A Family Member Was Detained by ICE in Florida: How to Find Them, Ask About Bond and What Happens Next

Rules read: October 26, 2026, from INA § 236, 8 U.S.C. § 1226, the bond regulations at 8 C.F.R. § 1236.1 and 8 C.F.R. § 1003.19, the Board of Immigration Appeals decision Matter of Yajure Hurtado, the Eleventh Circuit's opinion in Hernandez Alvarez v. Warden (May 6, 2026), and ICE's own locator, facility and bond pages. Bond law is moving fast this year. When one of these changes, this page is re-read and the date changes.

If ICE has just taken your husband, wife, parent or adult child, you are probably trying to answer three things at once: where are they, can they come home on bond, and what do I do tonight. This guide takes them in the order they come up, using only what ICE, the immigration courts and the federal courts have published. It is written for families in Orlando and the rest of Florida Central, and it is current as of the date above.

Esta guía en español: familiar detenido por ICE en Florida.

What should I do in the first 24 hours?

Find your relative in ICE's online detainee locator, write down their A-number and the facility name, and call an immigration lawyer. Gather proof of their address, family ties and work. Hold off on sending money until you know which facility has them, and if you can get word to them, ask them not to sign anything they do not understand.

That last point comes from a real account. A former detainee interviewed for WPTV's October 25, 2026 report said guards pulled him aside three or four times to sign deportation consent forms. A signature on the wrong form can end a case that had options. Your relative can ask to speak with a lawyer before signing.

The first day is also when families lose track of paperwork. If ICE left anything at the house, or your relative was carrying a notice, keep it. The two documents that matter most early are the Notice to Appear (the charging document that starts a removal case) and the custody notice, which ICE issues on Form I-286, Notice of Custody Determination.

How do I find someone in ICE custody?

Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator System at locator.ice.gov. It is free and needs no account. ICE says a search needs the person's full name plus either their A-number, or their date of birth and country of birth. The A-number (alien registration number) is the more reliable search, because names get entered with one last name, two last names, or a misspelling. If you only have the name, try every version your relative has ever used.

Four things ICE says about what the locator will not show:

• Anyone under 18. ICE states that "juveniles (detained aliens under the age of 18) do not appear in the system."
• Someone just arrested. People who were newly detained may not be entered right away, so an empty result on day one does not mean ICE does not have them.
• People left out for safety, security or other reasons at the agency's discretion.
• Anyone released more than 60 days ago. The system only covers people currently in custody or released within the last 60 days.

If the locator comes up empty after a day, ICE's instruction is to contact the appropriate ICE field office. All eight Florida facilities on ICE's list fall under the Miami Field Office. A lawyer can make that call for you. Some facilities limit case information to attorneys: ICE's Lake County Jail page, for example, answers case-information emails only when a Form G-28 (the lawyer's notice of appearance) is on file.

Where are people from Central Florida usually held?

ICE does not publish where it sends people arrested in Orlando, so nobody can tell you in advance. What ICE does publish is its detention facility list. Filtered to Florida on October 26, 2026, it shows eight facilities, all under the Miami Field Office:

The two closest to Orlando are the Lake County Jail in Tavares and the Flagler County facility in Bunnell. Being arrested here does not mean staying here, though. ICE moves people between facilities and out of state, and a transfer changes which immigration court hears the bond request (more on that below).

One facility you may have heard about is missing from ICE's list. The state-run immigration detention site at the former Baker Correctional Institution in Sanderson, which state officials have named "Deportation Depot," is the subject of WPTV's investigation published October 25, 2026. WPTV reports that the ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center and Americans for Immigrant Justice sent officials a demand letter on October 8 describing medical neglect, heat and other conditions, and that ICE denied the claims and told the station that "Baker Correctional Institution is a state-run facility." It is a different place from the Baker County Detention Center in MacClenny on ICE's list, even though both are in Baker County. If the locator shows a facility name you do not recognize, read it twice before you drive anywhere.

Can they get out on bond, and who decides?

Two people can decide, in order, and for many families in 2026 the harder question is whether a judge is allowed to decide at all.

First, ICE. After an arrest, ICE makes the initial custody decision and records it on the Form I-286. It can keep the person detained, or release them on a bond of at least $1,500 or on conditional parole under INA § 236(a). That $1,500 is the statutory floor. The statute sets no typical amount and no ceiling, and anyone quoting you an "average bond" is not quoting the law. Under 8 C.F.R. § 1236.1(c)(8), the detained person has to show that release would not pose a danger to people or property and that they are likely to show up for future hearings.

