Please note: FFI’s National Immigration Detention Hotline is operating on a reduced schedule from January to summer 2024 during FFI’s chrysalis period. Learn more here.
Beginning January 1, 2024, the hotline’s modified hours will be:
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 10am-8pm PT / 1pm-11pm ET.
Hotline volunteers will continue answering calls from inside detention to provide referrals, connect callers to local groups, and document abuse. You can reach FFI’s detention hotline by dialing 9233# from a facility phone.
If we do not answer your call during these hours, it is likely because we are on the phone with another caller. We recommend you try calling throughout the week until you can get through.
FFI’s Outside Hotline will be closed from January to summer 2024. Additional resources can be found here.
Una nota importante: La línea telefónica nacional de detención de inmigrantes de FFI funcionará con un horario reducido desde el 1 de enero al verano 2024 durante el período de “crisálida” de FFI. Aprende más aquí.
A partir del 1 de enero, el horario modificado de la línea telefónica será:
martes, miércoles y jueves de las 10am a las 8pm PT / de las 1pm a las 11pm ET.
Los voluntarios de la línea telefónica continuarán respondiendo llamadas desde los interiores de los centros de detención para brindar referencias, conectar a las personas que llaman con grupos locales y documentar el abuso. Se puede comunicar con la línea telefónica de detención de FFI marcando 9233# desde el teléfono de un centro de detención.
Si no contestamos su llamada durante estas horas, probablemente sea porque estamos hablando por teléfono con otra persona que llama. Le recomendamos que intente llamar durante la semana hasta que pueda comunicarse.
La línea telefónica externa de FFI estará cerrada de enero al verano 2024. Se pueden encontrar recursos adicionales aquí.
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.
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.