ICE’s Overnight Transfers Tear Families Apart and Sabotage Legal Defense

Ten days after being detained by ICE and held at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls, Rhode Island, a Guatemalan immigrant known only as “D” was jolted awake at 3 a.m. by guards ordering him to get dressed. Without explanation, he and several others were loaded into a cramped van and driven through the freezing night to the Federal Correctional Institution in Berlin, New Hampshire—over 100 miles away.

D’s handcuffs were so tight they left scars, and the cold air flowing in through the van’s back door left him trembling with fear. He thought he was being deported and had no idea if he would see his family again or be able to contact them. Despite the terror, D kept silent, knowing from experience that showing emotion would only invite worse treatment.

D has lived in Providence for 20 years and is a caretaker for his school-aged nephew. His lawyer believes these ties, along with letters from U.S. citizen friends, helped secure his release on bond in late December. But the sudden, unexplained out-of-state transfer disrupted his ongoing immigration case and separated him from his support network.

This is not an isolated incident. Immigration lawyers and advocates say ICE’s rapid transfers between detention facilities have surged, with a 2025 LA Times analysis showing 12% of detainees moved at least four times in a year. ICE’s use of detention sites increased by 91% in 2025, and reports document detainees being transferred over 1,000 miles.

For attorneys like Pawtucket’s Elise McCaffery, these transfers are a nightmare. They delay locating clients, complicate visitation, and force lawyers to communicate through video or phone rather than in person. More critically, transfers often move detainees to different judicial jurisdictions where legal protections vary, undermining carefully built cases.

To fight back, McCaffery and others are filing a flood of habeas corpus petitions—legal motions demanding the government justify continued detention and often halting transfers. Habeas filings in Rhode Island’s First District Court soared from just five in 2024 to over 130 in early 2026, reflecting a desperate legal strategy to protect detainees’ rights.

ICE and the Wyatt Detention Facility have not responded to requests for comment on these practices. Meanwhile, detainees like D remain at the mercy of an immigration system weaponizing transfers to isolate them, disrupt their defense, and tear families apart.

This growing pattern of secretive, overnight transfers is more than a bureaucratic headache—it is a deliberate tactic that threatens the fundamental rights of immigrants fighting to stay in the country they call home. We will keep tracking these abuses and amplifying the voices demanding accountability.