Second, an immigration judge. The person can ask an immigration judge to redetermine ICE's decision: to release them, lower the bond, or set one where ICE refused. Under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.19, the first request can be made orally or in writing. It goes to the immigration court that covers the place of detention, and the bond hearing is kept separate from the removal case itself. The Board of Immigration Appeals confirmed the venue rule this July in Matter of Vizcaino Aybar, 29 I&N Dec. 736 (BIA 2026), throwing out a bond granted by a court the respondent had already been transferred away from. The Board's 2026 bond decisions also keep the burden on the detained person: in Matter of Kamalov, 30 I&N Dec. 34 (BIA 2026), it reversed a judge who had found the respondent was not a danger.

When the law says no bond: INA § 236(c)

Some people cannot be released on bond by ICE or a judge. INA § 236(c)(1) requires detention for people inadmissible or deportable on certain criminal and terrorism grounds. In 2025, the Laken Riley Act (Pub. L. 119-1) added a new category, § 236(c)(1)(E): people who entered without inspection, or who are inadmissible for fraud or lacking documents, and who are charged with, arrested for, convicted of, or admit the acts of burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, assault of a law enforcement officer, or a crime causing death or serious bodily injury. Note the word "charged." Under that category, an arrest that never led to a conviction can be enough.

Being placed in this category is not always the end of the bond question. 8 C.F.R. § 1003.19(h)(2)(ii) lets a detained person ask an immigration judge to decide that they do not actually fall within it. Whether that argument works depends on the criminal court records, which is why those records matter so much in the first week.

People who entered without inspection: where the law stands in October 2026

This is the part that changed. For decades, most people who crossed the border without inspection and were later arrested inside the country could ask a judge for bond under § 236(a). On September 5, 2025, the Board of Immigration Appeals decided Matter of Yajure Hurtado, 29 I&N Dec. 216 (BIA 2025), holding that under INA § 235(b)(2)(A), "Immigration Judges lack authority to hear bond requests or to grant bond to aliens who are present in the United States without admission." EOIR's list of precedent decisions shows no later Board decision withdrawing it as of October 26, 2026.

Federal courts have split on whether the Board read the statute correctly. Florida sits in the Eleventh Circuit, and on May 6, 2026, that court decided Hernandez Alvarez v. Warden, Federal Detention Center Miami, No. 25-14065 (11th Cir. 2026). Both men in that case had been arrested after traffic stops in Florida and held without bond. The court rejected the government's reading, holding that the no-bond rule "generally applies to arriving aliens seeking lawful entry to the country, and not to aliens who are simply present here," and affirmed the habeas relief the district court had granted. One judge dissented. The opinion notes that the Fifth and Eighth Circuits reached the opposite result.

On October 1, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court granted review in Rhoney v. Barbosa da Cunha, No. 26-104, a case from the Second Circuit on the same question. No argument date has been set.

What that means for a family in Florida today:

• For someone who entered without inspection and was picked up inside the country, the Eleventh Circuit's reading is that detention falls under § 236, where bond is possible. The petitioners in Hernandez Alvarez got there by filing a habeas corpus petition in federal district court under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 after ICE and the immigration court treated them as ineligible.
• Where your relative is held matters. A bond request goes to the court covering the place of detention, and a transfer to Texas or Louisiana puts them inside the Fifth Circuit, which sided with the government.
• The Supreme Court's decision in No. 26-104 should settle the question. Until it does, the answer can shift, and a plan that worked last month needs checking again.

Nothing here tells you whether your relative will get bond, or how much. A judge weighs danger and flight risk on the facts. If someone tells you a number before they have seen the file, be skeptical.

If bond is set, who can pay it

ICE takes bond payments through its online system, CeBONDS. According to ICE's bond page, the person posting a delivery bond (the "obligor") can be a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident, a law firm or a nonprofit, and must show an identity document such as a U.S. passport or green card. Payment goes by Fedwire or ACH, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the detainee's local time zone, excluding government holidays. ICE accepts some in-person payments case by case, and says people without bank access can use a Treasury-certified immigration bond company or a community organization that helps with bonds. The money stays posted until ICE cancels the bond on Form I-391. If your relative misses a hearing, the bond is breached and the deposit is forfeited, so the obligor has a direct stake in every court date.

How do I put money on their account or send documents?

Each facility sets its own rules, and ICE publishes them on the facility's page. Read that page before you send anything, because a money order or envelope sent the wrong way can come back or get delayed. Two examples, as ICE publishes them:

Lake County Jail, Tavares. ICE's page says money is never handed to the detainee directly. You can deposit at a 24-hour kiosk in the jail's front lobby (cash in $1 bills or larger, or a card; cash carries a $2.00 fee), online at commissarydeposit.com (choose Florida, then the Lake County Sheriff's Office jail listing), or by money order mailed to 551 W. Main St., Tavares, FL 32778, with the envelope marked "Money Order Only." Ordinary letters go to a Securus digital mail center in Tampa and are scanned. The jail does not accept items through the mail. Legal mail goes to the Tavares street address and must be clearly marked as legal mail on the outside. Detainees cannot receive incoming calls; the facility takes urgent messages at (352) 742-4000 if you give the detainee's full name and A-number.

