Otero County Processing Center

Otero County Processing Center is an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) detention facility located in Chaparral, New Mexico. It falls under the El Paso 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: (575) 824-0440, and says to call between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. (checked October 10, 2026). 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 facility’s main phone as (575) 824-0440 ext. 200. ICE says the facility has tablets, and that information on sending a non-confidential message is at gettingout.com.

Visiting in person

ICE’s page for this facility (last updated 08/12/2026, checked October 10, 2026) says “All family or other social visits are Non-contact.” It lists these friends-and-family periods:

ICE’s page adds that visits from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m., 7 days a week, are available by submitting a request to the Warden, subject to the availability of the visitation room and the facility’s security requirements.

• Length and group size: detainees are allotted one hour for a visit; 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, which ICE says “will be interpreted flexibly and is subject to exceptions.”
• Arrival and ID: all visitors must arrive 45 minutes before the scheduled visit to clear security. Adult visitors must present a valid, verifiable government-issued identification card; 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.
• Search and restrictions: no firearms or weapons of any kind; no electronic devices (cell phones, pagers, radios) in the secure areas; everyone entering is subject to a pat-down, a search of belongings and a metal scan, and anyone who refuses a reasonable search is not admitted. Visitors who are or appear intoxicated are turned away, nothing may be passed to a detainee, and no items may be carried into the visiting area.
• Parking: ICE lists free public parking at the facility, with designated visitor parking marked.

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 February 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

As of October 10, 2026, ICE’s page for this facility says:

• Letters must include the last four digits of the detainee’s A-number (File Number), plus the sender’s name and address. 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: the page we read on October 10, 2026 does not name a deposit service or a mailing address for money. It says only that funds detainees receive in the mail are taken to the processing area to be placed on their account, with a receipt from the processing officer, and that detainees are cautioned not to have cash sent to them in the mail. Ask the facility before sending money.
• Packages: limited to items needed solely for travel or release from custody, with the ICE Deportation Officer’s approval. Before sending one, ICE says to contact the Facility Warden: Warden-Otero County Processing Center, 26 McGregor Range Road, Chaparral, NM 88081.
• 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 (cell phones, electric razors, laptops, radios) are accepted.
• Stamps: detainees may buy them; indigent detainees (no means of 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 returned to sender.

For how deposit routes differ from facility to facility, see how to send money to someone in ICE detention.

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.

Legal visits, video calls and legal documents

ICE’s page for this facility publishes these channels for legal representatives (checked October 10, 2026):

• Case information: requests about people detained here go to ElPaso.Outreach@ice.dhs.gov. ICE notes that this 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 Otero Processing Center at (915) 834-4800; a G-28 must be on file before any information is disclosed.
• G-28s can be submitted through ICE’s online platform ERO eFile. Facility staff do not have access to ERO eFile, so representatives should bring a downloaded copy of the submitted G-28 to any in-person or remote legal visit.
• Video visits and legal calls are requested through ERO eFile, and each request must include the representative’s cell phone number or email in the Virtual Meeting Information section. For a phone-only legal call, note that request and provide the phone number the facility should call. ICE’s page says all video visits use the Socrates platform and that the facility does not support Teams, Webex, Zoom or other platforms; it also says the facility uses Socrates 360 for virtual legal visits and the electronic exchange of legal documents, including signing them, and links a Socrates 360 user guide for legal representatives. (ICE’s separate virtual attorney visitation flyer for Otero, dated 2025, still describes the service as running through Zoom; the facility page is the more recently updated of the two.) Appointments run Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and weekends and holidays, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., in 30-minute increments (two back-to-back appointments make 60 minutes); they can be booked up to two weeks ahead and no later than 24 hours before. If an appointment is no longer needed, please cancel or reschedule it in advance. No representative or paralegal may have more than one appointment with the same detainee in a single day unless the facility has approved a request for an extended (2-hour) appointment. The upload must include the representative’s government ID, proof of active legal-representative status (such as a bar card) and the ERO eFiled G-28 (unless the visit is pre-representational); if a legal assistant is the only legal representative joining the call, ICE says a letter of authorization on the firm’s or organization’s letterhead and a scan of the assistant’s identification should also be attached, and appointments without the required attachments may be subject to cancellation. Only legal representatives, legal assistants and interpreters may take part; the flyer bars video or audio recording by representatives and their staff. If no slot is available or there is an exigent circumstance, ICE’s page lists (575) 824-0440, ext. 100; the flyer adds the email otero-legalaccess@ice.dhs.gov.

