Port Isabel Service Processing Center

Port Isabel Service Processing Center is an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) detention facility located in Los Fresnos, Texas. It falls under the Harlingen 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: (956) 547-1700. 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). Confirm current hours by calling (956) 547-1700 or checking the official ICE page linked above.

Visiting in person

ICE publishes these visiting periods on its page for this facility (updated 08/06/2026; checked October 15, 2026). Weekend family visits are assigned by the first letter of the detainee’s last name:

Rules ICE lists for visitors: arrive 45 minutes before the scheduled visit to clear security; ICE’s page says both that “Visits shall not exceed one hour without prior approval” and that “Visit sessions will normally be a minimum of one hour depending upon the number of visitors and staff availability”; the ICE Supervisory Detention and Deportation Officer may authorize more time for family members traveling significant distances. Family and social visits are non-contact; contact visits need that officer’s case-by-case approval. Adults must show a valid, verifiable government-issued ID, minors need an adult guardian 18 or older, and only 1 minor at a time may accompany an adult during a non-contact visit. All items visitors bring for a detainee must be approved by the facility administrator or designee and go through the front-lobby officer, who inventories them and gives a receipt; a lobby kiosk is open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and accepts cash, debit and credit cards. No outside food is allowed past the metal detector, and ICE publishes a dress code for visitors 12 and older (for example, no shorts higher than mid-thigh, no sleeveless or muscle shirts for men, shoes at all times). Clergy may visit at any time with prior arrangements through the Chaplain’s Office. The detainee-information line (956) 547-1700 is answered 24 hours a day, and ICE points to www.gettingout.com for sending a non-confidential message to a detainee’s tablet.

Sending mail, commissary funds, and personal items

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 May 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

• Letters: must show the last four digits of the detainee’s A-number (File Number) plus the sender’s name and address. When a detainee leaves or is transferred, only legal mail is forwarded; general correspondence is returned to the post office marked Return to Sender.
• Money by mail: funds that arrive in the mail are taken to the processing area, placed on the detainee’s account and receipted; ICE cautions not to send cash.
• Packages: only items needed for travel or release, with the ICE Deportation Officer’s approval. Before sending one, contact the ICE Supervisory Detention and Deportation Officer at (956) 547-1700; the mailing address ICE gives is Port Isabel Detention Center, 27991 Buena Vista Blvd., Los Fresnos, TX 78566. A detainee being removed may have one small piece of luggage; if the detainee has none, it may be sent or delivered after the Supervisory Deportation Officer approves. No electronic devices are accepted.

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, legal visits and video calls

ICE’s Port Isabel legal-visitation flyer also states (checked October 17, 2026):

• Legal representatives and their staff may not make video or audio recordings 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.

• Attorneys without an ERO eFile account who want an in-person visit must show appropriate identification, such as a bar card from any state or other available documentation demonstrating bar membership.

• Case information: ICE directs requests to Harlingen.Outreach@ice.dhs.gov (no stay-of-removal applications or case appeals). To learn a client’s deportation officer, call the facility at (956) 547-1700; a G-28 must be on file. G-28s can be filed through ERO eFile, which facility staff cannot access, so ICE says to download a copy for any in-person or remote legal visit.

• In-person legal visits: daily, 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. They can be booked in advance through ERO eFile, first come first served, in 60- or 120-minute blocks; a 120-minute Extended time in-person appointment lets a representative meet several clients back to back. Walk-ins are still permitted, but scheduled visits get priority.

• Video and legal calls: booked through ERO eFile in 60-minute blocks, daily 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., up to 2 weeks ahead and no later than 24 hours before; ICE lists Zoom, WebEx, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet as platforms. Before selecting a time in ERO eFile, representatives should enter the platform, meeting ID and passcode in Virtual Meeting Information; for a phone-only call, indicate that request and include the legal-call number. Required uploads are government-issued ID, proof of active legal-representative status and the ERO eFiled G-28 (unless the visit is pre-representational). If a legal assistant is the only legal representative joining the call, the email should also attach authorization on the firm’s or organization’s letterhead and a scan of the assistant’s ID. No representative may have more than one 60-minute virtual appointment with a detainee in a single day. If no slot is open or there is an exigent circumstance, ICE lists lawvisit.pidc@akimaip.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 Harlingen 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.

ICE inspection record

ICE’s Office of Detention Oversight (ODO) inspected this facility on May 19–21, 2026 (ODO report, Inspection 2026-001-102), the most recent report for it on ICE’s ODO facility inspections page when we checked on October 15, 2026. What the report says:

• Who runs it: the facility opened in 1977, is owned by ICE and is operated by Akima Global Services; ERO began housing detainees there in 1985 under ERO Harlingen. It is a dedicated ICE detention facility under the PBNDS 2011 (Revised 2016), holding male and female detainees of low through high security classification for periods longer than 72 hours.
• Staffing and services: ERO deportation officers are on site Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Akima Global Services provides food, STG International provides medical care, and Keefe Commissary Network provides commissary. Accreditations: American Correctional Association (June 2021) and National Commission on Correctional Health Care (February 2023); DHS PREA certified after a June 2024 audit.
• Findings: compliant with 27 of 29 standards; 2 deficiencies. In 6 of 20 detainee hold rooms ODO observed there were no floor drains (a repeat deficiency), and the transfer notification form gave detainees no way to acknowledge in writing that they could make a free domestic phone call on arrival; the facility added that statement to the form during the inspection. ODO interviewed 31 detainees; none alleged discrimination, mistreatment or abuse, and all reported satisfaction with facility services.
• Rating: Good, the same as after the March 2025 inspection, which found 3 deficiencies (Food Service 1, Hold Rooms 2).

Earlier, the DHS Office of Inspector General reported on an unannounced inspection on February 1, 2023 (OIG-23-13): Port Isabel complied with standards for the voluntary work program, access to legal services and medical care, but not for segregation, and the OIG found unsafe conditions in the building used to house segregated detainees, torn bedding and plumbing problems in housing units, and too few medical staff for the facility’s contracted guaranteed minimum population or its maximum capacity. ICE concurred with eight of the nine recommendations.

ODO redacts bed-capacity and population counts in the published report; for population, see the ICE statistics box above.

Earlier inspections

• March 1–3, 2022: ODO’s inspection report found that the facility did not maintain a current inventory of hazardous substances on separate cards filed alphabetically by substance. ODO also found that the kitchen fire-suppression system was not connected to the fire annunciator panel in the control center.
• January 28–30, 2020: The Nakamoto Group, Inc.’s annual inspection report identified three (3) deficient components across three (3) standards: Environmental Health and Safety, Tool Control, and Personal Hygiene, one component in each.

Postage assistance and mail timing

According to ICE’s Port Isabel facility page (checked October 23, 2026):

• ICE provides a postage allowance at government expense to indigent detainees, defined as those with no means of financial support and no funds in their facility account.
• ICE says all incoming mail is delivered to the detainee and outgoing mail is routed to the proper postal office within 24 hours of receipt by facility staff.

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 Harlingen Field Office