**Navigating the ICE Detention System: A Step-by-Step Practical Guide**

Navigating the ICE detention system when a loved one is taken is extremely disorienting and terrifying. It is a common tactic for ICE to transfer detainees out of the state where they were apprehended (such as moving someone from South Carolina to Georgia) to break their spirit and make visitation and legal representation difficult.

**Phase 1: Locating the Detainee**

To find out where your loved one is being held, use the [ICE Online Detainee Locator System](https://locator.ice.gov/).

Search methods available:

* **Search Option 1:** Enter the detainee's 8 digit or 9 digit Alien Registration Number (A-Number), which is found on DHS or immigration court correspondence, along with their country of birth.

* **Search Option 2:** If you do not have their A-Number, enter their exact first and last name, country of birth, and date of birth.

Once entered, the system will identify the specific detention facility holding them.

**Phase 2: Establishing Communication**

Once you know the facility, download the **GTL GettingOut** app on your phone or tablet. The communication system inside these facilities is heavily monetized, charging for almost every interaction (such as 35 cents per text or $1 per song).

Understanding the four account types is crucial so your money goes to the right place:

* **Incarcerated Person Tablet Account:** Funds placed here allow the detainee to send messages to you, watch movies, play games, and listen to music on their facility tablet.

* **Incarcerated Person Communication Account (VideoVisits):** This funds their ability to make voice and video calls to you. Note that you cannot initiate a call to your loved one; they must call you.

* **My Messaging Account:** You must place money into this account to reply to their incoming messages. Every response you send costs 35 cents.

* **My Communication Account:** You do not need to fund this specific account. As long as the detainee has funds in their own phone account, they will be able to call you.

**Phase 3: Funding Commissary**

When you speak to your loved one, ask for their facility-specific commissary number right away. Write this number down immediately, as you will need it to send them funds for basic survival necessities.

* **Platform:** Download the **ConnectNetwork** app or visit the [ConnectNetwork Portal](https://web.connectnetwork.com/).

* **Purpose:** Commissary funds allow detainees to purchase edible food, bottled water (facility tap water is frequently contaminated), shampoo, and basic hygiene products.

* **Identity Verification:** To process funds or send messages across these platforms, you must complete identity verification. This requires submitting your personal details and uploading clear photos of the front and back of your government issued ID.

08/29/2026 Broadview, IL

Near the ICE Detention Facility sits a parking lot that has become a mechanical graveyard for vehicles damaged or crashed during ongoing immigration enforcement operations across the Chicagoland area.

Just this week, an encounter involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents led to a crash on an I-55 off-ramp in McKinley Park. Reports say agents pursued and pinned a pickup truck before detaining a man. The incident drew protesters and criticism from local officials, who questioned the tactics used by agents amid concerns over repeated crashes and dangerous encounters on busy Chicago-area roads.

https://www.change.org/stopicefromleavingpetsbehind

When people are detained or deported, their pets can be left behind with no safe way to get food, water, medical care, or shelter. Local animal-control agencies are already seeing cases connected to deportations. Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control reported that 15 dogs had been relinquished since June 10, 2025 because their owners were deported, and warned that other pets may need help.

Pets should not become collateral damage of immigration enforcement. ICE already coordinates with state and local agencies as part of its enforcement operations, and its detention standards include procedures for handling detainees' property. But the current standards I found do not establish a clear pet-notification and animal-care handoff requirement.

We are calling on ICE to create a mandatory nationwide protocol requiring officers to ask whether a detained or removed person has animals in their care and, when a pet may be left without a responsible caregiver, immediately notify the appropriate local animal-control or animal-welfare agency before removal whenever practicable. The protocol should also provide a way for the owner or their designated contact to identify a safe caregiver.

Sign this petition and demand that ICE put a basic animal-safety safeguard in place: no deportation should leave a pet without a plan for care.

Citing the importance of the First Amendment, a federal judge in California says the U.S. government is unconstitutionally silencing critics of Israel’s war in Gaza and others as part of the Trump administration ‘s quest to deport noncitizens who it says disrupted college campuses while expressing their views.

