Buffalo (Batavia) Service Processing Center

Buffalo (Batavia) Service Processing Center is an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) detention facility located in Batavia, New York. It falls under the Buffalo Field Office ERO field office area of responsibility.

Facility quick reference

How to locate or contact a detainee

To locate someone in ICE custody, use the ICE Online Detainee Locator System at locator.ice.gov. You will need the person’s A-number (Alien Registration Number) and country of birth, or their full name, country of birth, and date of birth.

To ask whether someone is held here, and to leave an urgent message for a detainee, ICE publishes one number: (585) 344-6500. Give the detainee’s full name, alien registration number (A-number), and your name and phone number where you can be reached; the facility passes the message on. Detainees cannot receive incoming calls — they place outgoing calls themselves. Have the person’s biographical information ready when you call (full legal name and any aliases, date of birth, and country of birth). ICE lists the detainee-information line as answered between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. ICE also says this facility has ICE Talton Tablets; information on sending a non-confidential message is at gettingout.com/help, the vendor page ICE names.

Visiting in person

ICE’s page for this facility (last updated 08/06/2026, checked October 15, 2026) lists these family and friends visiting periods:

• All family and other social visits are non-contact, and visits may not exceed 1 hour.
• Adult visitors must present a valid, verifiable government-issued ID. Minors must be accompanied by an adult guardian (18 or older) and may not be left alone in the waiting room, visiting room or any other area.
• Visitors may not pass items to detainees or carry items into the visitation area; anyone who is or appears intoxicated is refused; everyone entering is subject to a pat-down, a search of belongings and a metal scan, and no electronic devices are allowed in secure areas. ICE lists free on-site parking.

Sending mail, commissary funds, and personal items

Letters and packages sent to a detainee must identify the detainee and show the sender’s name and return address (this facility’s own format is below) — and each facility publishes its own exact format: some also require a housing-unit number, and facilities run by the federal Bureau of Prisons use the BOP register number instead. ICE lists each facility’s format on that facility’s page at ice.gov. This facility’s own ICE page says incoming mail “is not read upon opening, only inspected by the delivering officer” and that detainees may seal their own outgoing letters. ICE’s detention standards allow more than that. ICE’s Office of Detention Oversight inspected this facility in June 2026 under the Performance-Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS) 2011 (Revised 2016) (inspection report). Under that standard’s mail section, 5.1, staff open and inspect incoming general correspondence for contraband in the detainee’s presence unless the facility administrator authorizes otherwise, and it “may be read to the extent necessary to maintain security, as authorized by the facility administrator” — reading, with the administrator’s approval, may be done at random. Outgoing general mail may be inspected or read if it is addressed to another detainee or there is evidence it might threaten the facility’s secure or orderly operation, endanger the recipient or the public, or facilitate criminal activity. Only special correspondence or legal mail — mail to or from attorneys and other legal representatives, government attorneys, judges and courts, embassies and consulates, the President and Vice President, members of Congress, the Justice Department and DHS (including ICE, ERO, ICE Health Services Corps, CRCL and the DHS Inspector General), outside health care professionals, grievance administrators and the news media — may not be read: the envelope must be labeled “special correspondence” or “legal mail” and identify the sender’s or addressee’s title and office. Staff may neither read nor copy it; any inspection takes place in the detainee’s presence and is limited to detecting physical contraband and confirming that enclosures qualify as special correspondence or legal mail. Rules for commissary (account) deposits and permitted personal items vary by facility, and so does the number that handles them — ICE names a separate facility mail clerk on some facility pages. This facility’s deposit route, accepted form of payment and contacts are in the Sending Items to Detainees section of its own ICE page (linked above).

