How to locate someone in the immigrant
detention system:
It can be hard to figure out where someone is being held once they have been picked up by
immigration enforcement. If a friend or family member calls you from detention, the first
information to get from them is their A# and full name, birth date, and country of origin, if
you don’t already know. The A#, or Alien ID number, is an 8 or 9 digit number that ICE uses to
track all people in their system. Using either someone’s full name and/or A# along with their
country of origin, you can look up where a person is being held using the ICE online detainee
locator.
Here is the link: https://locator.ice.gov/odls/homePage.do
If you are unable to find them, try several different combinations of their name as ICE could
have mis-ordered their first or middle name. Family names are usually hyphenated if people
have family names, i.e. Juan David Hernandez Lopez would likely be listed as: Last name:
Hernandez-Lopez, First name Juan or Juan David or David.
You can also call the court hotline to find out if they have any future court dates and when they
are. This number is 800-898-7180. To find information this way, you only need their A#.
Visiting and writing letters to someone inside:
People held in immigration detention may send and receive letters and may receive visitors. The
rules for visitation vary by detention center. The only things you can send are letters, cards, or
postcards. You cannot mail in magazines, books, food, cash, or even stamps. Cards that have
things stuck to them (stickers, pop-up cards) may be returned. People who are detained can buy
paper and stamps inside the detention centers.
Address the letter like this:
Name
A#
C/O DHS
Name of Detention Center
Address
Addresses for the detention centers in Arizona:
Eloy (All people the government identify as women are detained in Arizona are held in Eloy,
both men and women are held here)
Eloy Detention Center/ CCA
1705 E. Hanna Rd
Eloy, AZ 85231
Visitation in Eloy happens only on weekends and holiday. The person detained must submit a
visitor request form with the names, Social Security numbers, and relationship of all the people
who would like to visit. This may take 3 weeks to process. These forms are often lost in the
processing center, so the person detained may have to submit a form more than once before a
visitor is approved.
Florence
Central Arizona Detention Center
CADC/ CCA
PO Box 6300
Florence, AZ 85132
Visitation hours vary by the section of the detention center (pod) where the person is held. Call
CADC at 520-868-3668 for specific information.
Florence Correctional Center
FCC/ CCA
PO Box 6900
Florence, AZ 85132
Visitation hours vary by the section of the detention center (pod) where the person is held. Call
FCC at 520-868-9095 for specific information.
Service and Processing Center (SPC) Federal/ ICE
3250 N. Pinal Parkway
Florence, AZ 85132
Phone: 520-868-8387
Visitation at SPC is from 12:30 pm to 6:30 pm Monday through Friday and 8:30 am to 10:30 am and
12:30 pm to 6:30 pm on weekends.
Visits are on the half hour and can last up to two hours. You must arrive 45 minutes before the visit
and check in with the front gate. For example, for a 12:30 visit you must arrive by 11:45 to check in
at the front gate. Up to three people can visit at a time and visitations are in person.
Pinal County Jail (PCJ)
PO Box 2610
Florence, AZ 85132 (mailing address)
Phone: 520-866-5021
Physical Address (for visitation)
Pinal County Jail
971 Jason Lopez Circle
Florence, AZ 85132
Visitations at PCJ are over a video chat so you are not physically in the same room as the
person you’re visiting. Visits are exactly 30 minutes with a countdown timer the whole
time. Visitation takes place throughout the day from 7:30am-8:00pm. Call beforehand as
hours may change.
Bond information and how to bond someone
out of detention:
Many (but not all) people who are detained may fight their case outside of detention rather
than inside. To do so people generally pay a bond, a quantity of money set by ICE or an
immigration judge. This is money that would theoretically return to the person who paid it
as long as the person released goes to court and follows up on ICE appointments and
complies with their final order, including that they comply with a deportation if that is the
determination they receive by an immigration judge.
Someone being held in immigrant detention can ask for a bond hearing at any time. This
process can be very complicated. There are several things that friends and family outside
can do to support people in getting bond.
Qualifying for Bond:
Although many people in immigrant detention qualify for a bond to be released from detention,
others do not. For example, if a person has a previous deportation order (through a judge),
certain criminal convictions (generally convictions carrying a sentence of 6 months or more,
though this can vary), or were arrested at the Port of Entry, it is unlikely that they will qualify for
bond. For information regarding specific individuals eligibility for bond, please consult with an
immigration attorney.
