Thousands of detainees vanish from ICE locator system amid deportation push

ICE removed detainees with final removal orders from its online locator on September 15, three current and former ICE officials told AP. The change was not announced. AILA warned members Friday after lawyers saw clients vanish that week. Nearly 16,000 people booked into detention in July held final removal orders, over a third of bookings. More than 65,000 people were in ICE detention in early July; Michelle Mendez estimated around 30 percent likely have final orders. Atenas Burrola Estrada said 17 of her clients had disappeared as of Monday. My Khanh Ngo reported eight Somali men at Guantanamo Bay missing from the locator. The change skips Adelanto, California, and temporary holds in Minneapolis, New York City, and suburban Chicago under court orders. Lawyers say the move blocks attorney contact and makes habeas filings nearly impossible; Chen said families are freaking out; Mendez called it disappearing people. ICE neither confirmed nor denied the change, citing a historic number of injunctions stopping individual removals. ICE launched the locator in 2010.