What ICE publishes for this facility’s mail, money, and packages

• Letters must include the last four digits of the detainee’s A-number, plus the sender’s name and address. Outgoing mail is routed to the post office within 24 hours of receipt by facility staff.
• Money: through Access Corrections, by phone at 1-866-345-1884 or on its website, or by a U.S. Postal Service money order mailed to the facility with the detainee’s name on it:

Buffalo (Batavia) Service Processing Center
4250 Federal Drive
Batavia, NY 14020

• Funds received in the mail are placed into the detainee’s account with a receipt; ICE cautions against mailing cash.
• Packages: before sending one, contact the Deportation Officer at the facility (ICE gives the address as Buffalo Federal Detention Facility, 4250 Federal Drive, Batavia, NY 14020). Only items needed solely for travel or release from custody are allowed, with the Deportation Officer’s approval.
• Stamps: detainees may buy them; indigent detainees get a postage allowance at government expense. On a transfer or departure only legal mail is forwarded.
• Luggage for removal: one small piece; if the person has none, luggage can be sent after approval from the Supervisory Deportation Officer. No electronic devices are accepted.

Legal access, attorneys, and immigration court information

Detainees have the right to speak with an attorney, and attorney–client visits and calls are confidential. For information about a case before the immigration court (EOIR), EOIR’s automated line 1-800-898-7180 (toll-free, 24 hours a day, English and Spanish) gives the next hearing date and case status; callers enter the 9 digits of the A-number, without the letter A (EOIR, checked October 24, 2026). For a matter before the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the BIA page of EOIR (the Justice Department agency the BIA belongs to) lists (703) 305-0289; ICE’s facility page lists (703) 605-1007 for automated information or a live representative during office hours (checked October 17, 2026). Applications for relief from removal must be filed directly with the immigration court handling the case. If you cannot afford an attorney, the immigration court can provide a list of pro bono legal service providers — see the related resources below.

Case information, the deportation officer, and G-28s

• Case-information requests and requests to identify a client’s Deportation Officer both go to the facility duty officer at BTV-dutyofficer@ice.dhs.gov. A G-28 must be on file before any information is disclosed.
• G-28s can be submitted through ERO eFile; facility staff do not have access to it, so bring a downloaded copy to any in-person or remote legal visit.

Booking legal video calls and legal phone calls

• VTC meetings and confidential legal calls must be requested through ERO eFile, and the representative must enter a Microsoft Teams link, meeting ID and passcode before choosing a time. ICE says Teams is the only supported video platform.
• Slots run 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, bookable up to 2 weeks ahead but no later than 48 hours before the appointment, in 30-minute intervals (two can be booked back to back for 60 minutes). No representative may have more than one 60-minute appointment with a detainee in a single day.
• Uploads: a scan of the representative’s government-issued ID, proof of active legal-representative status (such as a state bar card or attorney or paralegal license), and the eFiled G-28 unless the visit is pre-representational; a legal assistant joining alone also needs a letter of authorization on letterhead and a scan of the assistant’s ID.
• No slot available, or an emergency: call the facility line at (585) 344-6576.

Faxing legal documents during a video visit

ICE’s page presents this as an exception: when timely communication through the mail is not possible, the facility administrator may, at their discretion, allow a reasonable amount of communication between a legal representative and a detained client, and any such correspondence requires advance approval and the detainee’s presence when the fax is received. ICE lists (585) 201-7619 for sending and receiving legal paperwork only during a scheduled, in-progress virtual attorney visit. The cover sheet must give the sender’s name, the law office name and address, the detainee’s name and identification number, the return fax number, the number of pages and the date. Incoming faxes are placed in a sealed envelope, inspected for contraband but not read; ICE says faxes sent when the detainee is not present will be destroyed.

Feedback, complaints, and oversight

To report a concern about conditions at this facility or the conduct of an ICE or contract employee, contact the ERO Buffalo Field Office that oversees this facility, or file a complaint with the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL). On its own Make a Civil Rights Complaint page DHS publishes one channel — the online portal at engage.dhs.gov/crcl-complaint; CBP additionally publishes, for the same office, the e-mail address CRCL@dhs.gov, fax (202) 401-4708, and the postal address DHS/CRCL, Compliance Branch, 2707 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE, Mail Stop #0190, Washington, DC 20528-0190. The DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) hotline is 1-800-323-8603.

