There are 2 ICE detention facilities located in New Jersey: the facilities ICE’s online detention facility directory (ice.gov/detention-facilities, filtered to New Jersey) lists as of October 15, 2026.
All ICE detention facilities in New Jersey
| Facility | City | Field Office | Facility phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delaney Hall Detention Facility | Newark | Newark | (973) 474-2200 |
| Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility | Elizabeth | Newark | (908) 352-3776 |
What “ICE detention” means in practice
Civil immigration detention is administrative — not criminal — custody held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the course of removal (deportation) proceedings or pending a custody determination by an immigration judge. Detainees are held under the authority of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), not state criminal codes, even when the physical facility is a county jail under an Intergovernmental Service Agreement (IGSA).
Each facility falls into one of four operational types: ICE Service Processing Centers (SPCs, owned by ICE), Contract Detention Facilities (CDFs, operated by private companies under direct contract with ICE), Intergovernmental Service Agreement (IGSA) facilities (state, county, or local jails housing ICE detainees under contract), and U.S. Marshals Service Intergovernmental Agreement (USMS IGA) facilities (jointly housing pretrial criminal detainees and ICE detainees). The four types do not share a single rulebook. ICE states that “[r]egardless of whether detention facilities are owned and operated by ICE, a state or local entity, or a contractor, all facilities housing ICE detainees must comply with one of several sets of detention standards” — the 2026 National Detention Standards, the 2025 National Detention Standards, the Non-Dedicated Intergovernmental Detention Standards (NDIDS), PBNDS 2011, NDS 2019, the Family Residential Standards 2020, or the Temporary Housing Standards (ICE, Detention Management). ICE’s per-facility directory pages do not generally say which of those sets a given facility follows, so visitation, legal access, medical care, telephone access and grievance rules can differ between two facilities in the same state — confirm them with the facility itself instead of assuming they match a neighbouring one.
How to find a detainee in custody
ICE publishes the Online Detainee Locator System (ODLS) at locator.ice.gov. To use ODLS you need either the detainee’s alien registration number (A-number, assigned by the Department of Homeland Security) plus country of birth, OR the detainee’s full first and last name plus country of birth plus date of birth. If the system returns no result, the detainee may have been transferred, released, removed, or may be too recently booked for the database to reflect. Neither the ODLS locator nor ICE’s “Locate a detainee” page states how long a new booking takes to appear (both checked October 3, 2026) — so treat an empty result as inconclusive and search again rather than as proof the person is not in custody. What ICE does state on the locator itself is that it covers someone “who is currently in ICE custody or who has been in U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s custody for more than 48 hours,” and that ODLS “cannot search for records of persons under the age of 18.” If you cannot find the person, ICE directs you to the responsible ERO field office; the ERO Detention Reporting and Information Line (DRIL) takes calls at 1-888-351-4024, Monday to Friday (excluding holidays), 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern.
Visitation rules common to all New Jersey ICE facilities
Under standard 5.7 (Visitation) of ICE’s 2011 detention standards (PBNDS 2011, one of the standard sets ICE applies; each facility’s page names its own), a facility sets written visiting procedures, including a schedule and hours, and makes them available to the public; no adult visitor may be admitted without government-issued photo identification, and all visitors are subject to identification and personal search. Each facility administrator decides whether to permit contact visits, as appropriate for the facility’s physical plant and detainee population, so check the facility’s ice.gov page before you go. The same standard says minors must remain under the direct supervision of an adult visitor. Attorneys, legal assistants, and accredited representatives (accredited by the Justice Department’s EOIR) have separate legal-visit access seven days a week; ICE’s standard sets a minimum of 8 hours a day on business days and 4 hours a day on weekends and holidays.
Related resources
- DMV procedures in New Jersey
- BIA-recognized legal aid in New Jersey
- Know Your Rights — ICE encounters
- ICE Online Detainee Locator System (official): locator.ice.gov
- EOIR immigration courts (where New Jersey detainees appear)
Information current as of 2026-05-27 based on the official ICE.gov detention facility directory. Facility addresses, phone numbers, and visitation rules change without notice. Always verify directly with the facility before traveling. This page is general information, not legal advice — consult an immigration attorney for your specific situation.