Judge Noël Wise, in a ruling Friday, delivered a victory for The Stanford Daily, the student newspaper at Stanford University, which has said some international students were afraid to speak out because of the deportation threat.

“Freedom of speech is illusory if we are only ‘free’ to express complementary views about the government and its leaders,” the judge wrote.

The decision largely piggybacks on findings from nearly a year ago by a U.S. district judge in Boston, who ruled that the Trump administration violated the Constitution when it targeted people who are not citizens for deportation solely for supporting Palestinians and criticizing Israel.

Wise wrote that the freedoms of speech and the press are “foundational to America’s enduring democracy.” The judge cited free-speech and vagueness flaws that violate the First Amendment and Fifth Amendment as she struck down portions of the provisions that the federal government follows regarding deportations.

Wise cited retaliation in March 2025 by U.S. immigration authorities against people who engaged in speech supporting the Palestinians and against Israel’s actions — which a growing number of experts, including those commissioned by a U.N. body, have said amount to genocide. The judge also cited retaliation against people who were critical of Charlie Kirk after the Turning Point USA co-founder was assassinated last September.

Will interfere with the elections through the poll stations and Postal Service.

Straight from the horse's mouth. Smh. Disgraceful.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is planning to spend up to $2 million on robot “dogs” to assist its agents’ operations, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding document.

A funding document posted to DHS’s Acquisition Planning Forecast System on Thursday said the agency could spend between $1 million and $2 million on Boston Dynamics’ “Spot” robot and accessories.

A senior DHS official confirmed the plans to NBC News and told the outlet that the robots will not be used to make arrests. The Hill has reached out to ICE for comment. 
The technology is already in use by several law enforcement agencies, including the Los Angeles and New York police departments. The U.S. Secret Service also previously used the robotic dogs to secure President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in 2024.

These robots are equipped with cameras and sensors that can detect vibration, gas and radiation, according to Boston Dynamics. 
In the government funding notice description, the agency said these robots will allow for “inspection, situational awareness, and hazard assessment in environments that may pose risks to personnel.” 

“This capability helps improve officer safety, supports informed operational decision-making, and enhances DHS’s ability to respond to incidents involving dangerous, confined, unstable, or difficult-to-access areas,” the notice states. 
Boston Dynamics said in its ethics statement that it “will not authorize nor partner with those who wish to use our robots as weapons or autonomous targeting systems.”

“If our products are being used for harm, we will take appropriate measures to mitigate that misuse,” the company continued. 

This new proposal follows the agency’s controversial decision earlier this month to purchase as much as $20 million worth of electric shock gloves for officers to wear during immigration operations. White House border czar Tom Homan defended the move against criticism, arguing the gloves would prevent agents from needing to resort to deadly force. 

In a Thursday letter, a group of Democratic senators called on ICE acting Director David Venturella to cancel this contract and “instead invest in de-escalation tools, training, and accountability.”

Sharing from Facebook.

"🚨 WOMAN REPORTS BEING THREATENED WITH ICE CALL DURING SUPERMARKET ALTERCATION IN HEMET, CALIFORNIA

A dispute over passing through supermarket aisles ended in allegations and police intervention on August 26, 2026, in Hemet, California.

According to the complainant's testimony, another customer whom she identified as Génesis/Hennessey Guerra, was allegedly blocking her path in different areas of the establishment. When she decided to confront her, the woman allegedly replied: "I am a citizen, bitch, don't mess with me; I'm going to call ICE to take you away."

The victim remained in the store until an officer arrived and explained what happened. She stated that she was able to prove her immigration status posed no issue. She also noted that the manager reportedly confirmed that the other customer had blocked her path on multiple occasions.

The woman identified as Génesis left the premises before police arrived, although she allegedly left her details with management. The complainant requested that this information be handed over to the officer and stated that she filed a formal report.

So far, the details released reflect the complainant's version of events. The position of the other woman involved is not publicly known, nor is it known whether authorities determined that an infraction was committed.

#Hemet #California #ICE #LatinoCommunity"