Federal Detention Center, Honolulu (FDC Honolulu)

Federal Detention Center, Honolulu (FDC Honolulu) is an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) detention facility located in Honolulu, Hawaii. It falls under the San Francisco 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: (808) 529-1970. Give the detainee’s full name, alien registration number (A-number), and your name and a phone number where you can be reached; the facility passes the message on. The general facility line (808) 838-4200 is for other questions. 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 says calls about a detainee to (808) 529-1970 are taken between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. (checked October 16, 2026). Visiting rules are below.

Sending mail, commissary funds, and personal items

Each facility publishes its own exact format for letters; ICE’s format for FDC Honolulu is listed below under What ICE publishes for this facility’s mail, money, and packages. 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 2019 national standard allows more than that. Under ICE’s National Detention Standards, Revised 2019, §5.1(E) — cited here for comparison only, because we have not confirmed which detention standard governs this facility — incoming general mail is opened and inspected for contraband, and outgoing general mail may be inspected and read if it is addressed to another detainee or staff have reason to believe it threatens the facility’s security or order, endangers someone, or could facilitate criminal activity. Only special correspondence — mail to or from attorneys and other legal representatives, courts and judges, government attorneys, embassies and consulates, the President and Vice President of the United States, members of Congress, the Department of Justice (including the immigration courts), DHS (including ICE/ERO, IHSC, CRCL and the DHS Inspector General), grievance administrators, and the news media — may not be read or copied by staff. Incoming special correspondence is inspected for contraband in the detainee’s presence; outgoing special correspondence is not opened, inspected or read, and if a need exists, any inspection takes place in the detainee’s presence. The standard limits any inspection to detecting physical contraband and confirming that enclosures qualify as special correspondence. Mail counts as special correspondence only if the envelope unambiguously identifies the title and office of the sender (incoming mail) or of the addressee (outgoing 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 (File Number), the BOP register number, plus the sender’s name and address, and go to this address (checked October 16, 2026):

FDC Honolulu
Federal Detention Center
P.O. Box 30080
Honolulu, HI 96820

• Incoming mail is screened for contraband. Outgoing mail is routed to the post office within 24 hours of receipt by facility staff, and a mail pick-up and delivery schedule is posted in all housing units.
• Money: ICE’s page says “Do NOT send money to an inmate using this facility’s address.” Funds sent through the mail must be addressed to a processing center, and funds can be sent electronically via MoneyGram or Western Union to a BOP-managed facility. ICE refers senders to the FDC Honolulu website (bop.gov) for the complete instructions.
• Funds by mail (Bureau of Prisons): the Bureau of Prisons’ FDC Honolulu page says all funds sent through the mail must be addressed to a processing center in Des Moines, Iowa, and that this applies to all federal inmates, regardless of where they are incarcerated (checked October 19, 2026).
• Electronic messages: the facility has the Trust Fund Limited Inmate Computer System (TRULINCS) for non-confidential messages; ICE refers senders to the Bureau of Prisons’ communications page for how to use it.
• Packages: a detainee may receive only items determined to be of necessity for the sole purpose of travel or release from custody, with approval of the ICE Deportation Officer. ICE asks senders to call ICE ERO Honolulu at (808) 529-1970 to speak to a staff member before sending a package.
• Stamps: detainees may buy them; indigent detainees (no means of financial support and no funds in their facility account) get a postage allowance at government expense.
• Transfers and departures: only legal mail is forwarded; general correspondence is endorsed “Return to Sender” and returned to the post office.
• Luggage for removal: one small piece is allowed; if the person has none, luggage can be sent or delivered after approval from a Supervisory Deportation Officer. No electronic devices (cell phones, electric razors, laptop computers, radios, etc.) are accepted.

