Resources for People Detained or Worried About Being Detained

Their family or trusted friend can apply for free legal help. Call Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota at 651-641-1011 during detention line intake hours: Monday-Thursday: 1 – 3 p.m. Get information about court and the services they provide. Volunteers operating the phone line are not lawyers don’t provide any legal advice.

You can also try to get a private immigration lawyer. Search the American Immigration Lawyer Association directory. These lawyers charge money to help you.

If you or someone you know was detained for protesting or being a legal observer: Call the National Lawyers Guild at 612-444-2654.

Use this guide for the steps to take, including how to use ICE’s Online Detainee Locator System: 
How to Find a Loved One After a U.S. Immigration Arrest - National Immigrant Law Center

If you or someone you know needs their immigration bond paid, fill out the Bail Fund Intake Application. Do not fill out the application unless bond has been granted.

• For rides and someone to go with you to ICE check ins: ICOM – Minnesota Interfaith Coalition on Immigration
   
• For help for people detained by ICE, including getting money added to their inmate account so they can talk to their families: CWF – Ending isolation by visiting and supporting people detained by ICE
   
• For more help, like finding food and rent support, call the Monarca Reporting Line, 612-441-2881, or the COPAL Navigator Line, (612) 255-3112.

You have the right to refuse to answer questions about your citizenship. BUT you can choose to answer questions to make it easier. If you want to carry proof of your citizenship, a passport card is easier to carry than an actual passport. It is also cheaper. Learn how to get a passport card. 

Make sure your green card is current. You MUST carry it with you. 

Make a copy and keep it at home or in another safe place. 

If you lose your green card or need to renew it, read our fact sheet Replacing or Renewing Your Permanent Resident Card (“Green Card”).

This could include: 

• U Visa or a VAWA Visa 
• deferred action like DACA or an approved Special Immigrant Juvenile Status petition
• you applied for asylum but they haven’t made a decision yet
• you’re a refugee who doesn’t have a Green Card
• you applied for a Green Card (I-485) but they haven’t made a decision yet
• you have work authorization but not a Green Card
   

Try not to go out if you don’t need to. 
Have a US Citizen or Green Card family member or trusted friend run errands. Think about having your groceries delivered. For more help, like finding food and rent support, call the Monarca Reporting Line, 612-441-2881, or the COPAL Navigator Line, (612) 255-3112.

Make copies of all of your immigration paperwork. If you go out, take copies of your paperwork with you. Always leave another copy at home.

Do not answer your door without a judicial warrant
If someone knocks on your door or rings the doorbell, DO NOT answer your door unless you know who it is. If it is ICE:

• Ask the officers if they have a warrant signed by a judge.
   
• If they say yes, ask them to slide it under the door or show it through a window.
   
• You need to see the judge’s signature. An “administrative warrant of removal”  (an ICE warrant) does not give ICE legal permission to go inside. See the difference between a Judicial Warrant and an ICE Warrant.
   
• If ICE does not have a warrant signed by a judge, tell them “I do not give you permission to enter this building.”
   
• If ICE enters by force, do not interfere or resist. If it is safe to do so, take notes about officers’ names, badge numbers, and what they take. You also have the right to take out your phone and record the officers as long as you do not interfere with what they are doing.
   

BUT: If ICE has a judicial warrant or you think they're likely to get one AND you have vulnerable family members inside, the person named on the warrant can decide to turn themselves in so ICE has no reason to try to enter and also detain other family members. 

If you have children
Think about doing a Delegation of Parental Authority (DOPA). For more information about DOPAs and how to do one, read our fact sheet, Delegation of Parental Authority (DOPA).

Find a lawyer
If you can, find a lawyer who can help you in case you get detained. You usually pay them a “retainer” to have them on call. The retainer works like a "starter fund" for future legal work they do for you. You usually pay about $5,000-$15,000 for an immigration lawyer retainer, but it can depend on the lawyer and your case. To find lawyers, search www.ailalawyer.com. For “Type of lawyer” choose “Deportation – Removal.”

If you can’t hire a lawyer on retainer, make sure a family member or friend knows how to find one by searching the www.ailalawyer.com website.

If you have an ICE Check-in
You still need to go. BUT they sometimes detain people. Make sure you have everything in order in case you are detained. 

Get your information ready in case you are detained
If you are detained, they may tell you to sign an order of deportation. You do not have to sign. If you sign, you cannot fight your case anymore.

If you are detained, you might be able to get out of detention by filing a “Habeas Petition.” Write this information down now to help with a Habeas Petition. Use this form to record the information. Make sure a family member or friend knows where it is. If you are detained, they have it ready to give to a lawyer to try to get you out of detention.

