Immigration Custody Checks
The ICE locator at locator.ice.gov is the public search route for people currently in ICE custody. The research also notes ICE and USAGov descriptions that include people in CBP custody for more than 48 hours. It is not designed as a long-term historical archive of county jail releases, and it may not continue to show a person after immigration custody ends.
For Montezuma County, ICE becomes relevant when the local jail record shows release to ICE, an immigration detainer, or another immigration-custody transfer. The Montezuma County Detention Center record can show that the person left county custody. ICE can help determine whether the person is now in immigration custody. Neither record alone necessarily explains the full court case or the local release authority.
How to Search ICE
Use the most exact search option available. USAGov explains that the ICE locator can be searched by A-number and country of birth, or by name, country of birth, and birth date. If an A-number is available from immigration paperwork, that is usually the cleaner route. If only a name is known, the date and country details become important for matching.
- Open the ICE Online Detainee Locator System.
- Search by A-number and country of birth when available.
- If no A-number is known, search by name, country of birth, and birth date.
- Compare the result carefully before assuming it is the same person.
- If the person was first held in Montezuma County, request the county release or transfer entry to confirm whether the jail released the person to ICE.
An ICE no-result does not prove that a Montezuma County release was a community release. The person may not be in ICE custody, may have left ICE custody, may be in another system, or may require direct agency confirmation. Use the jail release record, court record, and any available immigration documents together.
County Transfer Records
The Montezuma County Sheriff's Office Records Division is the local source for the county-side custody history. A narrow request should ask whether the person was released from Montezuma County custody to the community or transferred to another agency, including ICE if recorded. The Records Division fee schedule lists inmate incarceration history and booking reports / mug shots, and the NextRequest portal is the online channel for criminal justice records requests.
| Question | Source to check |
|---|---|
| Is the person currently in ICE custody? | ICE Online Detainee Locator System |
| Did the county jail release or transfer the person to ICE? | Montezuma County Sheriff's Office Records Division |
| Why was the person released from the county jail? | Jail release record and Montezuma Combined Courts case record |
| Was it a federal criminal matter instead of immigration custody? | USMS context, BOP if sentenced, and federal court records |
ICE Is Not County Jail Custody
The Montezuma County Detention Center is a county jail operated by the Sheriff's Office. ICE is a federal immigration agency. A local jail release entry that says transfer, hold, or ICE should be read as a change in custody system, not automatically as release to the community. That distinction is especially important when the person no longer appears in any live county custody source.
The research instructs pages to avoid treating absence from the county jail as proof of release. In immigration cases, absence from the jail can mean the person left county custody for ICE. It can also mean the person was released locally and no immigration transfer occurred. The official way to separate those paths is to request the county custody-disposition or release/transfer entry and then search ICE if immigration custody is indicated.
County ICE Transfer Records
ICE's locator is not a historical Montezuma County jail archive. It is designed for current ICE custody and certain recent CBP custody situations. If a county jail entry names ICE, immigration hold, or transfer, the Sheriff's release or transfer record is still the local proof that the person left Montezuma County custody. ICE then becomes the custody-status channel for the immigration side.
That two-step path matters because a person can be gone from the county jail without being free from custody. The county record may show release to ICE, while the ICE locator may show whether the person is currently in immigration detention. If the ICE locator does not return a result, check the search details, country of birth, A-number, and timing, then return to the county release record for the handoff information.
ICE Search Boundaries
ICE searches can use an A-number and country of birth, or name, country of birth, and birth date. Those fields are different from county jail booking fields and different from CDOC or BOP identifiers. A Montezuma County booking number will not work as an ICE identifier unless the ICE system independently uses matching personal details.
Immigration custody can also overlap with court or criminal custody in ways a single locator does not explain. A local jail release may be a transfer to ICE after a criminal case event, a hold release, or a transport event. When the release reason is unclear, request the sheriff custody-disposition entry and court disposition, then use ICE for current immigration detention status.
When ICE Shows No Result
No result in the ICE locator does not automatically prove community release. The person may be outside ICE custody, the search details may not match, the timing may be too early, or the county record may point to a different agency. For Montezuma County research, the county release or transfer entry remains the best way to see whether ICE was part of the handoff.