Northwest ICE Processing Center Overview
Northwest ICE Processing Center is the ICE detention facility in Tacoma at 1623 East J Street, Tacoma, WA 98421. Official and operator source material identifies the facility as civil immigration detention tied to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with private operation by GEO Group under federal contract. ICE's official facility listing search result reports the Supervisory Deportation Officer in charge can be reached at (253) 779-6000.
This facility is not a county jail. A person may appear in Pierce County Jail LINX while locally held on a criminal case or hold, but after transfer to ICE custody the correct lookup path is ICE's locator. It is also not a WADOC state prison or BOP prison. WADOC search is for Washington state sentenced custody. BOP locator is for federal Bureau of Prisons sentenced custody. ICE ODLS is for civil immigration detention.
ICE's official facility URL is Northwest ICE Processing Center, but direct automated access returned access denied during research. Use the official page in a browser and call the SDO line for facility-specific rules.
Northwest ICE Processing Center Capacity and Population
The official ICE page did not consistently expose capacity in accessible search text when reviewed. The facility operator has reported a capacity of 1,575 beds, but because that figure is operator-attributed rather than exposed in the official ICE search text, it should be described with that attribution and not treated as an ICE-published current population figure.
No current daily detainee population count was located in the official source material reviewed for this page. Capacity and population are different. Capacity describes the number of beds or potential operating scale; population describes how many people are detained at a given time. For a specific person, use ICE ODLS or call the facility's Supervisory Deportation Officer line rather than relying on aggregate figures.
How to Look Up a Detainee at Northwest ICE Processing Center
The correct online route is the ICE Online Detainee Locator System. Do not search Pierce County LINX, Puyallup BookingFind, or WADOC first when the person is believed to be in ICE custody. Those systems answer different custody questions. A county jail record may show a person only while locally held; ICE ODLS is the system for immigration detention after transfer.
ICE ODLS commonly supports searches by A-number and country of birth or by biographical details. Direct automated access to the locator returned a 403 during review, so use a normal browser session and follow the current ICE prompts. If the locator does not confirm custody or if biographical details are uncertain, call the Northwest ICE Processing Center SDO line at (253) 779-6000. For federal sentenced custody, use BOP Inmate Locator instead; BOP does not operate a prison physically located in Pierce County based on available official sources.
- Open ICE ODLS in a standard browser session.
- Search by A-number and country of birth when available.
- If no A-number is available, use the biographical search fields shown by ICE.
- Confirm the facility location before planning a visit or mailing anything.
- Call (253) 779-6000 when the locator does not resolve the custody question.
The ICE detainee locator is the official online entry point. When browser access is blocked or the search does not resolve the question, the SDO phone line is the practical fallback.
Northwest ICE Processing Center Address and Contact
The facility address is 1623 East J Street, Tacoma, WA 98421. ICE's official facility listing search result reports the Supervisory Deportation Officer line as (253) 779-6000. Because the direct ICE facility page was access denied during automated inspection, callers should confirm current visiting, mail, attorney, and property rules by using the official ICE page in a browser and calling the SDO line.
Northwest ICE Processing Center
1623 East J Street
Tacoma, WA 98421
(253) 779-6000
ICE Supervisory Deportation Officer line
Visiting Someone at Northwest ICE Processing Center
Accessible current visiting hours from ICE's facility page were not located because direct access returned an access-denied response. Do not borrow county jail, Puyallup, Remann Hall, or WADOC visiting tables for this facility. ICE detention visiting rules are facility-specific and should be confirmed through the official ICE page and the SDO line before travel.
Visitors should expect identification, security screening, approval, schedule, and custody-status checks, but the exact current hours and requirements must come from ICE. Attorneys and legal representatives should also confirm current legal-visit procedures directly with the facility. Immigration detention can involve rapid transfers, so a location confirmed one day may change later.
| Day | Hours | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Current schedule | Confirm with ICE | Facility-specific visitation |
| Legal visits | Confirm with ICE | Attorney or representative access |
| Phone fallback | (253) 779-6000 | SDO line from ICE facility listing |
Mail, Phone, and Money at Northwest ICE Processing Center
A current accessible ICE mail format, phone vendor, or money-deposit fee table for Northwest ICE Processing Center was not located in official source material reviewed for this page. Because this is civil immigration detention, do not apply Pierce County Jail's Securus and TouchPay rules, Puyallup's CTEL rules, Remann Hall juvenile rules, or WADOC prison rules. Use the ICE facility page and SDO line for current mail, phone, property, and money instructions.
Mailing or sending funds without checking current ICE rules can delay or reject the item. Confirm the person's full ICE detainee identity, location, required identification number, acceptable mail format, and permitted items before sending anything. If the person has not yet transferred to ICE, check the county or city jail system where they are still physically held.
| Service | Provider / Detail |
|---|---|
| Mail Address | Confirm current ICE format before sending |
| Phone / Video | No official provider documented here; call ICE SDO line |
| Money Deposit | No official fee table documented here; confirm with ICE |
ICE Intake and Transfers at Northwest ICE Processing Center
ICE detention is civil immigration custody. A person may move from local jail to ICE custody after local proceedings, after a hold, or through immigration enforcement. While the person is physically in Pierce County Jail or another local facility, a county or municipal roster may show the local custody record. Once transferred to Northwest ICE Processing Center, ICE ODLS and the SDO line become the appropriate custody-confirmation tools.
This distinction matters for court and family planning. A criminal case can have a court date in Pierce County while immigration custody is handled by ICE. County jail bond does not release a person from ICE custody if immigration detention remains. Likewise, a county roster may stop showing a person after transfer. Use court records for criminal case status, county or city rosters for local custody, and ICE ODLS for immigration detention.
About Northwest ICE Processing Center
Northwest ICE Processing Center has been central to Washington oversight, litigation, and public-policy discussions about private detention facilities. For this facility page, the key operational facts are the ICE identity, Tacoma location, SDO phone line, ICE ODLS lookup route, and custody distinction from county jail, state prison, and federal BOP custody.
Because official ICE direct access was blocked during automated research, facility-specific rules should be verified live before travel, mail, or money transfer. The operator-reported 1,575-bed capacity can be mentioned only with operator attribution. It should not be described as current ICE population, and it should not replace person-specific custody confirmation through ICE ODLS or the SDO line.
Note: Confirm detainee location, visiting rules, mail format, and any transfer status through ICE ODLS or the SDO line before traveling.