ICE Detention in Hawaii: How to Find and Support a Detained Loved One

Hawaii is unlike anywhere else in the country when it comes to immigration detention. There is just one facility in the islands that holds people for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE: the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu. And because Hawaii is so isolated, custody can move in two directions. People detained in Hawaii may be sent to the mainland, and, unusually, ICE has also been transferring people from the mainland to Honolulu, sometimes thousands of miles from their families. Whether your person was detained in Hawaii or sent there from elsewhere, the two most urgent things you can do are the same: find exactly where they are being held, and get an immigration attorney involved right away.

It helps to understand the nature of this. ICE detention is civil, not criminal. A person is not being held as punishment for a crime; they are being held to secure their presence for immigration proceedings or removal. And unlike criminal court, immigration court does not provide a free, government appointed lawyer, which matters even more in Hawaii, where the number of immigration attorneys is small.

One number matters more than anything else through all of this: the Alien Registration Number, called the A-Number. It is a nine digit number assigned to the case, found on immigration paperwork, a work permit, or court notices. Write it down and keep it close, because it follows your person wherever they are held, and it is the key to locating them, posting any bond, and working with a lawyer.

How to find someone in ICE custody

ICE runs a free public tool called the Online Detainee Locator System, at locator.ice.gov. You can search by the A-Number, which is the most reliable way, or by the person's full name plus their country of birth and date of birth.

A few things make the difference between finding your person and coming up empty. The locator only matches names spelled exactly the way the government entered them, so if you get no result, try different spellings, swap the order of first and last names, and try with and without a middle name. Children under 18 do not appear in the system at all. And there can be a lag of a day or more before a newly detained person shows up.

Because people can be moved across an ocean in either direction, check the locator again every few days. If you cannot find your person, call the ICE detention reporting line at 1-888-351-4024. Hawaii is overseen by the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations San Francisco field office through its Honolulu sub office, which can be reached at 808-529-1970.

Where ICE holds people in Hawaii

The one facility is the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu, on the island of Oahu near Honolulu Harbor. It is run by the federal Bureau of Prisons and holds a mix of people: pretrial federal defendants, sentenced inmates, and people held for ICE. Since early 2025, it has been one of a small number of Bureau of Prisons facilities around the country that set aside space specifically for ICE detainees, with a block of beds reserved for that purpose. The same facility also serves the Pacific territories, including Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

There is no other ICE detention facility in the islands, so a person detained on a neighbor island is generally brought to Oahu. One important practical detail: people held there cannot receive incoming phone calls, so you will need to set up other ways to stay in contact, which we cover below.

The two directions of transfer

What makes Hawaii distinctive is that ICE can, and does, move people in both directions. ICE has broad authority to transfer people to almost any facility regardless of where they were arrested. So someone detained in Hawaii may be moved to a mainland facility, and someone arrested on the mainland may be sent to Honolulu. There have been cases of people transferred to Honolulu from as far away as California and Florida.

For families, this has two consequences. First, do not assume your person stays put; keep checking the locator. Second, the distance makes legal representation and family contact genuinely hard, and Hawaii has only a small number of immigration attorneys, so getting help early is especially important. It is also worth planning ahead with a lawyer for the possibility of release in an unfamiliar place far from home.

How someone ends up in ICE custody in Hawaii

In Hawaii, people are most often taken into immigration custody through ICE's own enforcement rather than through local jails. That has included arrests at ICE offices, at state courthouses, and in community and workplace operations, including on the neighbor islands. If a person is booked into a local jail on other matters, ICE can place a detainer, which is a request to hold them for up to 48 hours so ICE can take custody. If your person was arrested, ask an attorney exactly how they came into ICE custody, because the circumstances can matter to the case.

How the process and your person's rights work

Immigration cases are handled in immigration court, run by a separate agency called the Executive Office for Immigration Review, not by ICE. Hawaii has an immigration court in Honolulu, and you can check case status through the court's automated system using the A-Number.

Here is what families most need to know about rights. A detained person has the right to be represented by a lawyer, but at their own expense, because the government does not provide one in immigration proceedings. They have the right to a list of free or low cost legal service providers. They generally have the right to a hearing before an immigration judge, and in many cases the right to ask that judge for release on bond, though some people fall under mandatory detention and are not eligible. An immigration attorney can tell you quickly which category applies. One more thing worth knowing: a detained person should not sign documents giving up their rights, such as a voluntary departure form, without talking to a lawyer first.

How families can help from the outside

Find a lawyer first, and do it early. Hawaii has only a handful of immigration attorneys and nonprofit legal clinics, and they carry heavy caseloads, so reaching out quickly matters. Have the A-Number ready when you call.

Set up communication, knowing the person cannot receive incoming calls. Put money on their account so they can make outgoing calls and buy commissary, and confirm with the facility how its phone and mail systems work. Keep time zone differences in mind when you expect a call.

Track any transfer. Because a move across the ocean changes everything about contact and the case, keep checking the locator so you always know where your person is.

Keep the paperwork organized. Hold onto every document with the A-Number, every court notice, and every receipt, and share copies with the attorney.

Staying connected matters more than anything

Through all of the logistics, do not underestimate the simple power of staying in touch. Few situations are as isolating as being detained across an ocean, far from everyone you know, and steady contact from home is one of the few things that genuinely helps a person hold on. With incoming calls not allowed, written contact carries even more weight here.

Letters and photos are the backbone of that connection. They are something your person can keep, read again on a hard night, and hold as proof that home has not let go. InmateAid can help you send physical mail and photos to your loved one, printed and delivered the right way so it reaches them inside. Use it to send pictures of family, words of encouragement, or simply a reminder that someone is fighting for them on the outside. That steady contact, alongside a good lawyer, is the most practical support you can give while the case moves forward.