IAH Polk Adult Detention Facility

IAH Polk Adult Detention Facility is an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) detention facility located in Livingston, Texas. It falls under the Houston 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.

ICE publishes two different numbers for this facility. To ask whether someone is held here, call (936) 967-1700. To leave an urgent message for a detainee, call (936) 967-8000 and give the detainee’s full name, alien registration number (A-number), and your name and telephone 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, (936) 967-1700, as answered between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. ICE also says this facility has tablets; information on sending a non-confidential message is on the operator’s page at mtctrains.com/facility/iah-detention-center, the address ICE gives.

Visiting in person

ICE’s page for this facility (last updated 08/12/2026, checked October 15, 2026) lists one family and friends visiting period: Wednesday through Sunday, 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. ICE says the facility will try to accommodate visits subject to the availability of the visitation room and security requirements.

• Length and group size: detainees are allotted one hour; the Assistant Warden may authorize more time for family members traveling significant distances, depending on the number of visitors and staff availability. A maximum of two adults and two children may visit at one time; ICE says this rule will be interpreted flexibly and is subject to exceptions.
• All family and other social visits are non-contact. Visitors must arrive 15 minutes before the scheduled visit time.
• Adult visitors need a valid, verifiable government-issued ID. Minors must be accompanied by an adult guardian (18 or older) and may not be left alone anywhere in the facility.
• Everyone entering is subject to a pat-down, a search of belongings and a metal scan; no electronic devices are allowed in secure areas. ICE lists free public parking at the facility.

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 2019 national standard allows more than that. Under ICE’s National Detention Standards, Revised 2019, §5.1(E) — cited here for comparison only, because ICE’s Office of Detention Oversight inspected this facility in December 2025 under the National Detention Standards (NDS) 2025 instead (inspection report), and we have not reviewed that standard’s mail rules — 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); PBNDS 2011 also requires the envelope to be labeled “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.
• Money: as of October 15, 2026, ICE’s page for this facility names no deposit vendor, phone line or mailing format; it says only that funds received in the mail are placed into the detainee’s account with a receipt, and it cautions against mailing cash. Ask the facility at (936) 967-8000 how deposits are accepted.
• Packages: before sending one, contact the Facility Warden at IAH – Secure Adult Detention Facility, 3400 FM 350 South, Livingston, Texas 77351. Only items needed solely for travel or release from custody are allowed, with the ICE Deportation Officer’s approval.
• For removal, one small backpack is allowed; if the person has none, one can be sent after approval from the Supervisory Deportation Officer. ICE says no electronic devices are accepted except a cellphone and charger; electric razors, laptops and radios are among the prohibited items.
• Stamps: detainees may buy them; indigent detainees get a postage allowance at government expense. On a transfer or departure only legal mail is forwarded.

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.

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

• Case-information requests go to Houston.Outreach@ice.dhs.gov. ICE notes that this mailbox does not accept applications for a stay of removal or case appeals.
• Finding a client’s Deportation Officer: ICE directs representatives to ERO Houston at the IAH Secure Adult Detention Facility, (936) 967-1700. 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 virtual legal visits and legal calls

ICE’s IAH Polk virtual attorney visitation flyer adds these rules (checked October 17, 2026):

• Subject to availability, video visitation may also be used for other confidential interviews by USCIS or forensic medical evaluators, or for special visits concerning child welfare.

• Legal representatives and their staff may not record video or audio during virtual or in-person visits or calls with people held at the facility. Violations may result in suspension or permanent revocation of Virtual Attorney Visitation (VAV) user privileges.

• Requests go through ERO eFile and must include the representative’s cell phone number or email in the Virtual Meeting Information section. All video visits use the Socrates platform (the facility does not support Teams, Webex, Zoom or other platforms); for a phone-only call, give the number the facility should call. Upload a scan of the representative’s government-issued ID, proof of active legal-representative status, and a copy of the attorney’s ERO eFiled G-28 unless this is a pre-representational visit; appointments without these attachments may be cancelled. If a legal assistant is the only legal representative joining, they should also attach an authorization letter on the firm’s or organization’s letterhead and a scan of the assistant’s ID. Only legal representatives, legal assistants and interpreters may attend; clients’ family and friends are not permitted.

• Slots run Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and weekends and holidays, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., in 60-minute increments, bookable up to 2 weeks ahead and no later than 24 hours before. No representative may have more than one 60-minute meeting with a client in a single day.

• The facility uses Socrates 360 for both virtual legal visits and the electronic exchange (and signing) of legal documents. For a medical or mental-health evaluator request under PBNDS 2011 Sections 5.7 (V.N.1) and 4.3 (V.FF), the written request goes in the Attorney Authorization Letter field and the evaluator’s licensure or CV in the Medical/Mental Health Evaluators field.

• No slot available, or an emergency: (936) 967-8000 ext. 244 or IAH.VAV@mtctrains.com.

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 Houston 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, 126 Northpoint, Houston, Texas 77060, (281) 774-4816.
• 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 Houston 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

Earlier inspection details.

• October 2021: ODO’s report says it assessed 19 standards under NDS 2019, found compliance with 16 and identified four deficiencies in the remaining three. ODO also found no post order for closely observing a detainee in dry-cell status.
• February 2025: ODO’s report says that, among 25 hold-room logs reviewed, 36 of 605 entries recorded monitoring intervals between 16 and 45 minutes.

ICE’s Office of Detention Oversight (ODO), part of ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility, inspected the facility, which it calls the IAH Secure Adult Detention Facility (Polk), on December 16–18, 2025 (ODO report). What the report says:

• Who runs it: the facility opened in 2007, is owned by Polk County and is operated by Management & Training Corporation. ICE began housing detainees there in 2007 under ERO Houston. It is a dedicated ICE detention facility operating under the National Detention Standards (NDS) 2025, 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 and a detention services manager are assigned full time, on site Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Management & Training Corporation provides food service and medical care, and Lone Star Commissary provides commissary. The facility was accredited by the American Correctional Association in February 2023 and was DHS PREA certified after a June 2024 audit.
• Findings: compliant with 23 of 24 standards; 2 deficiencies in 1 standard (Correspondence and Other Mail), no priority-component deficiencies. The detainee handbook did not explain how to obtain pens or pencils, paper and envelopes, or how to buy postage; the compliance manager updated the handbook before the inspection ended, so ODO recorded both as corrective actions.
• Detainee interviews: ODO interviewed 47 detainees; none alleged discrimination, mistreatment or abuse, and all 47 reported satisfaction with facility services.
• Rating: Superior, up from Good at the February 2025 inspection under NDS 2019, when ODO cited 5 deficiencies, 2 of them priority components: Admission and Release (1), Hold Rooms in Detention Facilities (1), Sexual Abuse and Assault Prevention and Intervention (1), Significant Self-harm and Suicide Prevention and Intervention (1) and Visitation (1).

287(g) agreements in Polk County

This facility is in Polk County, Texas (per the U.S. Census Bureau geocoder for the address ICE publishes). ICE's 287(g) participating-agencies workbook, dated October 9, 2026, records 3 agreements with agencies in that county:

Source: ICE, 287(g) program (participating-agencies workbook). A 287(g) agreement is between ICE and the law-enforcement agency; on its own it says nothing about this facility. What each model means · all agreements by state.

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 Texas
• Other ICE detention facilities in Texas
• All facilities under the Houston Field Office