Warren, Luján, Escobar, Underwood Lead 32 Lawmakers in Pressing Homeland Security Watchdog to Investigate Detainee Locator System Failures

Warren, Luján, Escobar, Underwood Lead 32 Lawmakers in Pressing Homeland Security Watchdog to Investigate Detainee Locator System Failures

"Without a functional locator system, DHS is effectively creating 'disappearances' on U.S. soil, and we urge the DHS Office of Inspector General to investigate this matter"

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), along with Representatives Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) and Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), led 32 members of Congress in pressing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General to investigate Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) failure to provide accurate information about where detainees are being held.

"Without a functional locator system, DHS is effectively creating 'disappearances' on U.S. soil," wrote the lawmakers.

The DHS Online Detainee Locator System (ODLS) allows the public to determine whether a person is in ICE custody and, if so, at which facility. ICE's policy has historically been to update ODLS within eight hours of a person's arrival at an ICE facility. But recent reports indicate that some individuals are not being accurately added to ODLS for days - and sometimes weeks. In some cases, individuals are deported before their location is ever added to the system, as was the case for Massachusetts resident Any Lopez Belloza.

ODLS has also become increasingly inaccurate since January 2025; in many instances, ODLS indicates that a person is being held at a particular detention center, but the facility will tell attorneys otherwise.

"When individuals in DHS custody cannot be located, their legal representation suffers," wrote the lawmakers.

Attorneys have reported difficulties with filing habeas petitions because they do not know where their clients are located. Detainees also face an increased risk of missing court hearings or missing case deadlines when their attorneys cannot find them. Some families have reported that, by the time their loved one is found, they have already been deported.

The Trump administration is detaining people at unprecedented scale, exacerbating ODLS issues. There are currently more than 70,000 people in ICE custody, 80% more than in December 2024. Frequent transfers make ODLS updates more challenging, and matters are only made worse when individuals are held in unconventional detention settings such as military bases, state-run facilities like "Alligator Alcatraz," ICE field offices, and soon, warehouses built for storing packages.

Some experts expressed concerns that these issues could be intentional - a way for ICE to remove people from jurisdictions with more protective laws or favorable judges. One ICE agent reportedly commented to a detainee that she was being transferred from California to Indiana "thanks to the laws in California."

"To understand the full scope of this problem, the reasons for the ODLS's reporting gaps, and the impacts of these gaps on detainees and their families, we request that your office conduct an evaluation of this matter," concluded the lawmakers in their letter to the IG.

The lawmakers requested that DHS address the reasons that the ODLS system has suffered a reduction in timeliness, the types of information that ICE does not add to the ODLS, the practices ICE has for updating location information, and more.

Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jackie Rosen (D-Nev.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) signed on to this letter.

Representatives Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), Sean Casten (D-Ill.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Jesús García (D-Ill.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.), Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) signed on to this letter.

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