• Your full name, exactly as written on your immigration papers
• Your country of birth
• You’re A-Number
• Your date of birth
• Any states in the U.S. you lived in before living in Minnesota
• If you are working with an immigration lawyer, their name and phone #
• What your immigration status is, including if you are applying for status
• The status of your immigration case (you can check here: https://acis.eoir.justice.gov/en/)
• How and where you entered the U.S., including if you were detained at the border
• Any past dealings with law enforcement and immigration enforcement
• Info about any immigration bond hearings you have had

Try not to go out if you don’t need to. 
Have a US Citizen or Green Card family member or trusted friend run errands. Think about having your groceries delivered. For more help, like finding food and rent support, call the Monarca Reporting Line, 612-441-2881, or the COPAL Navigator Line, (612) 255-3112.

Make copies of all of your immigration paperwork. If you go out, take copies of your paperwork with you. Always leave another copy at home.

Do not answer your door without a judicial warrant
If someone knocks on your door or rings the doorbell, DO NOT answer your door unless you know who it is. If it is ICE:

• Ask the officers if they have a warrant signed by a judge.
• If they say yes, ask them to slide it under the door or show it through a window.
• You need to see the judge’s signature. An “administrative warrant of removal”  (an ICE warrant) does not give ICE legal permission to go inside. See the difference between a Judicial Warrant and an ICE Warrant.
• If ICE does not have a warrant signed by a judge, tell them “I do not give you permission to enter this building.”
• If ICE enters by force, do not interfere or resist. If it is safe to do so, take notes about officers’ names, badge numbers, and what they take. You also have the right to take out your phone and record the officers as long as you do not interfere with what they are doing.

BUT: If ICE has a judicial warrant or you think they're likely to get one AND you have vulnerable family members inside, the person named on the warrant can decide to turn themselves in so ICE has no reason to try to enter and also detain other family members. 

If you have children
Think about doing a Delegation of Parental Authority (DOPA). For more information about DOPAs and how to do one, read our fact sheet, Delegation of Parental Authority (DOPA).

Find a lawyer
If you can, find a lawyer who can help you in case you get detained. You usually pay them a “retainer” to have them on call. The retainer works like a "starter fund" for future legal work they do for you. You usually pay about $5,000-$15,000 for an immigration lawyer retainer, but it can depend on the lawyer and your case. To find lawyers, search www.ailalawyer.com. For “Type of lawyer” choose “Deportation – Removal.”

If you can’t hire a lawyer on retainer, make sure a family member or friend knows how to find one by searching the www.ailalawyer.com website.

Get your information ready in case you are detained
If you are detained, they may tell you to sign an order of deportation. You do not have to sign. If you sign, you cannot fight your case anymore.

If you are detained, you might be able to get out of detention by filing a “Habeas Petition.” Write this information down now to help with a Habeas Petition. Use this form to record the information. Make sure a family member or friend knows where it is. If you are detained, they have it ready to give to a lawyer to try to get you out of detention.

• Your full name, exactly as written on your immigration papers
• Your country of birth
• You’re A-Number
• Your date of birth
• Any states in the U.S. you lived in before living in Minnesota
• If you are working with an immigration lawyer, their name and phone #
• What your immigration status is, including if you are applying for status
• The status of your immigration case (you can check here: https://acis.eoir.justice.gov/en/)
• How and where you entered the U.S., including if you were detained at the border
• Any past dealings with law enforcement and immigration enforcement
• Info about any immigration bond hearings you have had

• Apply to attend a Deportation Preparedness clinic.
   
• Find other Legal Clinics so you can meet with a lawyer: 
  • Minnesota's Immigration Legal Services Hub Initiative: Check for Hub Legal Clinics in your area 
  • VLN Community Clinics

• Know Your Rights: What to Do if You Are Arrested or Detained by Immigration
   
• VLN Deportation Preparedness Manual
   
• Step-by-Step Family Preparedness Plan - Immigrant Legal Resource Center
   
• Making Sure Your Family is Ready if You Get Deported
   
• We Have Rights videos
   
• Deportation Preparation Manual for Immigrant Families

Read our fact sheet Your Rights to Record and Observe Law Enforcement.

If you think federal law enforcement violated your constitutional rights, you can report the incident to the Minnesota Attorney General using the Federal Action Reporting Form. The ACLU of Minnesota also has a form you can use if you think your rights were violated: Report unlawful conduct by Federal Agents to ACLU-MN.

If you or someone you know was detained for protesting or being a legal observer: Call the National Lawyers Guild at 612-444-2654.