Tlaib Introduces Bill Requiring DHS to Maintain Timely Locator System for ICE and CBP Detainees

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-12) introduced the Find Our Families Act, which would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to maintain an accurate and detailed online detainee locator system for all individuals detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), including timely information on arrests, detention locations, and transfers.

All across the country, members of our communities have been unable to locate their loved ones held in CBP and ICE detention. For days on end, lawyers have been unable to find their clients and families don’t know if their loved ones are safe, detained, or even still in the country. While ICE currently maintains an online detainee locator, it is increasingly unreliable, untransparent, and unaccountable. For people detained by CBP, the situation is even more dire, with detained individuals often never appearing on the locator at all or with significant delays.

“ICE and CBP are abducting our neighbors in the middle of the night, locking them in cages, and concealing their location from their families and legal counsel,” said Congresswoman Tlaib. “Every day, more and more of our loved ones are being forcibly disappeared into this unaccountable network of mass incarceration, robbing them of their due process rights and much-needed human connection, making the fight for freedom increasingly impossible. We must equip our communities with every tool we can to help free our immigrant neighbors from this cruel and immoral system of detention.”

Congresswoman Tlaib’s bill also creates compliance mechanisms and penalties for noncompliant facilities and contractors, and requires ICE and CBP to inform family members and legal counsel when a detained individual is transferred for urgent medical care and bars these agencies from denying or obstructing visitation access. The bill also creates new public reporting requirements for arrests and operations conducted nationwide by CBP, as it dangerously expands its reach into communities across the country.

“It is critical for Congress to stop funding ICE and Border Patrol abuses that continue with impunity and enact restrictions on these agencies to ensure basic human right protections,” said Jesse Franzblau, Associate Policy Director at the National Immigrant Justice Center. “The Find our Families Act is an important legislative vehicle to stop taxpayer dollars from going towards state-sponsored disappearances and ensure consequences for non-compliance. We are grateful for champions in Congress leading this effort to demand an end to impunity for this administration’s violent and repressive assault on immigrant communities.”

“Michigan families routinely struggle to find loved ones while they are in DHS custody,” said Christine Sauvé, Policy, Engagement, and Communications Manager at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. “Community members frantically check jails and morgues when their family member does not come home. Even attorneys have been unable to locate their clients. This legislation would make a meaningful difference in the lives of immigrant families, by providing the most basic information within a reasonable timeframe.” 

“Border communities have long known the pain of searching for a loved one only for CBP to refuse to disclose their whereabouts or acknowledge they are even detained at all,” said Lillian Serrano, Director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC). “Families deserve answers when a loved one is detained by the government. This commonsense bill would help prevent situations that can amount to enforced disappearance and establish a basic transparency measure that is long overdue.”

“A person’s inherent dignity does not end at a detention facility door,” said Juan Cuéllar Torres, Director of Education & Advocacy at the Kino Border Initiative. “By establishing an open, multi-lingual locator system, the Find Our Families Act protects the fundamental right of families to remain connected and informed.”

“When Leqaa was transferred from ICE detention for emergency medical care, our family experienced fear, confusion, and helplessness because ICE refused to share basic information or access to her whereabouts,” said Hamzah Abushaban, cousin of Leqaa Kordia. “We didn’t even know if Leqaa was alive or dead. No family should have to endure that uncertainty and anguish. The Find Our Families Act would help ensure families receive timely information and are not unnecessarily separated during medical emergencies, and we hope these protections spare others from experiencing what our family endured. Our family thanks Rep. Tlaib for introducing this bill, and we encourage Members of Congress to pass it into law.”

This legislation is cosponsored by Representatives Gabe Amo (RI-01), Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Wesley Bell (MO-01), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), André Carson (IN-07), Greg Casar (TX-35), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Steve Cohen (TN-09), J. Luis Correa (CA-46), Angie Craig (MN-02), Danny Davis (IL-07), Chris Deluzio (PA-17), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Dan Goldman (NY-10), Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07), Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Henry C. (“Hank”) Johnson, Jr. (GA-04), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), John Larson (CT-01), Summer L. Lee (PA-12), Ted W. Lieu (CA-36), Stephen F. Lynch (MA-08), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Grace Meng (NY-06), Kelly Morrison (MN-03), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Raul Ruiz (CA-25), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), and Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24).

This legislation is endorsed by Adhikaar for Human Rights and Social Justice, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Arab American Heritage Council, Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC), Borderlands Resource Initiative, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Church World Service, Communities United for Status & Protection (CUSP), Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR), Haitian Bridge Alliance, Hindus for Human Rights Action, IMEU Policy Project, Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), Immigrant Guide, Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), Kino Border Initiative, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, LGBT Detroit, MADRE, Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, Muslim Advocates, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, National Immigrant Justice Center, National Immigration Law Center, National Network for Arab American Communities, Nicaraguan American Legal Defense and Education Fund (NALDEF), No Detention Centers in Michigan, Oasis Legal Services, Our Revolution, Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA), Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC), Texas Civil Rights Project, The Sikh Coalition, UndocuBlack Network, United Church of Christ, United We Dream Network, Vera Institute of Justice, Voices for Progress, and We are CASA.

The full text of the legislation can be found here. 

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