# ICE erased thousands from its database

> Immigrants with deportation orders vanished from ICE's tracking system, leaving families and lawyers unable to locate them.
- Title: ICE erased thousands from its database · Mother Jones
- Summary: Immigrants with deportation orders vanished from ICE's tracking system, leaving families and lawyers unable to locate them. When ICE removes detainees from…
- Keywords: ice, immigration, deportation, detainee locator, database removal, immigration attorneys, final orders of removal, family separation, legal appeals, detention centers, erased, thousands
- Source: Mother Jones — https://motherjones.com/politics/2026/09/ice-disappeared-detainees-ap-database-locator-lawyers-dhs
- Author: Sophie Hurwitz
- Published: 2026-09-23T16:35:07+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: ice, immigration, deportation, detainee locator, database removal, immigration attorneys, final orders of removal, family separation, legal appeals, detention centers
## Thousands vanished from ICE's system
Starting September 15, immigrants with final deportation orders disappeared from ICE's detainee locator database. Families and lawyers can no longer find them.
## Lawyers can't help without knowing where clients are
Attorney Rachel Marandett searched for a detained client and found nothing. She eventually learned he was still in custody, just hidden from the system.

> "He was missing, and I panicked," Marandett said. "I sent a frantic email."
## Deportation orders issued in error go unchallenged
Many detainees have removal orders issued in absentia because courts sent hearing notices to wrong addresses. Without locating them, lawyers can't file motions to reopen cases.
## Wilber Garcés case shows the stakes
A Venezuelan delivery worker shot by federal agents was moved to detention with a bullet still in his spine. His family and lawyers couldn't locate him through ICE's system.
## Some people shouldn't be deported at all
Detainees with pending appeals, torture protections, or habeas corpus cases are still marked with final removal orders. Hiding them blocks lawyers from proving their location in court.
## No consistency in who disappears
Some clients with final removal orders still appear in the locator while others don't. Lawyers can't predict who will vanish or why.

> "What makes my firm panic is whether ICE is looking underneath the final order," Bastiaensz said.
## Families left with almost no options
Without the locator, families must wait for phone calls or contact Congress. Other search methods exist but are far less efficient than the database.

> "This puts a wall between attorneys and their clients, and produces tremendous anxiety for families."
## Lawyers working blind on immigration cases
Immigration attorneys already faced obstacles communicating with detained clients. Now they're navigating the same barriers without their primary tracking tool.

> "Now it's like we're dealing with these same obstacles, but with a blindfold on."
## Key takeaway

When ICE removes detainees from its public locator, lawyers lose their most efficient tool to help clients and families lose their ability to communicate.