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To contact someone in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, first use ICE’s Online Detainee Locator System (ODLS). Search with the person’s nine-digit A-number whenever possible. If ODLS returns no result, call ICE’s Detention Reporting and Information Line (DRIL) at 1-888-351-4024 during its live-operator hours, then contact the field office or facility identified for the case. Once you know the facility, use that center’s own instructions for social visits, legal visits, telephone messages, video access and identification requirements; there is no single nationwide visitation schedule.
Start by finding the detention facility
The facility cannot arrange a visit or relay a message until staff can identify the detainee and confirm where the person is held. ICE’s Online Detainee Locator System is the first check.
Search with an A-number
An A-number is the most reliable locator search. Enter exactly nine digits. Add leading zeros if the number you have contains fewer than nine digits, and select the person’s country of birth. A misplaced digit or an unselected country can prevent a match.
Search by name and biographical information
If you do not have an A-number, ODLS requires an exact first name, exact last name, country of birth and date-of-birth fields. Try the person’s legal name as it appears on immigration or court records. Nicknames, alternate spellings and incomplete dates may fail to produce a result.
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Important age limitation
ODLS cannot search records for people under 18. If the person is a minor, contact the responsible ICE field office or another authorized family or legal representative rather than treating an empty ODLS result as proof that the person is not detained.
What a missing ODLS result means
A blank result does not establish that ICE has never detained the person. ICE’s system may not immediately reflect a new detention and may not display every person in ICE custody. ICE attorney guidance published in 2025 says ODLS covers people currently detained or released from ICE custody within the previous 60 days.
When the search fails, write down the exact information you entered and move to the phone options below. Contact the appropriate ICE field office if you know the arresting area, the immigration court involved or the location where the person was taken into custody. If you do not know which office to call, use DRIL for basic case guidance and detention problems.
Which ICE number should you call?
| Purpose | Number or contact | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| National detention assistance | 1-888-351-4024 | ICE’s Detention Reporting and Information Line (DRIL): basic case information, serious or unresolved detention problems, abuse reports, family-separation concerns and related questions. |
| DRIL live-operator hours | Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time | Spanish-language assistance is available during the service’s operating hours. |
| Identified detention facility | The telephone number listed in ICE’s detention-facility directory | Confirm visiting hours, registration, identification, message procedures, legal-access rules and any local phone or video system. |
| ICE field office | The field-office contact associated with the case or facility | Useful when ODLS has no result, when a facility cannot resolve a serious issue, or when arranging a legal-access matter that the facility directs to the field office. |
DRIL is not a substitute for the facility’s current visitor instructions. It can help identify the right office and receive reports, but the center holding the person controls its local visiting and telephone procedures.
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After you identify the center
Use ICE’s detention-facility directory to obtain the center’s address, associated field-office information and telephone details. Call before making travel plans. ICE says visitation hours can change, and local rules determine whether a visit is by appointment, contact or non-contact, in person or through a video system.
Ask the facility to confirm all of the following in one call:
- Whether the person is still housed there and whether transfers are expected.
- Which days and hours apply to social visitors and which apply to attorneys or other legal representatives.
- Whether an advance appointment or visitor registration is required.
- Which identification documents each adult visitor must bring.
- Rules for children, minors, interpreters and visitors with disabilities.
- Whether the visit is contact or non-contact and whether a search is required.
- Items that may be carried into the visiting area and whether anything may be handed to the detainee.
- Telephone, tablet, video-visitation or messaging vendors used at that specific center, if any.
Arrange a social visit
A social visit is a personal visit by family, friends or another non-legal visitor. The 2025 ICE National Detention Standards require each facility to establish written visiting procedures with a schedule and hours of visitation. The standards also require a live voice or recording to provide telephone callers with the rules and hours for all categories of visitation. Those standards do not create one national timetable, so the center’s current instructions control.
- Confirm the detainee and facility. Have the person’s full name and A-number ready when you call. Ask staff to confirm that the person is currently housed there.
- Obtain the current social-visit schedule. Ask whether hours differ by housing unit, day of the week, holiday, gender or visitor category.
- Ask about appointments and registration. Some centers require advance booking or an approved visitor list. Have the staff member explain the exact registration process and deadline.
- Verify identification rules. Ask which government-issued identification is accepted and whether every adult must present it. Confirm additional documentation for children or guardians.
- Clarify the visit format. Determine whether the visit is contact or non-contact, whether a partition is used and whether searches occur before entry.
- Check prohibited-item rules. Ask about phones, bags, food, medication, keys, documents, gifts and money. Do not assume an item permitted at another detention center is allowed here.
- Record the confirmation. Write down the date, time, staff instructions and the facility telephone number. Recheck close to the visit because schedules and security restrictions can change.
ICE’s standards require public access to visitation hours, but a public schedule does not guarantee a walk-in visit. A center may limit capacity, change hours for security reasons or require an appointment. Arriving without the required identification or registration can result in a refused visit.
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Illustrative facility example: FDC Honolulu
Federal Detention Center (FDC) Honolulu illustrates why local instructions matter. Its published information lists in-person legal walk-in visits from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday, with after-hours or weekend legal visits available by arrangement. It describes social visits as non-contact, requires searches and says visitors may not pass items to detainees. Those details apply to that facility’s instructions; they are not a nationwide ICE schedule.
