ICE Wiped Thousands of People From Its Database. Families Are Paying the Price.
On September 17, immigration attorney Rachel Marandett went looking for a man held by ICE in the agency’s detainee locator. Searching his name returned zero results—and Marandett, an attorney with the American Friends Service Committee, began to worry he’d been deported without anyone noticing. “He was missing, and I panicked,” Marandett said. “I sent a […]
On September 17, immigration attorney Rachel Marandett searched for a detained man in ICE's detainee locator and found the results were missing. He was held but his name had vanished from the system. This is one of thousands of detained immigrants whose records have been hidden or deleted from ICE's tracking system. Families and lawyers struggle to locate them.
ICE denies the claim, saying they don't "disappear" people. However, communication with lawyers and families is hindered without knowing their whereabouts. This can lead to life-changing consequences, especially for those with orders of removal issued in absentia or due to missed court dates. ICE is in a rush to deport as many people as possible.
One notable case is Wilber Garcés Pérez, a Venezuelan man shot by a federal agent in Texas. His lawyers and family couldn't track him down. Another issue arises for those with final orders of removal but not necessarily facing immediate deportation, such as those with open circuit court appeals or granted withholding of removal under the United Nations Convention Against Torture.
The inconsistency in who disappears on the Detainee Locator complicates matters further for attorneys and families.
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