An ICE hold, formally called an immigration detainer, is a written request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement asking a local jail or prison to keep someone in custody for up to 48 hours past the moment they would otherwise be released, so federal agents have time to pick the person up for possible deportation. It is not an arrest warrant, and it is not signed by a judge. That single fact shapes almost every question that follows: whether the jail must comply, what the person’s options are, and what families can do while the clock runs.
How the Hold Gets Placed
When someone is booked into a local jail and fingerprinted, that data flows automatically into federal databases. If the prints match a person ICE is watching, agents receive an alert and decide whether to issue a detainer. ICE policy requires the officer to find probable cause that the person is a noncitizen who is removable before filing the paperwork.1eCFR. 8 CFR 287.7 – Detainer Provisions Under Section 287(d)(3) of the Act Common triggers include lacking valid immigration documents, an outstanding removal order, a prior deportation, or an overstayed visa.
The detainer itself is Form I-247A. It notifies the jail that ICE is interested in the person and asks the facility to alert ICE before releasing them and to hold them for up to 48 hours past their normal release so agents can arrive.2U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Immigration Detainers The regulation itself calls the detainer “a request that such agency advise the Department, prior to release of the alien, in order for the Department to assume custody.”1eCFR. 8 CFR 287.7 – Detainer Provisions Under Section 287(d)(3) of the Act A request, not a command.
How the 48-Hour Clock Works
The clock does not start when ICE files the detainer. It starts at the moment the person becomes eligible for release from local custody. That could be posting bail, having charges dropped, finishing a sentence, or any other event that would ordinarily end the jail’s authority to hold them.2U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Immigration Detainers
Weekends and federal holidays don’t count. Under the regulation, the 48-hour window excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and federal holidays.1eCFR. 8 CFR 287.7 – Detainer Provisions Under Section 287(d)(3) of the Act So a person who bails out Friday afternoon can legally sit in jail until Tuesday. If Monday is a federal holiday, it stretches to Wednesday. Once the 48-hour window closes and ICE has not arrived, the jail loses any authority to keep the person. They should walk out as if the hold had never been placed.
Does the Jail Have to Honor an ICE Hold?
A detainer is not a court order. The federal government generally cannot force state or local officers to carry out federal programs, and ICE has acknowledged internally that a detainer is a request with no penalty for refusing it. Neither the I-247A nor the related administrative arrest warrant (Form I-200) is signed by a judge. Multiple federal courts have found that holding someone solely on an ICE detainer, without a judicial warrant, can violate the Fourth Amendment and expose the county to financial liability.
Some jurisdictions honor every detainer. Some notify ICE of a pending release but refuse to extend custody. Others will not cooperate at all without a judicial warrant. The federal administration has designated certain jurisdictions as “sanctuary” locations and is pressuring them to comply, including through threatened loss of federal funding.3United States Department of Justice. U.S. Sanctuary Jurisdiction List Following Executive Order 14287 There is no single national answer. The fastest way to find out what a particular jail will do is to call the facility and ask about its detainer policy.
Should You Post Bail If There’s a Hold?
Posting bail is what starts the 48-hour clock. Once the person is eligible to leave local custody, ICE has that window to pick them up. If agents arrive, the person moves from local jail to federal immigration detention, often at a facility far from family and from the criminal defense attorney handling their case.
That transfer creates real problems. A person moved to ICE custody with pending criminal charges may miss court dates, which can trigger a bench warrant for failure to appear and forfeiture of the bail money that was just paid. Communication with the criminal defense lawyer becomes much harder, since immigration facilities limit visits and calls.
For those reasons, some criminal defense attorneys advise clients with active detainers to delay posting bail or to stay in local custody where the criminal case is easier to fight. It is not always the right call. The answer depends on the strength of the criminal case, whether the person qualifies for release on immigration bond, and how aggressively the local ICE field office is pursuing pickups. Anyone facing this decision needs a criminal defense attorney and an immigration lawyer coordinating, because a move that helps one case can wreck the other.
Finding Someone Who Has Been Taken Into ICE Custody
Start with the local jail. Call the facility where the person was booked and ask whether ICE has taken custody. Ask for the booking number, which helps verify their location and gives you a reference for later calls.
If ICE has already taken them, the Online Detainee Locator System at locator.ice.gov is the main federal search tool.4U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Online Detainee Locator System You can search two ways. With an Alien Registration Number, sometimes called an A-Number, enter that number along with the person’s country of birth. The A-Number is a unique identifier assigned by the Department of Homeland Security, typically seven to nine digits.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. A-Number/Alien Registration Number/Alien Number If it has fewer than nine digits, add zeros to the front to make nine. Without an A-Number, you can search by first name, last name, and country of birth. The name has to match exactly, hyphens included.
The locator only shows people currently in ICE custody, or those who have been in Customs and Border Protection custody for more than 48 hours. It does not list minors. Someone just transferred may not show up for a day or two. During that gap, calling the local ICE field office directly is sometimes the only way to get information.
Rights During and After the Hold
An immigration detainer does not strip a person of constitutional protections. The most important right in the early hours is the right to remain silent. Agents routinely ask about birthplace, how the person entered the country, and their immigration history. Nothing requires answering. Anything said can and will be used to build the removal case, and experienced immigration attorneys almost universally advise saying nothing until counsel is present.
Foreign nationals in custody have the right under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations to have their home country’s consulate notified. Authorities must inform the person of this right without delay. Consular officials can sometimes help locate legal resources, get word to family, or monitor detention conditions.
Federal law guarantees the right to be represented by an attorney in removal proceedings, but there is a catch: the government does not pay for it.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1362 – Right to Counsel Immigration court has no public defender system. The person has to hire a lawyer or find a nonprofit legal organization willing to take the case. Many detention facilities keep lists of free or low-cost providers, and many immigration courts run legal orientation programs. Getting a lawyer early changes outcomes. Represented individuals win their cases at far higher rates than those who go it alone.
Bond and Mandatory Detention
Most people in ICE custody can request a bond hearing before an immigration judge to argue for release while their case is pending.7United States Department of Justice. 8.3 – Bond Proceedings ICE sets an initial bond, and the judge can raise or lower it. The statutory minimum is $1,500, though judges often set it much higher. At the hearing the judge weighs whether the person is a flight risk and whether they pose a danger to the community. Length of time in the United States, family ties, work history, past appearances in court, criminal record, and manner of entry all factor in.
Some people cannot get a bond hearing at all. Federal law requires ICE to hold certain individuals without possibility of release. The main categories include people convicted of controlled substance offenses, aggravated felonies, certain firearms offenses, and crimes involving moral turpitude with sentences of at least one year. Terrorism-related grounds also require mandatory detention. A 2025 amendment expanded the list to include people charged with or convicted of burglary, theft, shoplifting, assaulting a law enforcement officer, or any crime causing death or serious bodily injury.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1226 – Apprehension and Detention of Aliens The only exception allowing release in mandatory detention cases is witness protection.
For anyone in a mandatory detention category, the practical reality is that they will stay locked up through the entire removal case, which can take months or years given court backlogs. For everyone else, making bond and getting out of detention makes it much easier to find counsel, gather evidence, and fight the case.