Federal Detention Center in Honolulu to take in more ICE detainees

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Federal Detention Center (FDC) in Honolulu is set to take in more immigrant detainees after additional funding was approved for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

It’s unclear how many more migrant detainees will be sent to the facility and some wonder why they’d be flown to the islands from the continent in the first place.

“If there’s an actual policy reason for it that makes sense, that would be one thing,” said immigration lawyer Kevin Block.

The plan comes after President Donald Trump signed his Big Beautiful Bill, which allocates more money for ICE.

“That one, big ugly bill provided $45 billion in additional funding to ICE,” said Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii). “Make it one of the richest law enforcement entities in the federal government, if not in federal government history.”

Tokuda questioned whether any of the money could help equip Hawaii facilities with more resources,

“To make sure that we can actually house fidelity,” she said. “And when I mean fidelity, making sure they are safe, they are well and taken care of both physically and mentally.”

After visiting the center a few months ago, Tokuda raised concerns about migrant detainees being mixed in with criminal inmates awaiting trial.

“As we know, nationally, a majority of these migrants that are being sent to these encampments, whether it’s on the mainland or to the detention center here in Hawaii, have no criminal background, and yet they’re being housed in the same facility,” Tokuda said.

Block was at the facility last week and pointed out immigrant detainees are often moved from state to state, which he argues could complicate their constitutional right to legal representation.

“If I was an attorney on the continent and my client was in Honolulu at the FDC, I don’t know how I’d represent them,” Block said.

The center is one of several others approved to house more migrant inmates. It is unclear when more will be held there.