Extradition in Miami: Federal Court, Detention and Next Steps

Which Miami institution has the file?

A person found in this district can be proceeded against under 18 U.S.C. § 3184, normally on a sworn federal extradition complaint under an applicable treaty; § 3181(b) contains a narrow statutory exception in specified circumstances. The Southern District includes Miami-Dade and other South Florida counties, but a stop at an airport does not establish which court has an extradition complaint. Counsel should ask for the actual case number rather than assume every foreign alert has become a judicial case.

The clerk's published public counter hours are generally 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. on regular business days; visitors need photo identification. Different Miami court buildings stand close together. Checking the named building, courtroom and judicial assignment on the order prevents a missed hearing.

If stopped at Miami airport or the seaport

U.S. Customs and Border Protection identifies Miami International Airport as port 5206 and Miami Seaport as port 5201. A traveller stopped at either place may face an immigration inquiry, an alert-based police check, or a federal extradition arrest; these are not interchangeable legal processes. An INTERPOL Red Notice is an international alert, not itself a U.S. arrest warrant. The family should ask which agency is holding the person and whether a U.S. judicial warrant or extradition complaint exists.

Hypothetical example: a Colombian citizen arrives at Miami International Airport and is questioned about a foreign warrant. If officers later execute a § 3184 warrant, defence counsel should obtain the federal complaint, the applicable treaty text and the Miami hearing information. If the only proceeding is immigration detention, do not assume that the magistrate's extradition schedule or the § 3188 commitment provision applies. A foreign lawyer can send authenticated copies of the foreign warrant and relevant decisions, but should avoid assuming the contents of an alert establish probable cause.

What happens during the first practical 72 hours?

This is an action plan, not a statutory 72-hour extradition limit. The published Miami duty-magistrate sessions are Monday to Friday at 10:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., with the courtroom to be determined. The public schedule does not guarantee when a particular person will appear or that an extradition hearing will be held in either session; ask the custodial agency and counsel to confirm the actual listing.

There is no general rule requiring the entire extradition hearing to finish within 48 or 72 hours of arrival. A separate provision, 18 U.S.C. § 3188, permits an application for discharge if the person has not been delivered and conveyed out of the United States within two calendar months after commitment for rendition, plus the actual time needed to convey the person from the jail of commitment out of the United States by the readiest route. The application requires reasonable notice to the Secretary of State, and the judge may refuse discharge if sufficient cause is shown. It is not an automatic two-month release clock running from arrest. Section 3188 allows the application to be made to any U.S. or state judge on behalf of the committed person; counsel should confirm the proper forum and evidence in the individual case.

For provisional arrests, the applicable bilateral treaty may set a separate deadline. Article 12(4) of the U.S.–United Kingdom Extradition Treaty provides that, if the U.S. executive authority has not received the formal request and supporting documents required by Article 8 within 60 days from provisional arrest, the person may be discharged; Article 12(5) says that discharge does not prevent a later rearrest and extradition if the documents arrive afterwards. A September 9, 2026 Miami order on release pending extradition described this treaty deadline in the context of U.K. provisional-arrest proceedings; it did not decide a general deadline rule for other treaties. This rule is specific to that treaty and procedural stage, not a U.S.-wide or EU arrest-warrant deadline. Ask counsel to check the requesting country, current treaty text and amendments, the date of provisional arrest, and the actual receipt of documents.

How to obtain counsel and an interpreter

Miami has a particularly useful local rule for people unable to fund a lawyer: the Southern District's revised May 2024 Criminal Justice Act plan expressly lists persons held for international extradition under Title 18, chapter 209 among the categories for which a judge may appoint counsel when the person is financially eligible and the interests of justice require representation. This is discretionary, not an automatic appointment. The Federal Public Defender of South Florida confirms that its office receives extradition appointments and has its main office in Miami; a conflict or the court's appointment decision can require another lawyer.

Do not confuse this specific plan with the district's March 2025 administrative order providing pre-appearance representation for criminal defendants: it does not by itself establish identical entitlement in every extradition-only case. Request a financial eligibility assessment and appointment directly through the court or defence counsel. The court's interpreter unit is based at 400 North Miami Avenue, eighth floor south. Advise counsel of the person's precise language and dialect before the hearing; do not rely on a family member to interpret disputed legal questions.

For routing, the court lists the Miami Magistrate Judge Section at (305) 523-5280, the Records Section at (305) 523-5210, and the interpreter office at (305) 523-5620. These offices can direct a caller, but the assigned judge, docket and custody location still need case-specific confirmation.

For international defence teams, the difference between a foreign solicitor and admitted Miami counsel has practical consequences. In a September 2026 extradition proceeding in this court, a U.K. solicitor who had not been admitted locally or pro hac vice sought to address the judge as counsel of record; the order records that his statements were instead presented as testimony under oath. Foreign lawyers should therefore coordinate translations, authenticated materials and witnesses through counsel entitled to appear in the Southern District of Florida.