However, although not everybody will ultimately get out on bond, EVERYBODY in detention
has a right to request a bond hearing. Although the judge may tell somebody that they do not
qualify for bond at that hearing, simply asking for a bond hearing will not have any adverse
effect in somebody’s case.
Writing a Letter of Support for someone’s bond
In order to be released on bond, the judge will want to know where someone will be staying and
the name of a Permanent Resident or U.S. Citizen who resides there. This section is on how to
write a primary letter of support for someone who is trying to get released on bond from
immigrant detention. The main commitment that a person has who writes the letter is to insure
that if the person moves that they change their address with ICE. You are not required to host a
person until they finish their court.
Requirements for a letter of support:
 letter must be written in English
 it must begin with “Dear Immigration Judge”
 the letter must identify the detainee by full name and A#
 the letter must include your name and address and explain how you know the person in
detention that you are writing letter of support for, and explain that this person will be
able to stay with you when they are released from detention
 the letter must include a copy of the author’s proof of identity and immigration status and
address verification in the form of:
o
U.S. birth certificate, passport, naturalization certificate, green card/ residency
card, work permit and/or Visa with a valid I-94
o AND: a copy of a document to verify the address where the person will be
released to (phone bill, electric bill, etc.)
It is best to send 3 copies of the letter of support and proof of identity via express mail to the
detention facility with the person’s A# included. Mail this to the person who is detained, not to
the court. He or she must submit it to the court himself or herself.
After the letter of support has been received, the person in detention can request a bond
hearing.
The judge will usually hand out Bond Hearing Request forms in court, and it is the person who is
detained (if they have no attorney) or the attorney’s responsibility to submit this form, along with
any supporting documentation (such as support letters). To schedule a hearing, the respondent
simply fills out the form and submits it to the Immigration court. Bond hearings are scheduled
approximately one week after the Immigration court receives the request form. Because of this
quick scheduling, it is very important that the detainee does not submit the Bond Hearing
Request form until they have all of their supporting documents for bond. The immigration
judge’s prefer to receive supporting documents along with the hearing request form. Bond
hearing request forms can be submitted at any time during the immigration court process, but
earlier is better.
Other Letters of Support
In addition to a primary letter of support (the letter of support from the person with the
address where the person who is detained will live), it can help to have letters of support
about that person’s good moral character and how much they contribute to the
community. Below is a sample secondary letter of support.
Dear Immigration Judge:
I certify under penalty of perjury that the following is true and correct to the best of my
knowledge.
I, (write your full name), ___________________, verify that I know _____________
since__________.
Why I am writing this letter?
Explain why you are writing this letter.
How do you know this person? How is this person a part of your community or church?
Explain in detail how you know this person and how he/she is a part of your community or
church?
Good Moral Character
How is he/she a good person? Have they helped you in anyway?
The danger if this person were to return to their country of origin
What do you know about the situation in their country of origin? Do you feel that he or she will
be in danger if they were to return to their country of origin?
How would you help this person find a job or obtain resources if they are allowed to stay in this
country? (NOTE: IF THE PERSON DOES NOT HAVE WORK PERMISSION THIS
SHOULD NOT BE A PLAN TO FIND THEM WORK UNDER THE TABLE, BUT RATHER
HOW YOU WILL SUPPORT THEM UNTIL THEY HAVE WORK PERMISSION)
Please explain.
_____________________________ ________
Signature of person writing this letter Date
How to pay someone’s bond:
You can pay someone’s bond in Florence, Tucson, Phoenix, or any ICE Office in the
US. This may change. In the month of May 2013, for example, Florence is not accepting
bonds paid in Tucson so they must be paid in Florence. Call the office beforehand to find
out or start the process as early in the day as possible (8am) to ensure you can finish the
process by the end of the day.
In order to pay someone’s bond, you must be 18 or older and be able to prove that you are
in the U.S. legally, and have no pending legal charges.
In order to pay bond, you must have:
 2 photo IDs and proof of immigration status (for example, a passport or green card)
 Proof of a social security number
 A valid address and PROOF of that address (such as a utility bill). A letter addressed to
the house is not sufficient, but you can use a rent agreement if you do not pay utilities.
 The EXACT quantity of the bond in the form of a Bank Cashier’s check made payable to:
Department of Homeland Security
You also must know the following information about the person you are paying bond for: their
A#, date of birth, the address that they said they would be released to.
