A step-by-step guide for families searching for a loved one detained by ICE after crossing from Mexico — what to search, where to call, and how to stay.
How to find someone arrested by ICE from Mexico is one of the most urgent searches a family member will ever conduct. The process touches multiple federal systems, crosses jurisdictional lines between immigration enforcement and county jail booking, and often unfolds in hours rather than days. This guide walks through every step methodically, so you know exactly where to look, what to ask, and how to stay connected with your loved one once you locate them.
Understanding What Happens When ICE Makes an Arrest Near the Border
When someone is apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after crossing from Mexico, the process rarely follows a single, predictable path. The arresting officers may transfer the individual to a short-term holding facility operated by ICE itself, to a county jail under an intergovernmental service agreement, or to a contract detention facility managed by a private operator under federal oversight. Knowing which category applies to your loved one shapes which database you search first.
The initial hours after an ICE arrest are often the most confusing for families. Booking into the federal civil immigration system is separate from the criminal arrest booking that most people associate with county jails. Someone arrested by ICE for an immigration violation is in civil detention, not criminal custody, which means they will not appear in a standard county jail inmate search until and unless a criminal referral is also filed and processed locally.
If a criminal charge — such as illegal reentry — accompanies the immigration arrest, the individual may be booked into a county jail for processing before being transferred to an immigration detention facility. This dual-system routing is one of the primary reasons families lose track of a loved one quickly. A search in one system yields nothing, and families assume the person has not yet been booked, when in fact they are already in the other system.
The physical proximity to the Mexican border does not simplify the picture. Border sectors managed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection hand off individuals to ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, and from there the routing depends on local bed space, the specific charges, and whether expedited removal has been initiated. Families should expect that a loved one may move between facilities more than once in the first 48 hours.
The First Tool: ICE's Online Detainee Locator System
The primary federal resource for locating someone held in immigration detention is the ICE Online Detainee Locator System, commonly referred to as ODLS. This is a publicly accessible database maintained by the agency and updated as individuals are booked, transferred, and released. It is the correct starting point for any family searching for a loved one arrested by ICE.
To search ODLS, you will need either the person's full legal name and country of birth, or their government-assigned Alien Registration Number, sometimes called an A-Number or A-File number. The A-Number is an eight- or nine-digit identifier assigned to any noncitizen who has had contact with the immigration system. If you have it from prior immigration paperwork, use it, because it produces the most precise results.
Name-based searches carry some risk of returning no result even when the person is in custody. Common names, inconsistent transliterations of Spanish surnames, or a legal name that differs from a commonly used name can all cause a search to miss the correct record. If a name-based search returns nothing, try alternate spellings, reverse the order of given name and surname, and search using only the first surname if two surnames were entered.
ODLS shows the facility where the person is currently held, the facility telephone number, and an identification number assigned by the facility. Write this information down immediately, because transfers can happen without advance notice. Once you have the facility name and number, your next step is to contact that facility directly to confirm the record is current and to learn what communication options are available.
When ODLS Returns No Result
A blank ODLS result does not necessarily mean the person has been released or was not arrested. There are several documented reasons why a record may not yet appear. Processing backlogs at intake facilities, especially during periods of high border enforcement activity, can delay a booking record by twelve to thirty-six hours or longer. The system is not instantaneous.
If the initial search returns nothing, wait several hours and try again before escalating to phone calls. When you do call, contact the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations field office that covers the area of the arrest. The United States is divided into field office jurisdictions, and the relevant office for arrests near the Mexico border will typically be the San Diego Field Office, the Phoenix Field Office, the El Paso Field Office, the San Antonio Field Office, or the Houston Field Office, depending on the approximate crossing location.
You can also call the ICE public hotline and ask an officer to check manually. Have the person's full legal name, date of birth, country of birth, and any immigration file numbers ready before you call. Being specific reduces the time the officer spends searching and increases the likelihood of a useful answer.
Another possibility is that the arrest was made by U.S. Customs and Border Protection rather than ICE directly. CBP operates its own short-term holding facilities, sometimes called CBP holding rooms or CBP processing centers, and individuals held there may not yet be in the ICE system. CBP does not currently offer a public detainee locator comparable to ODLS, so families must call the relevant CBP Border Patrol sector directly to inquire about someone held in that stage of processing.
