A Habeas Corpus Petition
can end unlawful ICE detention
in federal court.

It is a constitutional right that allows anyone—regardless of their status—to ask a federal judge to review if their detention is lawful. If the judge finds that ICE has no legal right to hold your loved one, they can order their immediate release. It is one of the most powerful legal protections in the United States.

No. Filing is the exercise of a constitutional right, not a favor ICE can grant or withdraw. A habeas petition challenges whether the detention is lawful — it does not attack the removal order, and it does not speed up or slow down a deportation case that is already moving. What changes is who decides: an independent federal judge, with the government required to justify the detention on the record. Across dozens of federal habeas petitions, we have not seen one provoke retaliatory treatment. If you are concerned about how a filing might interact with a case already underway, tell us the specifics and we will give you an honest assessment before anything is filed.

An immigration judge works for the government. A federal judge is completely independent—they do not answer to ICE or any other agency. This means they have the authority to overrule the government and order your loved one’s release. It is a completely separate court system with significantly more power.

They solve different problems, and they can run at the same time. A habeas petition asks a federal judge whether the detention itself is lawful — it can lead to release, but it does not stop a deportation. A stay of removal asks for the deportation itself to be paused. A motion to reopen asks the immigration court to look at the removal case again, usually because of new evidence or a change in circumstances. Families often need more than one of these at once. When we review a case we tell you which ones actually apply — including when the honest answer is that habeas is not the right tool for your situation.

In emergencies—like stopping a transfer—we can get a response within days. For standard cases, the government is usually required to respond within 2 to 4 weeks. Most cases resolve within 2 to 12 weeks, which is much faster than the typical wait times in immigration court.

Yes. The Supreme Court has ruled that the government cannot detain your loved one indefinitely just because they have a deportation order. If they cannot actually deport your loved one and they have been detained for 6 months or more, a federal judge can order their release. The petition does not fight the deportation order itself — it challenges the fact that your loved one is being held without a lawful reason.

A denial is not a deportation order, and it is not the end of the road. Depending on why the judge ruled as they did, the next step may be an appeal to the federal court of appeals, a fresh petition if the circumstances change — and they often do, because the longer detention continues the stronger a prolonged-detention argument becomes — or a parallel route such as a renewed bond request. No lawyer can promise a particular result, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. What we will give you is an honest read of the case before you pay anything, including when we think the chances are poor.

Release is rarely unconditional. Depending on the case it can involve a bond amount, regular check-ins with ICE, an ankle monitor or a phone-based reporting app under a supervision programme, restrictions on travel, and a duty to keep an address current. Conditions are set case by case and can sometimes be modified later. It is worth understanding before you start: release means your loved one comes home, but the immigration case continues and every obligation attached to the release has to be met — missing a check-in can put the release itself at risk.

The most helpful details are the detainee's A-Number, the name of their facility, and any court paperwork you have. If you are not sure where they are being held, our guide on finding someone in ICE detention walks through the search step by step. However, do not let missing documents stop you. We can often request records directly from the government. The most important thing is to act quickly.

Yes, and it is a common arrangement. Federal habeas work and immigration court representation are different jobs in different courts, and they run in parallel. Your immigration attorney handles the removal case; we handle the detention challenge in federal district court. We coordinate rather than replace — we ask for the case documents and keep your existing attorney informed as the petition moves. If we think the detention issue is better handled inside the immigration case you already have, we will tell you that instead of taking on work that does not need doing.

There are two costs, and we are direct about both. The federal court filing fee for a habeas corpus petition is $5, set by statute — a fraction of what an ordinary civil case costs to file, and the court can waive it if even that is out of reach. Our own fee is a flat $5,000 for a typical petition, agreed in writing before we begin, so nothing shifts while your family is already under strain. Unusually complex matters can fall outside that range, and we say so at the outset rather than after you have committed. The initial case evaluation is free.

Tell us anyway. The initial evaluation is free, so finding out where the case actually stands costs you nothing. The court's own filing fee for a habeas petition is $5, and the court can waive even that if it is out of reach. On our fee, payment arrangements are possible in some cases — ask. And where we are not the right fit financially, we will point you toward legal aid organisations and law school clinics that take detention cases. The worst outcome is a family that never asks because they assumed the answer.

28 USC § 2241 is the federal statute that gives U.S. district courts the authority to grant a writ of habeas corpus. It is the legal basis for every petition we file on behalf of an ICE detainee. Under this law, anyone held “in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws… of the United States” can ask a federal judge to review whether their detention is lawful — and order their release if it is not.