My family member was just recently arrested, what should I do?

If your family member was recently arrested, you need to do your best to determine who is detaining him or her and what criminal charges he or she is facing, if any.  In many instances, our clients are detained by a local police agency or sheriff and have not yet been transferred into the custody of USICE.  USICE usually places a “detainer” on a non-citizen, giving USICE 48 hours to arrest the non-citizen and bring him or her to face deportation charges.  You should call us and obtain our advice on what we can do to stop the deportation.

Keep several things in mind:

(1) If there are no serious criminal convictions involved, USICE in many instances will make a bond determination to release your relative.  Sometimes USICE will not require any bond at all.  This process usually takes anywhere from 3 – 7 days after the arrest.  USICE does not make decisions as quickly as the criminal courts do.

(2) USICE cannot immediately deport your relative back to his or her home country unless he or she has a prior order of deportation.  If that is the case, then USICE will seek to deport and this can happen within a matter of days.  If he or she has a prior order of deportation, then it is important that you act fast to have the case evaluated and have us file a motion to reopen the case – if any relief is available – so that his or her removal may be “stayed” until a court has had time to review the motion to reopen.  But please note that not all motions to reopen entitle the non-citizen to a stay, therefore, it is important to move as quickly as possible.

(3) If USICE elects not to release your family member, it is important to have an attorney get involved early since USICE is within its power to move your family member to any detention facility anywhere within the United States.  When an attorney has an appearance on file, however, USICE will usually accommodate the attorney by finding space at a local detention facility.  In this instance, we can also evaluate the case to determine whether USICE was in error for not issuing a bond and file a bond motion with the Immigration Judge to seek release.

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