ICE hides locations of thousands of detainees with final removal orders

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has stopped publicly revealing where it is holding thousands of detainees who are subject to final deportation orders, an unannounced move that has made it far more difficult for lawyers and relatives to find them, according to current and former officials familiar with the practice. ICE removed those detainees from its online detainee locator system on 15 September, according to three current and former ICE officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the change.

Several lawyers contacted by the AP confirmed their clients vanished from the system this week, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association warned its members about the situation on Friday. The move represents a stark departure from previous practice and highlights the hardline nature of the immigration crackdown Donald Trump’s administration has pursued during his second presidency, leaving thousands of detainees exceedingly hard to trace and potentially unable to exercise all of their legal options. The practice, which applies to detainees who have received final orders of removal from an immigration court, could speed deportations by making last-minute legal challenges harder to seek, immigration lawyers said.