualified immigration attorney; a list of attorneys based out of central Indiana is provided at the end of this post.

Please note: there are 92 counties in the state of Indiana and this guide uses Marion County as an example. The Indiana Latino Democratic Caucus (INLDC) is also working on translating this into Spanish.

Initial Detention

Typically, finding out whether a person has an “ICE Hold” after having been detained is very county specific and it’s a multi-step process. In Marion County, Indiana for example, after a person is taken in and booked into the Marion County Sheriff’s Office:

That person would show up in the “Inmate Data Base” if they’re taken to the Adult Detention Center (ADC). You can search that portal using a name and DOB.

Once they show up in the database, this is what the top part of the portal would reflect:

The second part should reflect whether the person has been placed in an ICE Hold / Detainer. (The last part would also include “initial criminal charges” and “hearing information,” but because the focus is on immigration proceedings, that information was omitted from this text).

Here, we can see this person was placed in a federal 247A ICE HOLD / Detainer.

If the person does not have an Alien Number (“A Number”), they will be assigned one after being taken into custody by ICE and that paperwork is processed.

If the person has an existing A Number, this is the number that will be used during these proceedings. This is what an A Number generally looks like:

Under an ICE Detainer, ICE is essentially asking the jails to hold a person for an extra two days (48 hours) after the person is set to be released from Indiana custody. If ICE doesn’t pick them up, the person continues to move forward with their local/state criminal proceedings.

At this point, the family should be consulting with an immigration attorney to assess how they should proceed (list of immigration attorneys is provided below).

County Databases

If the county jail doesn’t have an “Inmate Data Base” like the one in Marion County, the other option would be to call the county jail directly.

There is no single, comprehensive list of Indiana county jails readily available in a single document or database. County jails are operated by individual counties, and information about them is typically found on the respective county sheriff's or local government websites.

Transfers to ICE

Person Enters Immigration Proceedings: Prior to 2025, if a person was living in Indiana and was picked up by ICE in Indiana, the person would have been transferred to a jail contracting with ICE, typically the Clay County Jail in Brazil, IN which is currently an “official detention center.”

However, the number of jails working with ICE in Indiana grows every day, which means proceedings and detainee location, are also subject to change.

Nevertheless, you’ll need an A Number to locate a person who is in ICE custody, using the the Online Detainee Locator System which looks like this:

You can use the person’s A Number, their first and last name and/or country of birth to locate them as well. A few pointers:

Name Spelling: If the person is not showing up, it may be because the name was entered incorrectly or out of order. Try a combination of spellings, or reordering the last names / first names on the portal.

Minors: Information for people under the age of 18 is not included in the system. “Minors are typically processed and held in different facilities, often under the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).”

Processing Time: Sometimes, it takes up to 24 hours for the person to appear in the system after the start of the proceedings. It’s important to be mindful of that if the person doesn’t show up right away.

Immigration Attorneys

INLDC is still compiling a list of immigration attorneys throughout the state, but in the meantime here is non-exhaustive list of Indy-based immigration attorneys:

IUYA: Application Request to be Added to Immigration Assistance Directory.

Support Families Impacted by ICE

Want to support families affected by ICE? The Indiana Undocumented Youth Alliance (IUYA) are both seeking donations for the legal defense fund and working to finalize an intake sheet for those seeking financial support. In the meantime, be on the lookout for more informational resources and upcoming ways to get involved.

⚠️ POSTPONED:

The 7/12 Fort Wayne Precinct Committee Person + Intro to Running for Office Info Session Is Being Postponed (New Date Coming Soon!)

The Indiana Democratic Party is hosting a State Central Committee (SCC) meeting on Sat., July 12 (same timeframe of our anticipated info session). As such, we’re postponing this info session to a future date. We thank you for your patience and apologize for any inconveniences this may have caused!

The Indiana Latino Democratic Caucus (INLDC), is excited to continue working with the Indiana African American Caucus (IDAAC), and the Indiana Young Democrats (IYD) in welcoming many young, progressive, Latino, allies and diverse individuals demanding a seat at the table during these sessions and we can’t wait to connect with you soon! 💙

Save the Date!

✅ INLDC’s Annual Meeting: Are you interested in learning how to fight back against Trump? Interested in learning more about INLDC and want to have a more active role in local or state politics? Not sure how you can make a change? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, we welcome you to learn about INLDC and become a member!

Join us for INLDC’s Annual Meeting, during the Indiana Democratic Party’s IDEA Conference, to learn more about INLDC and how you can get involved! We’ll also use this time for INLDC’s Congressional Chair Call out!

📅 Sat., August 16 | ⏰ TBD |📍8670 West State Road 56, French Lick, IN 47432

Have a Question?

Let us know and we’ll do our best to provide guidance. We hope this was helpful. We thank you again for your concern and questions: I know that if we all stick together and strategically fight back, we will get through this.

Thank you again. 💙