Arrange a legal visit or legal call
Attorneys and other authorized legal representatives use a different access path from social visitors. Start with the facility’s legal-visitation procedure. If the facility directs legal representatives to the field office, use the field-office contact listed for that center.
- Identify yourself as a legal representative. Ask for the legal-visitation or legal-call instructions rather than the social-visit schedule.
- Ask how authorization is verified. The facility will explain what attorney credentials, client information or representation documents it requires.
- Reserve the appropriate format. Confirm whether legal access is in-person, non-contact, telephone or virtual, and whether an appointment is needed.
- Plan document exchange. ICE requires a process for exchanging documents even when contact visitation is unavailable. Ask how documents must be delivered, screened and returned.
- Ask about virtual attorney visitation. Some facilities offer Virtual Attorney Visitation. Confirm availability, scheduling, equipment and any registration steps directly with the center.
- Keep a backup contact route. Record the facility and field-office numbers in case a scheduled legal visit is changed or a technology session fails.
Legal-access rules are not interchangeable with social-visit rules. A center may permit an attorney to visit outside ordinary social hours while restricting family visits to published blocks, or may offer a legal video platform that is not available to personal visitors.
Can you call an ICE detainee directly?
Generally, no. Detainees cannot receive incoming calls. You normally cannot dial the person and have the facility connect the call. Instead, ask the facility how the detainee places outgoing calls or how an urgent message can be delivered.
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Phone and tablet systems, calling vendors, account funding and video options vary by facility. The detention-facility directory and the center’s recorded telephone instructions are the authoritative sources for those local arrangements. Do not buy a calling card or equipment before the center confirms which system it uses.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to leave an urgent message
For an urgent family or personal matter, call the facility’s designated telephone number and ask for the procedure for delivering an emergency message. Be ready to provide identifying details so staff can match the message to the correct person.
Information to have ready
- The detainee’s full name.
- The detainee’s alien-registration number (A-number).
- Your full name.
- Your callback telephone number, including the area code.
- A short explanation of the urgent matter and any deadline, if staff asks for one.
FDC Honolulu’s official instructions say detainees cannot receive incoming calls and direct callers leaving a message to provide the detainee’s full name, alien-registration number, caller’s name and callback number. This is an illustrative facility procedure, not a promise that every center uses identical wording or accepts every type of message.
A practical message script
Say: “I need to leave an urgent message for [full name], A-number [nine digits]. My name is [your name], and my callback number is [number]. Please tell me what additional information you need and how I can confirm that the message was delivered.” Use the person’s full legal name and exact A-number rather than a nickname.
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Choosing the right access route
| Situation | Best first step | Key constraint |
|---|---|---|
| You have a nine-digit A-number and country of birth | Run an ODLS A-number search | The number must contain exactly nine digits, with leading zeros added when needed. |
| You have only biographical information | Use ODLS name search | Exact first and last names, country of birth and date-of-birth fields are required. |
| ODLS shows no record | Call DRIL and the appropriate field office | The system may not immediately show a new detention and covers current detainees or people released within the prior 60 days under 2025 guidance. |
| Family or friend wants to visit | Call the identified facility for social-visit instructions | Hours, appointments, identification, searches and contact format are local rules. |
| Attorney needs access | Use the facility’s legal-visitation process or its field office | Legal scheduling and document exchange follow procedures separate from social visits. |
| Urgent personal message | Call the facility’s message line or designated number | Detainees generally cannot receive incoming calls; staff must relay the message. |
Troubleshooting common problems
The locator returns no result
Check the A-number digit by digit, add leading zeros, verify the selected country of birth and retry. For a name search, use the exact first and last names and complete date-of-birth information. If the person is under 18, ODLS is not the appropriate search tool. Then call DRIL during its published hours and contact the relevant field office.
The facility does not answer
Call again during the center’s posted business or visitation-information hours and listen to the entire recording. The 2025 standards require a live voice or recording to provide visitation rules and hours. If you still cannot obtain essential information, contact DRIL about the unresolved detention-information problem.
You traveled but were refused entry
Ask which specific requirement was missing—appointment, identification, visitor registration, age documentation or a prohibited item. Record the staff explanation, request the next available date and confirm the rule by telephone before returning.
A social visit conflicts with a legal need
Do not try to use a social-visit appointment for attorney business. Request legal-visitation instructions and ask whether the center offers non-contact document exchange or Virtual Attorney Visitation.
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You have an urgent deadline
Call the facility first with the detainee’s full name, A-number and your callback number. If the center cannot resolve the issue or you cannot identify the facility, call DRIL at 1-888-351-4024 during its Monday-through-Friday, 8 a.m.-to-8 p.m. Eastern live-operator window, excluding holidays.
Call-and-visit preparation checklist
- Full legal name, including any middle name or suffix.
- Exactly nine-digit A-number, with leading zeros if required.
- Country of birth and date of birth.
- Your government-issued identification and any documents the facility requested.
- The facility address, telephone number and field-office contact.
- The confirmed date, start time, appointment code or registration details.
- Notes on contact versus non-contact format, searches and permitted items.
- A callback number that facility staff can use for an urgent message.
- A written record of the staff member’s instructions and the time you called.
The dependable sequence is therefore: locate the person with ODLS, use DRIL or a field office when the locator is inconclusive, call the named facility for its current rules, and treat social, legal and urgent-message procedures as separate processes. Facility-specific confirmation on the day you plan to call or travel is the step that prevents most avoidable failures.
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