Immigration court and free legal providers (Otero Immigration Court)

ICE says a list of pro bono (free) legal organizations, updated quarterly, is posted in the housing units, and that it is the detainee’s own responsibility to contact a provider for an appointment. ICE’s facility page does not name the immigration court that hears the cases of people held here, but EOIR’s Otero Immigration Court is at 26 McGregor Range Road, Door #1, Chaparral, NM 88081 — the facility’s own street address — and EOIR’s Immigration Court List – Administrative Control (updated October 1, 2026) lists “Otero County Processing Center, NM” under that court. EOIR’s court page (updated October 8, 2026, checked October 10, 2026) says there is no public transportation to the court, that it is located at the Otero detention center about a 40-minute drive from El Paso, that the court is in the last building off the road past the main detention center, and that visitors ring the doorbell at Door #2 and wait for court personnel. It lists public hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and window-filing hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday except federal holidays, and the general-inquiry email Otero.Immigration.Court@usdoj.gov. The court that actually hears a given case may still be a different one; confirm it from the A-number through EOIR’s hotline at 1-800-898-7180. On the October 2026 edition of EOIR’s List of Pro Bono Legal Service Providers, the entries under Otero Immigration Court are:

EOIR states that it does not endorse any of the organizations, referral services, or attorneys on its list.

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 El Paso 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 (checked October 10, 2026) adds these channels:

• Comments on the service provided, or a misconduct complaint to the field office: Field Office Director, Enforcement and Removal Operations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 11541 Montana Avenue, Suite E, El Paso, TX 79936, (915) 856-2317.
• 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, Attn: Office of Investigations - Hotline, 245 Murray Drive, Building 410 Stop: 2600, Washington, DC 20528 · fax (202) 245-5217 · DHSOIGHOTLINE@DHS.GOV.

A news reporter who wants to interview someone held here must apply in writing to the El Paso Field Office, Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations. 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 this facility on February 24–26, 2026 (ODO report, Inspection 2026-001-020). What the report says:

• Who runs it: the facility opened in 2008; it is owned by Otero County and operated by Management and Training Corporation (MTC). ERO began housing detainees there in 2008, under ERO El Paso. It is a dedicated ICE detention facility operating under the Performance-Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS) 2011 (Revised 2016), and it holds male and female detainees of low, medium-low, medium-high and high security classification for periods longer than 72 hours.
• Staffing and services: ERO supervisory deportation officers and deportation officers are assigned full time, on site Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. MTC provides food services and medical care, and Keefe Supply Company provides commissary. The facility was accredited by the American Correctional Association in November 2021 and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care in February 2022, and was DHS PREA certified after a December 2023 audit.
• Findings: compliant with all 29 standards reviewed; no deficiencies.
• Detainee interviews: ODO interviewed 34 detainees (three more declined); none alleged discrimination, mistreatment or abuse, and all 34 reported satisfaction with facility services.
• Rating: Superior. At the previous inspection (fiscal year 2025), which ICE’s inspection index dates November 5–7, 2024 (report), ODO reviewed 28 standards and found one deficiency, in Visitation, and also rated the facility Superior. The February 2026 report says ODO received the facility’s completed uniform corrective action plan from its last inspection.

ODO redacts bed-capacity and population counts in the published report; for population, see the ICE statistics box above. ICE lists every posted report on its ODO facility inspections page.

Earlier inspection

• February 1-5, 2021 — compliance inspection: ODO reviewed 20 standards under PBNDS 2011 (Revised 2016), found compliance with 16, and identified 16 deficiencies in the remaining four standards. ODO report.

• At the February 1-5, 2021 inspection, ODO reviewed 17 detainee files: 8 listed valuables, but four of those eight lacked valuable-property receipts (Form G-589). ODO report.

• In the February 1-5, 2021 report, ODO described department heads visiting each housing dorm weekly as a group to explain their departments; detainees could ask questions and raise general concerns. ODO report.

• In its February 1-5, 2021 report, ODO found that three out of nine restrictive-housing detainee files showed that required 72-hour reviews of administrative segregation had missed the deadline. ODO report.

• In the same February 2021 report, ODO found that four out of nine restrictive-housing detainee files showed that required 7-day reviews by a facility supervisor had missed the deadline. ODO report.

• In the February 2021 report, ODO found that two out of three detainees whose psychotropic-medication records it reviewed lacked signed informed-consent forms before the medication was administered; ODO says weekly monitoring of the forms began before the inspection ended. ODO report.

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 Mexico
• Other ICE detention facilities in New Mexico
• All facilities under the El Paso Field Office