Detention & Bond
If someone has been detained, the useful information is very specific and very time-sensitive: how to find them, what is about to happen, what should not be signed, and how release actually works. That is what these pages cover — the process, in order, without guesswork about amounts or timelines that change.
Start here if it has just happened
The first days are disproportionately important, and they are also when families are least able to think clearly. Work through this in order. Detained cases move faster than most people expect, which is the reason for the urgency.
Finding someone, and what happens next
How to Find Someone in ICE Custody
Most people arrive at this question in the worst possible circumstances: someone did not come home, and nobody will tell you where they are. The search itself is straightforward once you have the right identifier. The hard part — and the situation most families are actually in — is not having one.
Read more →What Happens in the First Days After an Immigration Arrest
This page is about what happens, rather than what you should do — the companion checklist covers that. Knowing the sequence helps, because the pressure points come earlier than families expect and two of them are effectively irreversible.
Read more →Immigration Bond, Explained
An immigration bond is not a fine and it is not a payment towards the case. It is a deposit that exists to guarantee one thing: that the person will appear when required. Understanding that is what makes the rest of it make sense — including why the money can come back.
Read more →Paying and recovering a bond
Who Can Pay an Immigration Bond
The person who posts a bond takes on a role with a name and with duties attached — the obligor. It is worth understanding what that involves before volunteering for it, because the obligations continue for as long as the case does.
Read more →How an Immigration Bond Refund Works
This is the part families are most often surprised by, in both directions. A bond paid in full is genuinely returnable. It also does not come back automatically, it can take a long time, and one part of what many people paid was never refundable at all.
Read more →Which facility and which court depends on your state
Arizona has one of the larger detained dockets in the country and holds people well outside its metro areas. New Mexico cases are in some circumstances heard outside the state entirely. Pick yours.
General information, not legal advice. Immigration law and policy change frequently.