Visiting in person

• Friends and family: ICE says the most up-to-date visiting protocol and visiting hours are on the facility’s own website, FDC Honolulu (bop.gov), and refers visitors to the Bureau of Prisons’ guide on how to visit a federal inmate (checked October 16, 2026).
• All family or other social visits are non-contact.
• Everyone requesting admittance to the facility or the visitation area is subject to a pat-down search, an inspection of belongings and a metal scan; anyone refusing a reasonable search will not be admitted. Visitors may not pass or attempt to pass items to detainees, may not carry any items into the visitation area, and may not bring firearms or weapons of any kind. No electronic devices (cell phones, pagers, radios, etc.) are permitted in the secure areas.
• Clergy may visit but must make prior arrangements with the Chaplain’s Office.
• Consular officials may meet their detained nationals at any time; ICE requests that they make prior arrangements with the ICE Supervisory Deportation Officer, at (808) 529-1970, to the extent possible, and bring appropriate credentials.
• Special Housing Unit video visits: FDC Honolulu’s Admission & Orientation Handbook (updated May 2, 2022; checked October 17, 2026) says people housed in the Special Housing Unit (SHU) receive social visits through the video visiting program: visitors sit at a video monitor in the institution’s front lobby and the inmate at a monitor in the SHU. The handbook says such a visit may not exceed two (2) hours, and only one visit is conducted at a time, with three (3) total visitors.
• Family emergencies: the same handbook says that, at the inmate’s request, the Unit Team may submit a special visit request to the Unit Manager for approval.
• Violations: the handbook says any violation of visiting privileges may result in disciplinary action and/or loss of visiting privileges and possible criminal prosecution of the visitor.
• Parking: ICE says free public parking is available at the facility.

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 main line of EOIR (the Justice Department agency the BIA belongs to) is (703) 305-0289. 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.

Booking legal visits, video calls, and legal calls

• Walk-in legal visits: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday to Friday (checked October 16, 2026).

• After hours and weekends: legal visits are permitted only with arrangement with FDC Honolulu by calling (808) 838-4200; ICE says that per ICE detention standards FDC Honolulu permits 4 hours on weekends and holidays.

• Legal calls or video teleconferencing: legal service providers request them by contacting FDC Honolulu at (808) 838-4200.

• G-28s can be submitted through ERO eFile. Facility staff do not have access to ERO eFile, so ICE tells representatives to download copies of the submitted G-28 for any in-person or remote legal visit.

• Case information: requests about people detained here go to SanFrancisco.Outreach@ice.dhs.gov; this mailbox does not accept applications for Stay of Removal or Case Appeals.

• Deportation Officer: ICE says representatives can learn who a client’s Deportation Officer is from the San Francisco Field Office, Honolulu Sub-office Detained Officer at (808) 529-1970; a G-28 must be on file for any information to be disclosed.

• Law library: FDC Honolulu’s Admission & Orientation Handbook (updated May 2, 2022; checked October 17, 2026) says the Main Law Library and access to legal copies are open 6:00 AM to 2:30 PM, Monday through Friday, in the Education Department on the second level, and that extra law library time requires an Inmate Request to Staff form submitted at least one (1) week before the requested time.

• Pretrial legal-access handbook: the Bureau of Prisons’ FDC Honolulu page links a Pretrial Detention Legal Access Handbook on how adults in pretrial detention can access the courts and their attorney, with versions in other languages, including Spanish (checked October 19, 2026).

• ICE says a list of pro bono (free) legal organizations is posted in all detainee housing units and updated quarterly, and that it is the detainee’s responsibility to contact an organization for an appointment.

• Photocopy requests: BOP’s FDC Honolulu handbook, updated May 2, 2022, says an Inmate Request to Staff form goes to the Unit Officer well before the unit’s designated law-library day for photocopying.

• Copy cards: the same handbook lists copier debit cards at $6.50 for 50 copies per card, sold in the commissary, with the debit photocopier in the Education Department.

• Typewriter access: the same handbook requires an Inmate Request to Staff form for use of a typewriter in the main library on the second floor; it restricts the library’s IBM typewriters to legal use.

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 San Francisco 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 (checked October 16, 2026):

• Comments on service, or a misconduct complaint to the field office: Field Office Director, Enforcement and Removal Operations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 630 Sansome Street # 590, San Francisco, CA 94111.
• 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 San Francisco Field Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations. ICE says a detainee has the right not to be interviewed, photographed or recorded by the media, and the reporter must first obtain the detainee’s written permission. Media inquiries about ICE go to ICEMedia@ice.dhs.gov.

287(g) agreements: ICE's 287(g) participating-agencies workbook, dated October 9, 2026, lists no agency in Hawaii. (source: ICE · what 287(g) is)

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 Hawaii
• Other ICE detention facilities in Hawaii
• All facilities under the San Francisco Field Office