Where is the arrested person held?

FDC Miami is a Federal Bureau of Prisons detention facility in this judicial district; that does not mean every person facing extradition in Miami is held there. Federal custody can involve different locations or transfers. The district court tells families to use the Bureau of Prisons inmate locator with the person's name, date of birth or register number, then check the identified facility's current rules. For a recent arrest, ask counsel or the custodial agency for confirmation if the locator has not yet updated.

FDC Miami's published visiting supplement dated September 18, 2023 gives legal visits priority over social visits and sets social visits by housing unit. Because that document is dated and the Bureau of Prisons warns that schedules can vary or change, confirm current access rules and the person's housing unit directly with the facility before travelling. Do not assume that a published social-visiting slot applies to an unknown person. Prepare identification, the person's register number and questions for counsel separately.

Can a Miami extradition detainee obtain bail?

Release on bond is possible in exceptional circumstances, but the ordinary federal criminal-case bail test is not the correct standard. The binding Supreme Court decision Wright v. Henkel and Eleventh Circuit ruling Martin v. Warden establish a presumption against release in foreign-extradition proceedings and require proof of special circumstances. A Miami magistrate judge applied those decisions in a September 9, 2026 order and declined to apply 18 U.S.C. § 3142's ordinary Bail Reform Act regime. That order evaluated flight risk, danger to the community and circumstances said to be exceptional; it denied the motions for release.

The practical step is to have local counsel seek release from the judge managing the pending extradition proceeding, with concrete documents supporting any claimed special circumstance and a credible plan addressing flight and safety risks. A passport surrender offer, family contacts or a claim that foreign proceedings will be slow should not be treated as an automatic basis for bond. The 2026 ruling is a local court order and persuasive illustration, while Wright and Martin supply the binding standards. An adverse interim release ruling and a later § 3184 certification raise different procedural questions: counsel must identify the order being challenged before choosing any review route.

How can family identify the docket and judge?

The Miami Records Section at the Ferguson courthouse provides access to unsealed records through PACER (the federal electronic docket service) or terminals at the clerk's office. PACER requires an account and may charge fees; sealed cases will not appear publicly. Ask for the case caption, assigned judicial officer, whether the case is an extradition complaint or a separate habeas petition, and the next scheduled event. The courthouse name alone is not a reliable way to locate the person or case.

• Send local counsel the spelling of every name used in passports and foreign warrants, with dates of birth and nationality documents.
• Keep the foreign case number, charging documents, judgments, treaty citation and any translated decisions together, marking what has not been authenticated.
• Record detention contacts and the date and type of each judicial order; preserve proof of any medical or interpretation issue for counsel.
• Ask the foreign lawyer what remains pending abroad; do not expect the Miami magistrate to conduct a foreign criminal trial.

Which Miami court hears a legal challenge?

After a magistrate judge certifies extraditability, the usual limited judicial route is a 28 U.S.C. § 2241 habeas corpus petition to a U.S. district judge, not a direct appeal from the certification. An appeal from a district judge's habeas ruling goes to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. In Kastnerova v. United States (2004), an actual Southern District of Florida extradition appeal, that court confined habeas review largely to the magistrate's authority, whether the charged offense falls under the treaty, and whether there is some legally sufficient evidence supporting probable cause. It is not a new trial of guilt.

Later controlling authority also limits what can usefully be argued locally. In Meza v. U.S. Attorney General (2012), originating in this district, the Eleventh Circuit held a Convention Against Torture challenge unripe before the Secretary's surrender decision and expressly left the post-decision judicial-review question unresolved. In Arias Leiva v. Warden (2019), another Southern District case, the court emphasized deference to the Executive about whether the United States and a foreign state continue to recognize their treaty, while preserving the judiciary's role in interpreting treaty wording. The later Second Circuit decision Kapoor v. DeMarco (2025) held that § 1252(a)(4) bars habeas review of an extraditee’s CAT claim after the Secretary’s surrender decision; the Ninth Circuit reached a different conclusion about the statutory bar in Trinidad y Garcia v. Thomas (2012). Neither decision binds the Eleventh Circuit. Because Meza left the post-decision question open, the interaction between 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(4), FARRA and Eleventh Circuit law must be assessed for the particular case. A person should raise torture-risk evidence with the State Department and ask local counsel to verify the current law before any court filing; do not assume a habeas route or automatic stay.

The detailed grounds for contesting surrender belong to the separate U.S. extradition remedies guide; the overall judicial-to-executive sequence is explained in the United States extradition guide. In Miami, the essential initial decision is which procedure is actually pending, which judicial officer has the docket, and what evidence counsel can lawfully put before that officer.

For coordinated cross-border defence with appropriately admitted local counsel, send a confidential request. This page provides general information, not advice on an individual case.