Immigration Lawyers│Deportation Defense │Appleton WI│Sheboygan WI│Green Bay WI
If immigration authorities want to obtain custody of an undocumented individual who is apprehended by local or state law enforcement agency (like the police, sheriff’s department, state police, or jail), a request to hold that individual for Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents is sent to the agency. This request is referred to as an immigration or ICE detainer.
An immigration detainer is a notice that ICE sends to the law enforcement agency advising that ICE intends to assume custody of the undocumented individual currently in the custody of the agency. The immigration detainer requests that the undocumented individual be held for up to 48 business hours beyond the time he would otherwise be released (for example, after the individual secures bail; or when he finishes serving his sentence; or when his case is dismissed).
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
It is important to understand the 48 business hour requirement. It means that an individual may be held for only 48 hours after his scheduled release date, not counting weekends or holidays. For example, if a person is scheduled to be released from the custody of a local jail on a Monday at 5:00 pm, ICE can only request that the individual be held until Wednesday at 5:00 pm, a period of two days. However, if a person is scheduled to be released on a Thursday at 5:00pm, ICE can request that the person be held until Monday at 5:00 pm, a period of four days. In the first case, the 48 hours requirement runs contiguously. In the second case, the 48 hour period is interrupted by the weekend.
An immigration detainer is not an arrest warrant and does not purport to authorize the arrest or detention beyond 48 hours of an individual by a local law enforcement agency. An immigration detainer directs the local law enforcement agency to detain the individual for up to 48 hours after he would have been otherwise released, not when ICE authorities are contacted by the agency. In other words, the local enforcement agency cannot hold the individual indefinitely until ICE assumes custody of him. If ICE has not assumed custody of an individual upon the expiration of the 48 hour period, the individual must be immediately released from custody by the local law enforcement agency. Failure to release an individual promptly upon the expiration of the 48 hour time period could lead to a habeas corpus petition in federal court seeking the individual’s release from confinement, and a civil action for false imprisonment and violation of the individual’s constitutional rights against the local law enforcement agency.
It is important than an individual in the custody of a law enforcement agency speak with an immigration attorney if there is an immigration detainer against him. An immigration detainer can affect the decision of whether an individual wants to secure bail to be released from jail. Also, immigration detainers may affect an individual’s ability to participate in work-release programs while incarcerated.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detainer Policy here.
WHAT ICE ISN’T TELLING YOU (or law enforcement agencies) ABOUT DETAINERS here.
