What is Commissary?

At most ICE detention facilities, people have individual accounts where money can be deposited for their use. Commissary allows them to use money from those accounts to purchase food, hygiene products, clothing, and other items available at their facility.

People typically select what they want from a list or place an order through a kiosk or, at some facilities, a tablet. The cost is deducted from their account, and their order is delivered on the facility's commissary schedule, often once a week. The exact process, items available, and how accounts work vary from one facility to another.

Why Does Commissary Matter?

Imagine being in detention, separated from your family, with no money in your account. The food you're served may not be enough, you may not be able to eat what is provided, or there may be times when a meal simply isn't provided. Without money in your account, you have no way to buy something else to eat.

The same is true for basic necessities. If you need shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, menstrual products, or other personal care items that aren't adequately provided, you may have to purchase them yourself. These aren't hypothetical concerns. We hear directly from people we support about hunger, inadequate food, and difficulty accessing basic necessities. People held in immigration detention across the country have reported similar conditions.

Having funds in a commissary account also affects whether people can stay connected to their families. At most detention facilities, phone calls, video visits, and other forms of communication cost money, making access to funds an important part of maintaining contact with the people they love while they are detained.

Commissary isn't an extra. For people in ICE detention, having money in their account means being able to eat when they are hungry, purchase basic necessities when they need them, and stay connected to the people they love. It also provides some measure of choice, independence, and dignity in an environment where nearly every part of daily life is controlled by someone else.

More Than a Deposit

Our Commissary Program also helps us locate people within the detention system. People do not always appear in ICE's online detainee locator right away, and transfers can make it even harder to determine where someone is being held. A person may disappear from the locator when they are moved between facilities, and in some cases their new location never appears, leaving families unable to determine where they have been taken. The systems used to deposit commissary funds allow us to search for a person by name or identification number and identify the facility where they are detained. We have used these systems to locate people when families and others searching for them had been unable to find them.

We also communicate directly with many of the people we support through messages and phone calls, giving people inside detention a trusted connection on the outside. Through those conversations, people have told us about medical neglect, inadequate food, unsafe conditions, and other serious concerns. Those connections give people a way to share what is happening inside detention and allow us to bring serious concerns to people and organizations on the outside who can respond.

Our Commissary Program

Anyone who was living in Maine when they were detained by ICE is eligible for MHI’s Commissary Program. We provide an initial commissary deposit of $50, followed by a minimum of $30 each month for as long as the person remains in ICE detention. When funding allows, we increase the monthly amount.

The number of people we support changes as people are detained, released, or deported. We typically support around 50 people each month, although during periods of increased detention that number has risen to more than 80 people at a time.

Our support follows people when they are moved to another detention facility or another state. We continue making deposits for as long as they remain in ICE custody and we have the information needed to deposit funds into their account.

Help Us Keep Commissary Accounts Funded

You can help fill someone's commissary account. Your donation helps people in ICE detention buy additional food when they are hungry, purchase basic necessities and personal care items, and stay connected with their families and loved ones.

A funded commissary account provides more than basic necessities. It gives someone a measure of choice, dignity, independence, and connection in a place where nearly every part of daily life is controlled.

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FAQ

  • Commissaries offer shelf stable foods such as chicken, tuna, beans and rice, peanut butter, ramen, snacks, and beverages, as well as hygiene and personal care products, clothing, and other basic necessities. Available items vary by facility.

  • Most facilities use third party payment platforms such as Access Corrections or Connect Network to process deposits into individual commissary accounts. Not every facility uses the same platform, so we determine which service is used at the facility where the person is being held and make the deposit electronically using identifying information such as their name and identification number.

  • Yes. We never send cash or money orders and do not give funds to a facility to distribute. Every deposit is made electronically and directly into the individual commissary account of the person we are supporting. We receive confirmation when deposits are completed, and people we support regularly confirm that the money has reached their accounts.

  • Any money remaining in someone's commissary account belongs to them. If they are transferred, their remaining funds are transferred or returned to them according to the facilities' procedures. If they are released from detention, the remaining balance is returned to them. The exact process for receiving those funds varies by facility.

  • People find us through word of mouth and through organizations and resources that connect people with support after an ICE detention. MHI is listed in the Maine Immigrant Defense Resource Hub on LighthouseME.org and as a detention support resource by the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP). Families, friends, pastors, attorneys, employers, organizations, and community members also share our information, and people in detention often share it with one another.

  • If you know someone in ICE detention who was living in Maine when they were detained, you can submit their information through our secure form here.