National Detention & Abuse Reporting Hotlines
The National Immigration Detention Hotline is the nation’s largest immigration detention hotline, connecting immigrants in detention to their family, resources, and abuse documentation support at no cost to them. For family and community members on the outside, and for recently released individuals, FFI’s Outside Hotline provides another pathway to resources, connection, and abuse documentation support.
FFI’s hotlines are staffed by a team of highly trained multilingual and multicultural advocates across the country. We receive between 600 to 5,000 calls per month to the National Immigration Detention Hotline from people in immigrant prisons and jails around the country. We have received calls from immigrants from 148 countries that speak 80 different languages.
Dial 9233# to access the National Immigration Detention Hotline from inside detention on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 10am-8pm PT / 1pm-11pm ET.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL IMMIGRATION DETENTION HOTLINE
Launched in 2013, FFI’s National Immigration Detention Hotline is available to people detained in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, and is available Monday through Friday from 6am to 8pm PDT.
The hotline furthers Freedom for Immigrants’ mission of abolishing detention while supporting those currently suffering under this system. Using the hotline, FFI works to elevate and empower organizing efforts happening inside detention through a combination of condition monitoring and resource support.
The detention hotline is a monitoring tool through which we gather data and stories on a daily basis with a team of highly trained and dedicated volunteers. Hotline volunteers answer calls from people calling from more than 200 immigrant prisons and jails to report abuse or expose dehumanizing conditions. Through the connections built with people in detention, we are able to determine local, regional, and national trends. We then counter false narratives about immigration detention and hold the government accountable by filing federal complaints, developing reports, and changing policy.
At the same time, the detention hotline directly supports individuals currently suffering in detention through an individualized case management and support system. As people on the outside, we have access to resources and programs inaccessible from within an immigrant prison. Through the hotline, we connect people to our own resources and to our partners in the movement. Learn more about the history of the hotline here.
Artist: Erikson Martinez, Monitoring Fellow with Immigrant Action Alliance
WHAT WE DO
Monitor Abuse
The free and confidential National Immigration Detention Hotline makes it easier for people in detention to report abuse without fear of government retaliation and be connected with resources. Through the hotline, we help individuals document and report abuse, and in some cases file federal civil rights complaints. Learn more here.
Elevate Stories
Through the National Immigration Detention Hotline, we receive requests from people in detention and their loved ones to share their stories. We help people in detention and their families to write op-eds, connect with media, or share their stories through our own platform, IMMPrint. Learn more here.
Find and Connect to Family
Through the Outside Hotline, we receive hundreds of requests a year from families on the outside whose loved ones have disappeared in the secretive detention system. We help reconnect families separated by U.S. immigration policies. Learn more here.
Connect to Resources
We connect people in detention to our visitor volunteers and to FFI’s National Immigration Detention Bond Fund. We also connect callers from both hotlines to legal resources and other resources through our partners.
VOLUNTEER FOR THE HOTLINES
The work of FFI’s hotlines wouldn’t be possible without our dedicated team of volunteers who devote their time, skills, and compassion to each and every hotline shift. If you are interested in volunteering for the National Immigration Detention Hotline or Outside Hotline, please fill out the National Volunteer Application.
For questions, please contact our Senior National Hotline Manager, Amanda Díaz, at ADiaz@freedomforimmigrants.org.