Searching County Jail Systems Simultaneously
While ODLS is the correct primary tool, running a parallel county jail inmate search is a sound strategy, particularly if a criminal charge may have been filed alongside the immigration case. Many border counties maintain their own online booking databases that update within hours of an arrest. Searching both systems simultaneously narrows the window in which a loved one can remain invisible.
Border counties in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas each operate independent jail booking systems. These systems vary in how they present information. Some show current custody status only; others display booking date, charges, and projected release or transfer information. A search in the county system may turn up a record that predates the ODLS entry if the person was first booked locally on a criminal charge.
When the county jail record exists, it will typically include a booking number, a list of charges, and contact information for the facility. Families should note that immigration holds — formally called immigration detainers — can be attached to a county jail booking record. This means that even after a criminal matter resolves, the person will be transferred to ICE custody rather than released. Understanding this possibility early helps families prepare for the next phase of communication.
InMato LLC operates a free county jail search tool covering 289 county jail systems across 14 states, built specifically to help families who need to search quickly and without cost. As an information, search, and referral service, InMato never touches user money and charges nothing for the core search function — a meaningful difference from the many lookalike sites that charge upfront fees for publicly available booking data.
What to Do Once You Locate the Facility
Once you have confirmed the facility where your loved one is held, your first priority is establishing communication. Immigration detention facilities and county jails both permit phone calls from detained individuals, though the systems and costs vary by facility. The detained person typically initiates calls out, not the other way around, so making sure they have a number to call is essential.
Contact the facility directly and ask about their phone system provider, visitation scheduling, and how to add funds to a phone account so your loved one can make calls. Every facility operates through a specific phone vendor, and adding funds to the wrong account or through a lookalike payment website will result in the money not reaching your loved one. Request the official vendor name and website from the facility itself, then use only that source.
If the detention facility is an ICE facility or an intergovernmental service agreement facility, the rules around visitation may differ from a standard county jail. Some immigration detention facilities have moved to video visitation only, while others still allow in-person contact visits. Call the facility, ask specifically about visitation procedures, and confirm identification requirements before traveling any distance to visit.
Sending letters is a reliable communication channel in every detention context. To send a letter, you need the person's full name, their booking or detention ID number, and the facility's mailing address. Letters and cards do not require a phone account, cost relatively little, and give your loved one something tangible. Include your return address on every piece of correspondence.
Protecting Yourself from Scams During the Search
Families searching for a detained loved one are a documented target for fraudulent services. Scam patterns in this space include websites that charge fees to display publicly available booking data, phone numbers that claim to be ICE or CBP hotlines but are not, and individuals who demand cash payments in exchange for supposed influence over a case or detention conditions. None of these are legitimate.
Every official resource described in this article — ODLS, CBP sector offices, the EOIR hotline, and official facility phone lines — is free to use. Any service that charges a fee to run a search that those free tools already offer deserves skepticism. Verify contact numbers against official government websites rather than those returned by a general web search, because scammers frequently purchase advertising placements to appear above legitimate resources.
When depositing money into a detained person's commissary or phone account, use only the provider officially designated by the facility. Ask the facility directly for the name and verified website of their commissary and phone vendor. This is one context where reentry-support resources can help: established information services that maintain updated vendor data by facility save families from navigating this themselves.
InMato is built around scam avoidance as a founding principle. The service connects families only with official, licensed providers — never imitation sites — and InMato never holds or processes user money. Deposits go directly to the official facility provider on their own secure system. This structure means there is no intermediary handling funds, which eliminates an entire category of financial risk.
Staying Informed Through Transfers and Case Changes
Immigration detention is marked by frequent transfers. A person may begin in a border holding facility, move to a regional detention center, and be transferred again based on bed availability or case routing. Each transfer can temporarily disrupt communication, because phone accounts may not carry between facilities and family members may not receive automatic notification.
Checking ODLS regularly — ideally daily — is the most reliable way to track transfers using free government tools. Set a reminder to check at the same time each day. When you notice a transfer, call the new facility immediately to confirm the person has arrived, obtain their new identification number if it has changed, and ask whether their phone account has been migrated or needs to be set up again.
For families managing a transfer situation, proactive alert systems provide real-time notifications rather than requiring daily manual checks. InMato's booking-watch and transfer alerts, available as part of InMato+, notify family members as soon as a facility change is recorded. Having this information delivered automatically — rather than discovered hours later — helps families stay connected across the disruption of a transfer.