To Pay a Bond In Phoenix: Take all of the listed requirements with the cashier’s check to
the ICE office in Central Phoenix. Be prepared to wait for several hours! If the bond is
successfully paid the person will be released that day. If you cannot be there to meet the
person in Florence he or she will be transported to the Greyhound station in Phoenix.
People generally arrive between 8pm and 10pm at night.
ICE field office: 2035 N. Central Ave., Phoenix AZ 85004
To Pay a Bond in Tucson: Take all of the listed requirements (photo IDs, proof of address) with
the cashier’s check to the ICE office in Tucson at Valencia and Country Club (6431 S. Country
Club Road; Tucson, AZ 85706). It is best to pay bonds in the morning if possible. It can take
several hours and if it is not finished by 3pm you may have to start over the next day. If you
cannot be there to meet the person in Florence he or she will be transported to the Greyhound
station in Phoenix. People generally arrive between 8pm and 10pm at night. Note, even if the
bond is paid in Tucson, the person will be taken to the Greyhound in Phoenix. From there, they
can purchase a Greyhound ticket to Tucson.
To Pay a Bond in Florence: Take all of the listed requirements (photo IDs, proof of address)
with the cashier’s check to the Florence Service Processing Center. Tell the person at the front
gate that you are there to pay a bond. All bonds must be paid by 3pm, so the earlier you can get
there the better. The person can be released from Florence that day.
All other cities: Contact your local field office to find out where you can pay
bonds: http://www.ice.gov/contact/ero/
Recovering money and property from a
Florence facility
Getting Property and money back from a Florence detention center after someone has been
released.
Once someone has been released from one of the four ICE facilities in Florence (SPC, PCJ, FCC
and CADC), SPC will hold all property for 30 days from release date. If someone has property to
recover, SPC will send a letter to the address to which they have been released. This letter has a
tracking number on it. The person who was released can then call SPC and request their property
using that tracking number. If the address that someone was released to has changed, the person
who was released can call to have that letter forwarded to the new address. Without that letter,
the person getting released cannot retrieve property.
How to get clothes to a detainee who is being
released or deported from Florence
The detainee has to submit a detainee request form to request clothes in whichever facility they
are in. The request form will go through SPC for approval, then the detainee will be notified that
it has been approved. Then we can send clothes via mail or drop them off at the SPC facility
(address listed above). Only clothing can be requested and sent.
If someone is being held at PCJ, FCC or CADC, they will go through the same process except
they will be brought to SPC to receive their clothing package and then be brought back to the
facility where they are housed. All clothing must be sent or brought to SPC regardless of where
they are being held.
How to get someone their clothing when they are getting released or
deported from Eloy
In order for someone to receive clothing sent from outside the facility, the person detained must
submit a detainee request form to have property sent to them. They must send you a copy of this
form. You may only mail (you cannot deliver to Eloy yourself) the property in. Mail to the same
address where you normally mail their letters (name, A#, Eloy Detention Center, 1705 E Hanna
Road; Eloy, AZ 85131). You can ONLY send in the exact items they listed on their request form.
You may not send in any additional items or the entire package will be confiscated.
How to put money in someone’s account
Putting money on someone’s books is facility- specific. You need to know someone’s A# and
inmate ID# or commissary in order to place money on someone’s account. Money in
someone’s account can be used for commissary, telephone accounts and/or self-bail. Eloy
will give you the Inmate ID# over the phone if you have someone’s A#.
SPC- only accepts cash or money order: bring it in or mail it to: 3250 N. Pinal Parkway,
Florence AZ 85132
PCJ- there are three ways to put money on someone’s account at PCJ:
· Pay-by-phone: 1-866-232-1899
· Online at: www.touchpaydirect.com
· At the kiosk located in the PCJ lobby
Travel Arrangements:
All people released from immigration detention from Arizona’s five immigration detention
facilities will be transported free of charge to the Greyhound Station in Phoenix. You may
purchase a bus ticket for your loved one to leave from that station at http://www.greyhound.com/
or over the phone at 1-800-231-2222. Most people released from immigration detention cannot
travel by plane. While airlines will sell tickets, people may not fly using the identification they
are provided when released from immigration detention. Unless your friend or loved one has a
passport or ID in addition to their ICE paperwork, do not buy a plane ticket. They can travel by
bus or train.
More information:
The Florence Project website (www.firrp.org) has a variety of materials for people
appearing in immigration proceedings without legal representation.
Deportation 101: A comprehensive guide to immigrant detention, getting out of detention,
and organizing to fight back: http://www.familiesforfreedom.org/deportation-101-manual