Coping When a Family Member of a Loved One Has Been Detained by ICE
On any given day, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) keeps at least 34,000 immigrants locked up while they wait for their cases to be heard in an immigration court. With so many illegal immigrants in the ICE detainment centers, it is possible for one of your family members that is in the U.S. illegally to experience the same fate.
Many families with a loved one who is being detained experience economic hardships, especially if the family member being detained was the primary breadwinner of the household. It also goes without say that the impact of having a parent detained can be enormous on the child because they will be left all alone. Since the parents of the child are illegal, it is a good probability that the child is illegal as well.
Families with detained members may face social stigmas and they can also feel as though the detention was somehow their fault. The first thing to remember is that they are not criminals and their detention by ICE was not always their fault.
US Immigration Bonds, a bail bond service for areas all across the United States, believes that depending on your unique situation and your relationship with the individual being detained, it is important to develop some coping strategies to help you positively deal with the detainment. Make sure that your coping strategies help you and your loved one, but do not compromise your own wellbeing.
- Make sure that you have all of the necessary information and paperwork regarding your loved one’s immigration case. Having all proper documentation in order can help organize your mind and will alleviate any extra stress from being underprepared. When it comes to immigration cases, the paperwork is one of the most important aspects and can ultimately be the thing that keeps your loved one in the United States. If you enlist the services of an immigration bail bondsmen, they can help keep you on track with all documents.
- Find friends, family members, or a support group to help you through this very difficult and trying time. Remember that the individual being detained and you are being affected by this and that you need care and support as well.
- Continue to work on your life and maintain status at your job. It is important to not let all of your responsibilities go just because a loved one is being detained. If they are released, it is crucial that they are able to pick up in their life where they left off, before they were taken into custody.
- Understand that your family’s daily routine should and can continue as normal. Try to include the detained family member as much as possible, but understand that this may be difficult since it is a very strict system.
- Anticipate stressful times and try to prepare for them as much as possible. These stressful times usually consist of detainment, transfers, review for release with an immigration bail bond, and release or deportation.
- Remind yourself that you have very little control over the decision that will be made and aside from proper planning, there is not much that you can do to change the verdict.
- If you see or hear something on the news that has to do with life in detainment centers that upsets you, remember that your loved one will remain safe if they make the right choices.




