A post asking for help for a Miami man reportedly detained by ICE despite having legal status drew a wave of responses from locals this week.
The situation, as described by the person asking for help, is one that immigration attorneys say has become more common: someone with lawful status gets swept up in an enforcement action, and family and friends scramble to figure out where they are being held and how to get them representation.
The standard advice from practitioners who responded: locate the person through ICE's online detainee locator, get an immigration attorney involved immediately, and gather every document proving status before the first hearing.
Organizations like Americans for Immigrant Justice in Miami and the Florida Immigrant Coalition maintain hotlines for exactly this situation.
For families going through the same thing, the consistent message from those who have been through it: move fast, document everything, and do not sign anything without a lawyer reading it first.
Source: r/miami (link)