McCook Detention Center

McCook Detention Center is an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) detention facility located in McCook, Nebraska. It falls under the St. Paul 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 one number for this facility, (308) 345-8405, both to ask whether someone is held here (ICE lists it as answered between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.) and to leave an urgent message: leave the detainee’s full name and alien registration number (A-number), plus your own name and a phone number where you can be reached, and the detainee will be given your message. Detainees cannot receive incoming calls. Have the person’s biographical information ready: first, last and hyphenated names, any aliases, date of birth and country of birth.

ICE says this facility has tablets. To send a non-confidential message, go to gettingout.com and, as ICE’s page instructs, select “NCDS Work Ethic Camp” from the drop-down menu.

Visiting in person

ICE’s page for this facility (last updated 08/28/2026, checked October 15, 2026) lists weekend family visits split by the first letter of the detainee’s last name:

• Holiday visits are allowed on New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas, during the same time periods.
• All family and social visits are non-contact. Everyone entering is subject to a pat-down search, an inspection of belongings and a metal scan.
• Parking: ICE lists free public parking at the facility.

Sending mail, commissary funds, and personal items

For comparison, ICE’s National Detention Standards, Revised 2019, §5.1(E) require every facility to inspect all incoming general correspondence for contraband, and allow outgoing general mail to be inspected and/or read if it is addressed to another detainee or if there is reason to believe it might threaten the facility’s secure or orderly operation, endanger the recipient or the public, or facilitate criminal activity. Special correspondence (mail to or from attorneys and other legal representatives, courts and judges, embassies and consulates, members of Congress, DHS and Justice Department offices and the other senders the standard lists) follows separate rules by direction: incoming special correspondence is inspected for contraband in the detainee’s presence, while outgoing special correspondence is not opened, inspected or read under facility policy, and if a need exists any inspection takes place in the detainee’s presence. Staff may neither read nor copy special correspondence in either direction. 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).

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

• Letters must carry the detainee’s full name as part of the address and the last four digits of the A-number, plus the sender’s name and address. ICE gives this format:

Detainee Name
2309 US-83 N
McCook, NE 69001

• Items the facility will not accept by mail: packages, obscene or pornographic materials, personal checks, cashier’s checks, postage stamps or stamped envelopes, any type of food, and periodicals not sent directly from the publisher.
• Money: ICE says money is not to be given directly to the detainee. It can be placed on the detainee’s account by calling Talton at 1-866-348-6231, through gettingout.com, or by U.S. Postal Service money order to 2309 N. Highway 83, McCook, NE 69001, with the detainee’s name on the money order. ICE cautions against mailing cash.
• Packages: only items needed solely for travel or release from custody are allowed, with the ICE Deportation Officer’s approval; ICE says to contact the facility first to verify what is approved.
• Luggage for removal: one small piece is allowed; if the person has none, luggage can be sent or delivered after approval from the Supervisory Deportation Officer. No electronic devices are accepted.
• Transfers and departures: only legal mail is forwarded; general correspondence is returned to sender.

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 legal calls

• Case information: ICE directs requests about a person held here to stpaul.outreach@ice.dhs.gov, and says that mailbox does not accept applications for a stay of removal or case appeals.
• Deportation Officer: to learn who a client’s Deportation Officer is, ICE says to contact the Omaha ERO sub-office at (402) 536-4929 (fax (402) 536-4814). A G-28 must be on file before anything is disclosed. That Omaha number is also the one ICE’s page shows as the “Field Office Main Phone”; the St. Paul Field Office Director’s own number on the same page is (612) 409-7799.
• G-28s can be submitted through ERO eFile. Facility staff do not have access to it, so bring a downloaded copy of the submitted G-28 to any in-person or remote legal visit.
• Legal calls are set up through a gettingout.com account, where representatives can also leave a voicemail or message for a client. To keep calls unrecorded and unmonitored, representatives must submit an Attorney Request Form registering their phone numbers as confidential in the Talton system; ICE gives icesupport@talton.com for help. Only legal representatives, legal assistants, and interpreters will be allowed; no family or friends of the clients are permitted. Legal representatives and their staff may not record audio or video during any virtual or in-person visit or any call with detainees at the facility.
• Appointments or calls should be requested 24 hours ahead, run 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in 30- to 60-minute increments (ICE says requests for calls outside that window will be considered if necessary), and are limited to one 60-minute appointment per representative with a detainee per day. For further help, ICE gives the main office at (308) 345-8405, ext. 2, #1, to ask for a case manager.
• Legal documents by email or fax: representatives contact the facility for the email address or fax number, mark the subject line as legal correspondence, and include a cover sheet with the detainee’s full name, A-number, the return fax number, the page count and the notation “Legal Mail.” ICE says documents are inspected for contraband but not read, and requests are processed Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., excluding holidays. ICE’s page presents this route as an exception: when timely communication through the mail is not possible, the facility administrator may, at their discretion, allow a reasonable amount of electronic written communication between a detainee and their designated legal representative.

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 St. Paul 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, 1 Federal Drive, Suite 1640, Fort Snelling, Minnesota 55111, (612) 409-7799.
• 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.
• DHS OIG in writing: DHS Office of Inspector General/MAIL STOP 0305, Attn: Office of Investigations - Hotline, 245 Murray Lane SW, Washington, DC 20528-0305 (the address on the OIG’s own hotline page as of October 15, 2026; the older Murray Drive address shown on this facility’s ICE page is not listed there).

A news reporter who wants to interview someone held here must apply in writing to the St. Paul 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

As of October 15, 2026, ICE’s ODO facility inspections page lists no Office of Detention Oversight inspection report for McCook Detention Center (checked by facility name and city).

State announcement about inspection and the contract

• October 23, 2025 announcement: Nebraska’s governor reported that ICE inspectors had completed a final walk-through at the Work Ethic Camp in McCook that week and approved it for use. The announcement still described the detainee-arrival timeline as being arranged with DHS/ICE. Source.

• Contract described in that announcement: WEC would remain owned and operated by the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS), under an initial contract running through Sept. 29, 2027. Source.

• The governor’s October 23, 2025 announcement said additional modifications would allow the facility to house up to 300 detainees.

• The governor’s October 23, 2025 announcement said staffing would increase with the population to cover repurposed spaces, housing units and transportation needs.

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 Nebraska
• Other ICE detention facilities in Nebraska
• All facilities under the St. Paul Field Office