Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officially launched its Online Detainee Locator System (ODLS). This new online system lets people search for detainees currently being held by ICE. ODLS can be used to track detainees currently in ICE custody or recently released from custody (within the past 60 days). Family members can use the online system to search via a detainee’s Alien Registration Number and country of birth, or biographical information and country of birth.

There has recently been an increase in both the amount of detainees taken into custody by ICE and the rate of transfers of detainees. According to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, in Fiscal Year 1999, just under 20% of detainees were transferred from one facility to another. In the first half of Fiscal Year 2008, however, over 50% of detainees were transferred to another location.

ODLS is available online at: https://locator.ice.gov/odls/homePage.do.