Detainee Consultations: Legal Help for Someone in ICE Custody

Step One: Find Them

You cannot do anything until you know where they are.

Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator System. It is a public tool on the ICE website. You can search two ways: by alien registration number, the A-number, combined with country of birth, or by full name, country of birth, and date of birth. The name search is exact, so spelling matters. Try variations, including both surnames if the person uses a maternal surname, and try the name as it appears on their birth certificate rather than how they are known day to day.

Understand the delay. Newly detained people often do not appear in the system for 24 to 48 hours while they are processed. An empty result on day one does not mean they are not in custody.

Minors and recent arrivals may not appear at all. People under 18 are not listed. People still in Customs and Border Protection custody, as opposed to ICE custody, will not show up either.

If the search fails, an attorney can often locate someone faster through direct contact with the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations field office, which is one of the practical reasons to involve counsel immediately rather than spending three days calling facilities.

How Attorney Consultations Work in Detention

There are three practical channels.

Legal visitation. Attorneys and their staff can meet detained clients in person under rules that differ from social visitation. Legal visits are generally confidential, are not subject to the same limited visiting hours, and allow document review. Facilities have their own scheduling and identification requirements.

Telephone consultations. Most facilities maintain free legal call platforms. Calls from a detained person to a family member, by contrast, are usually monitored and recorded. This matters more than families realize. Do not discuss case details, immigration history, or criminal history on a recorded line. Those recordings can be obtained.

Video conference. Increasingly used and increasingly practical, particularly for clients held far from our offices.

Once retained, we file Form G-28, the notice of entry of appearance. That single document changes the dynamic. It gives us access to the file, lets us communicate directly with ICE and the immigration court, and ensures that hearing notices come to us instead of to an address the client no longer lives at.

What to Gather Before the Consultation

The quality of the first consultation depends almost entirely on what the family brings. Assemble as much of this as possible.

Identifying information

• The A-number, a nine-digit number beginning with 2 or 0, found on any immigration paperwork
• Full legal name exactly as it appears on the birth certificate, date of birth, and country of birth
• The facility name and location if known

Case documents

• The Notice to Appear, Form I-862, which lists the charges. This is the single most important document.
• Any paperwork given at the time of arrest, including Form I-213 or a Notice of Custody Determination
• Any prior immigration filings, approval notices, receipt notices, or denials
• Any prior removal or deportation order

Immigration history

• How and when they entered the United States, and whether they were inspected at a port of entry
• Every prior entry and exit, including any prior removals or voluntary returns
• Any prior applications, even ones that were denied or abandoned

Criminal history

• Every arrest, including those that did not lead to conviction
• Certified dispositions from the county clerk for each case
• Deferred adjudications and dismissals, which still matter in immigration law even when they are not convictions under Texas law

Family and equities

• Immigration status of spouse, children, and parents, with documents
• Marriage certificate, children's birth certificates, and prior divorce decrees
• Proof of length of residence: leases, utility bills, school records, church records, medical records, tax returns
• Employment records, or money order and remittance receipts for clients paid in cash

Families who arrive with the NTA and the criminal dispositions get a substantive answer in the first meeting. Families who arrive with none of it get a second appointment.

The First Meeting

What We Assess in the First Meeting

Mistakes Families Make in the First Week

Discussing the case on recorded facility phone lines. Assume every non-legal call is recorded and available to the government.

Signing anything without advice. Detained people are sometimes presented with stipulated removal orders or voluntary departure paperwork. Signing can permanently forfeit relief that was available. Nobody should sign without speaking to an attorney first.

Paying a notario. In Texas, a notario público is not an attorney. Unlicensed preparers have filed frivolous applications that permanently barred clients from other relief. Verify licensure through the State Bar of Texas.

Waiting to see what happens. On the detained docket, the first master calendar hearing may occur within days. Waiting a week to hire counsel can mean missing the hearing where the pleadings that shape the entire case are entered.

Sending money to the wrong place. Immigration bonds are posted on Form I-352 at an ICE ERO field office by an obligor with lawful status and a Social Security number. Any other payment arrangement deserves scrutiny.

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Lozano Law Firm

Hire a Board-Certified Immigration Attorney

Fewer than five percent of Texas immigration attorneys are Board-Certified in Immigration and Nationality Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Attorney Alfredo Lozano holds that distinction, and since founding the firm in 2006 he has brought a Marine Corps veteran's discipline, more than 20 years of immigration experience, and a fully bilingual team to every case the firm handles.

Our approach combines personalized counsel with the documentation rigor these cases demand, so your petition is prepared correctly the first time. Board Certification means the state has independently verified his experience, tested his knowledge, and confirmed his standing among peers, which is the kind of assurance that matters when your family's future is on the line.

Learn About Our Firm

Meet

Our Team

Our team includes experienced attorneys, legal professionals, and client-care specialists who share a common commitment: making the immigration process as clear and manageable as possible for every family we serve.

Alfredo Lozano

Managing Attorney

Board-Certified in Immigration and Nationality Law and a Marine Corps veteran who leads every case strategy.

Linda Hamilton

Attorney

Guides families and employers through petitions, waivers, and interviews with steady, detailed advocacy.

Minerva Gonzalez

Legal Assistant

Prepares documentation and keeps every case organized, accurate, and moving forward.

Mayra Juarez

Legal Administrator

Coordinates case management and client communication across our three Texas offices.

Meet Our Full Team

Where People Are Held in Texas

Detention in this part of the state clusters in a handful of facilities. Clients detained in Bexar County are frequently held in Frio and Karnes counties. Cases originating along the Eagle Pass and Del Rio corridor often route through Laredo or Pearsall. Some clients pass through the Rio Grande Valley before being moved again.

Two things follow from this geography.

Transfers happen with little or no notice. A family can drive three hours for a visit and arrive to learn the person was moved that morning. Transfers can also change which immigration court has the case, which resets scheduling and sometimes changes the strategy entirely.

Distance is a real barrier. For families in San Angelo, there is no local facility and no local immigration court, which means every in-person contact is a multi-hour commitment. We handle facility communication so families are not absorbing that cost repeatedly.

Speak With Us Today

If someone you love was taken into ICE custody, the useful things you can do right now are narrow and time-sensitive: find them, gather the documents, and get counsel involved before the first hearing.

Schedule your free detainee consultation with The Lozano Law Firm. We are a veteran-owned, bilingual practice with offices in San Antonio, Eagle Pass, and San Angelo. Alfredo Lozano is Board Certified in Immigration and Nationality Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. You can read more on our deportation defense page or about Alfredo Lozano's background.

Detainee Consultation FAQs

Lozano Law Firm focuses exclusively on the practice areas listed above. We do not handle asylum or criminal immigration cases. When clients come to us with needs outside our scope, we refer them to trusted colleagues who specialize in those areas. Our referral network includes attorneys who handle asylum claims and criminal immigration consequences, so every person who contacts us receives direction toward the right help.

Contact Our Immigration Lawyer

For A Free Case Evaluation