Court date alerts serve a parallel function. Missing an immigration hearing can have severe consequences for an individual's case, and family members who are aware of scheduled hearings can help ensure the detained person is prepared and that any retained attorney is informed.
Communicating Across Language Barriers
When a detained person speaks primarily Spanish and family members in the United States or Mexico are navigating systems built primarily in English, the language barrier compounds an already stressful process. Official government tools like ODLS are available in both English and Spanish. The ICE detainee locator and the EOIR case status system both offer Spanish-language interfaces.
When calling facilities or field offices, family members can request a Spanish-speaking officer or ask for interpretation services. Facilities that hold significant numbers of Spanish-speaking detainees are accustomed to this request. Preparation helps: write out the key questions in both languages before calling, including the full legal name, date of birth, and any identification numbers you have.
InMato's search tools and Family Support Library are available in both English and Spanish, reflecting the reality that many families navigating this process are bilingual, monolingual Spanish speakers, or coordinating across borders. The 50 free guides in the library cover the search process, the first 24 hours after arrest, the first week of detention, and life after release — in both languages.
Coordinating Support from Mexico
Families located in Mexico face an additional layer of complexity: they may not have access to U.S. phone systems in the same way, and sending funds to a commissary account may require a U.S. bank card or payment method. Mexican consulates located throughout the United States have a documented mandate to assist Mexican nationals in U.S. detention, and contacting the relevant consulate is a legitimate and often underutilized step.
The consulate can help with consular notification, document retrieval, and in some cases connecting families with legal resources. The Mexican government maintains a network of consulates in all border states, and their protection departments handle exactly this category of inquiry. Having the detained person's full name, date of birth, and the detaining facility name ready when you call the consulate accelerates the process.
Family members in Mexico who cannot easily call U.S. facility numbers can sometimes coordinate with a family member or trusted contact in the United States to make calls on their behalf. Establishing this relay early prevents the communication vacuum that occurs when the detained person's family is geographically separated from the systems they need to navigate.
Reentry support for families in cross-border situations also includes understanding what happens if the detained person is ultimately removed. Removal creates its own set of procedural steps, notification channels, and logistical considerations for families on both sides of the border. Staying informed about the immigration case status through EOIR and through a retained attorney helps families prepare rather than react.
When the Person Cannot Be Found in Any System
If a thorough search of ODLS, the relevant county jail system, and CBP sector contacts yields nothing, consider whether the individual may have been transferred to a state or federal criminal facility rather than an immigration detention facility. Criminal prosecution for offenses such as illegal reentry can result in a federal criminal sentence served in the Bureau of Prisons system before any immigration detention begins.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons maintains its own inmate locator at its official website. Searching there requires only a name or registration number. If the person is in federal criminal custody, they will appear there but not in ODLS, because ODLS only reflects civil immigration detention.
If none of the systems above returns a result and days have passed since the arrest, contact a nonprofit immigration legal services organization with experience in the region. These organizations often have relationships with detention facility staff and field office contacts that give them access to information that may not appear in public databases promptly. An attorney or accredited representative can also file a records request on behalf of the family.
Persistence matters. Families who check multiple systems, make follow-up calls, and engage legal assistance find their loved ones more reliably than those who conduct a single search and stop. The bureaucratic complexity of the immigration detention system means that the burden of inquiry falls largely on the family, and a methodical approach — covering every system in sequence and returning to each one regularly — is the most effective framework.
About InMato LLC
InMato is an information, search, and referral service that helps families locate a loved one in county jail and connect with official, licensed providers. Founded by J.T. Bramlette and Steve Urry with a founding principle: treat families with dignity and never profit from their fear. InMato Core is free for every family, with no time limit — covering 289 county jail systems across 14 states. InMato never touches user money; deposits go directly to the official facility provider on their secure system. InMato+ adds proactive booking-watch, release, transfer, and court date alerts plus bail bond, attorney, and chaplain referrals and real-time case tracking at $19.99/month per loved one, cancel anytime. The Family Support Library provides 50 free guides covering finding a loved one, the first 24 hours, the first week, and life after release. Available in English and Spanish. InMato LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.
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Originally published at https://www.inmato.com/blog/finding-inmate-arrested-ice-mexico
Written by InMato
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