This facility’s own ICE page adds these channels:

• Comments on service, or a misconduct complaint to the field office: Field Office Director, Enforcement and Removal Operations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 130 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, New York 14202; for misconduct complaints ICE’s page also lists (716) 843-7600.
• ICE Office of Professional Responsibility (by mail): Director, Office of Professional Responsibility, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 500 12th Street, SW, Suite 1049, Mailstop 5099, Washington, DC 20536-5005.
• ICE OPR Integrity Coordination Center: 1-833-4ICE-OPR or ICEOPRIntake@ice.dhs.gov.

A news reporter who wants to interview someone held here must apply in writing to the Buffalo Field Office. ICE says a detainee has the right not to be interviewed, photographed or recorded, and the reporter must first obtain the detainee’s written permission.

ICE inspection record

ICE’s Office of Detention Oversight (ODO), part of ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility, inspected the facility on June 23–25, 2026 (ODO report). What the report says:

• Who runs it: the facility opened in 1998 and is owned and operated by Akima Global Services. ICE began housing detainees there in 1998 under ERO Buffalo. It is a dedicated ICE detention facility operating under PBNDS 2011 (Revised 2016), and it holds male detainees of low, medium-low, medium-high and high security classification for periods longer than 72 hours.
• Staffing and services: ERO deportation officers are assigned full time, on site Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Akima Global Services provides food service, the ICE Health Service Corps provides medical care, and Keefe Commissary Network provides commissary. The facility was accredited by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care in August 2024 and found DHS PREA compliant after a May 2024 audit.
• Findings: compliant with all 28 standards reviewed; no deficiencies, no priority-component or repeat deficiencies.
• Detainee interviews: ODO interviewed 24 detainees; none alleged discrimination, mistreatment or abuse, and all reported satisfaction with facility services.
• Rating: Superior, up from Acceptable/Adequate at the October 2024 inspection, when ODO cited 18 deficiencies in 10 standards (2 of them repeat deficiencies): Admission and Release (1), Contraband (1), Custody Classification System (2), Detainee Handbook (1), Grievance System (2), Key and Lock Control (1), Law Libraries and Legal Materials (1), Transportation by Land (3), Use of Force and Restraints (1) and Visitation (5).

DHS Inspector General inspection (report published June 3, 2025). Separately, the DHS Office of Inspector General made an in-person, unannounced inspection on September 10–12, 2024 of what it calls the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility (OIG-25-24). Its summary credits staff with compliance on facility conditions, kitchen standards, legal access, medical care, general-population recreation and the voluntary work program, and finds facility and ICE staff did not fully comply with the standards for use of force, staff-detainee communication, grievances, recreation in the special management unit, classification, admission and release, and medical unit staffing. Among its findings: one instance of an inappropriate use of force and two where staff should have used calculated rather than immediate force; detainees of different classification levels comingling in the same holding area; and vacant dentist and physician positions that caused delays in care. ICE concurred with all 10 recommendations.

Earlier inspections

• For October 24-26, 2023, ODO reported compliance with 22 of 29 standards under PBNDS 2011 (Revised 2016), with 14 deficiencies in the remaining 7 standards (ODO report).
• For May 3-5, 2022, ODO reported compliance with 10 of 18 standards under PBNDS 2011 (Revised 2016), with 11 deficiencies in the remaining 8 standards (ODO report).
• For April 26-29, 2021, ODO reported that none of four released detainees’ files contained an Order to Release (Form I-203) (ODO report).

ICE’s inspection index also lists these inspections of Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia:

• August 13–15, 2013.
• April 18–20, 2017.
• December 3–5, 2019.

Related procedural resources

• Know Your Rights — what to do if ICE detains you
• EOIR immigration court schedules and procedures
• BIA-recognized legal-aid organizations in New York
• Other ICE detention facilities in New York
• All facilities under the Buffalo Field Office