ICE Hides Locations of Thousands of Detainees With Final Removal Orders.

ICE removed detainees with final deportation orders from its online locator on Sept. 15 without public announcement, three current and former agency officials told the Associated Press.

• Nearly 16,000 people booked into ICE detention in July had final removal orders.
• That figure represents more than a third of all ICE bookings that month.
• More than 65,000 people were held in ICE detention as of early July.
• Four facilities are exempt: Adelanto, CA and temporary sites in Minneapolis, New York City, and suburban Chicago.

Why it matters: Detainees with final removal orders can still challenge deportation through habeas petitions and case reopenings. Not knowing where someone is held makes filing those challenges harder, since petitions must go to the correct federal district.

• Greg Chen of the American Immigration Lawyers Association said families do not know whether relatives have been deported or simply moved.
• Some detainees have legal protections against removal to countries where they may face torture or persecution, lawyers said.

How 13 sources split on this story

Where they split: ICE and DHS say detainees with final removal orders have received due process; immigration attorneys say removing them from the locator obstructs remaining legal options.

What’s next: The American Immigration Lawyers Association alerted its members to the change on Friday.

• Courts have already ordered ICE to keep four facilities in the locator system as a result of prior litigation.
• Whether courts will order ICE to restore all detainees to the locator system remains undecided.
• ICE did not confirm or deny the change; the full scope of who is affected is not publicly verified.
• It is unclear how many detainees have been deported since Sept. 15 without attorneys being able to intervene.