Yes, in most cases you can send a letter or message written in Arabic to an inmate housed at a United States Penitentiary (USP), including federal prisons operated by the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). However, there are a few important things to understand before sending foreign-language correspondence. All inmate mail entering a USP facility is screened and monitored by prison staff for safety and security reasons. When a letter is written in a language other than English, including Arabic,
Read moreYes. Having no criminal record does not protect someone from ICE detention. This is one of the most common misconceptions families have and it is important to understand clearly. ICE has the authority to detain anyone it believes is removable under immigration law. A removable person is someone whose presence in the United States violates immigration rules, regardless of whether they have ever committed a crime. This includes people who entered without authorization, people who overstayed a visa, people
Read moreA transfer does not automatically carry your approved visitor status to the new facility. This is one of the more frustrating administrative realities families deal with and it can mean starting the approval process over from scratch. In the federal system, visitor approvals are generally tied to the inmate's central file and can sometimes transfer with them, but you should always confirm with the new facility rather than assuming. In state systems the rules vary significantly. Some states have
Read moreAn ICE detainer, officially called Form I-247A, is a written request from ICE to a jail, prison, or other law enforcement agency. It asks that agency to hold a person for up to 48 additional hours beyond when they would normally be released, so that ICE has time to come and take custody. There are several critical things to understand about detainers. First, a detainer is a request, not a court order or a warrant.
Read moreThey find out the same way most things get communicated inside: through the mail or through a phone call. If you set up a phone account through a service like Securus, GTL, or InmateAid, the inmate does not get an automatic notification from the carrier. The facility is not going to walk down to the unit and announce that someone set up an account for them. That information has to come from you. The most reliable way to
Read moreThe answer depends on which system your person is in, but in most cases the information is publicly available and accessible without making a single phone call. For federal inmates, the Bureau of Prisons inmate locator at bop.gov is the most reliable starting point. Search by name or federal register number and the record will show the facility, the sentence information, and the projected release date as currently calculated by the BOP. For state inmates, every state department
Read moreHere's the terminology used at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center: Pods and Blocks The facility is organized into pods, with each pod containing multiple blocks. The original 864-bed facility was built with four pods, each having six blocks and one recreation yard. After the 1990s expansion, the rated capacity grew to over 2,000, then the facility expanded again to its current capacity of around 3,077 beds across multiple housing towers. So when referring to housing assignments,
Read moreThe short answer is no, at least not through any legitimate channel, and the tablets themselves are designed to prevent it. Facility-issued tablets, whether through JPay, GTL, or another provider, are not connected to the open internet. They run on a closed network that is controlled and monitored by the facility and the tablet provider. The applications available on those tablets are specifically approved and installed by the provider. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat are not
Read moreGood instinct. A phone waiting for her on release day is one of the most practical things you can do, and there is no reason you cannot make that happen. Halfway houses allow residents to have cell phones, so once she arrives, she can keep it with her throughout her stay. Getting that communication line set up before she walks out the door means she is not navigating the first hours of freedom without a way to reach you.
Read moreUnfortunately yes, and it is one of the more frustrating practices in the prison phone industry. GTL and ConnectNetwork have broad authority over accounts on their platform and can place holds or blocks on accounts when a chargeback or disputed transaction is flagged, even if the dispute was legitimate and reasonable. The fact that they blocked every number on the account rather than just addressing the disputed line is an aggressive response, but it is within their standard policy framework.
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