U.S. federal officials have launched a new online system to help relatives and attorneys find people who are in immigration lock-ups. In the past, locating people was sometimes impossible.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, has a sprawling network of 250 immigration jails across the country.
The facilities house about 30,000 detainees. ICE regularly transfers people from one facility to another.
Relatives and attorneys often have lost contact with detainees and could spend days trying to track them down.
Lauren Mack with Immigration and Customs Enforcement says the new online system is designed to help.
"It's all part of the announcement that ICE made last year that it was undertaking sweeping reforms of the immigration detention system to improve the conditions of confinement, including medical care, mental health care, and to also continue to have the oversight we need," said Mack.
People can locate a detainee by searching for the person's name or detainee number and country of origin. ICE's system will show where the person is.