Baker County Detention Center, MacClenny. ICE's page says personal checks and cash cannot be mailed; only certified checks and money orders are accepted, and the processing officer credits them to the detainee's account. Letters must show the detainee's full name and the sender's name and address. Mail is screened and then scanned to the detainee's HomeWAV account. Call the property room before sending a package. Family visits there are virtual, through HomeWAV.

For documents your relative needs for the case, such as a birth certificate, marriage certificate or proof of a pending application, the safer route is through their lawyer. ICE's attorney resources page says materials given to a detainee during a legal visit are "inspected but not read." Keep the originals at home and send copies.

What happens at the Orlando Immigration Court if their case moves there?

While your relative is detained, the bond request goes to the court covering the detention facility, which may not be Orlando. If they are released, or the case is transferred, the removal case can move to the Orlando Immigration Court at 500 N. Orange Ave, Suite 1100, open to the public 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. The court does not accept faxes or other electronic submissions unless staff or the judge ask for them.

Track the case with EOIR's Automated Case Information System, which needs the A-number and nationality. ACIS itself says to contact the local court for bond hearing information, so do not count on it showing a bond date. What happens at the first hearing (the master calendar), what the judge asks, and what to bring are covered step by step in our guide to what an immigration court hearing in Orlando looks like. If you want someone in the courtroom with your relative, our court representation page explains what that involves.

After release, a move without updating the court is a real risk. The Board treats address problems as evidence of flight risk too: in Matter of Akhmedov, 29 I&N Dec. 166 (BIA 2025), conflicting addresses and a past failure to file timely change-of-address notices with the court were enough to deny bond. Keep the court's address record current every time your relative moves.

When should I call a lawyer, and what should I have ready?

Call as soon as you know ICE has your relative, and before any bond hearing. The bond request, a challenge to a mandatory-detention label, and a federal habeas petition all run on short timelines, and each starts with facts that the family usually holds, not the detained person. Our deportation and removal defense page explains how a removal case runs after the bond stage, and deportation defense in Orlando covers the local court. For relatives who read Spanish, the family section of our Spanish-language deportation defense page walks through the same first steps.

Before the call, put these in one folder, or photograph them:

• The A-number, from the locator, any USCIS or immigration court notice, or a work permit.
• The Notice to Appear and the Form I-286 custody notice, if your relative has them or they were left at home.
• Every prior immigration filing: receipt notices, an I-130 a relative filed, an asylum application, TPS or DACA approvals, any past removal order.
• Criminal court records, including certified dispositions for any arrest, even one that was dropped. Under § 236(c)(1)(E) an arrest alone can matter, so the outcome on paper matters.
• Proof of address and ties: a lease or mortgage, utility bills, pay stubs, tax returns, children's school records, and letters from employers or a church.
• A sponsor: someone with lawful status and a stable address who will commit to getting your relative to court. In Matter of Dobrotvorskii, 29 I&N Dec. 211 (BIA 2025), the Board said a valid, reliable and credible sponsor is relevant to flight risk.

Sources

Every rule and figure above was read from these primary sources on October 26, 2026. Nothing is estimated.

• Statute and regulations:INA § 236, 8 U.S.C. § 1226 (bond floor, mandatory detention, the 2025 § 236(c)(1)(E) category); 8 C.F.R. § 1236.1 (ICE's custody decision, the detainee's burden, review by a judge); 8 C.F.R. § 1003.19 (how and where to request bond redetermination).
• Board of Immigration Appeals:Matter of Yajure Hurtado, 29 I&N Dec. 216 (BIA 2025); Matter of Vizcaino Aybar, 29 I&N Dec. 736 (BIA 2026); Matter of Kamalov, 30 I&N Dec. 34 (BIA 2026); Matter of Akhmedov, 29 I&N Dec. 166 (BIA 2025); Matter of Dobrotvorskii, 29 I&N Dec. 211 (BIA 2025), all from EOIR's published precedent list.
• Federal courts:Hernandez Alvarez v. Warden, No. 25-14065 (11th Cir. May 6, 2026); Supreme Court docket No. 26-104, Rhoney v. Barbosa da Cunha (certiorari granted October 1, 2026).
• ICE: the Online Detainee Locator System, the attorney information page, the Florida facility list and individual facility pages, and the bonds page.
• EOIR: the Orlando Immigration Court page and ACIS.
• News: Jamie Ostroff, "Detainees allege abusive, unconstitutional conditions inside 'Deportation Depot' immigration facility," WPTV, October 25, 2026. Allegations in that report are the detainees' and the advocacy groups'; ICE denies them.

This article is general information, not legal advice about your relative's case. Bond eligibility turns on their immigration history, any criminal record, and where they are detained, and the law on bond for people who entered without inspection is before the Supreme Court.

Photo by Mikhail Nilov on Pexels. Shown for illustration.