Anchorage Correctional Complex — State prison holding ICE detainees under USMS contract · AK · 450 beds (Cook Inlet Pretrial unit used for ICE) · Alaska Department of Corrections

Overview

The Anchorage Correctional Complex (ACC), operated by the Alaska Department of Corrections, serves as the primary ICE detention facility in Alaska. ICE detainees are held in the Cook Inlet Pretrial unit, a roughly 450-bed facility that is part of the larger complex. Alaska DOC receives $223.70 per detainee per day under an existing contract with the U.S. Marshals Service/DHS.

Key Events

June 2025: Out-of-State Transfer Crisis

On June 8, 2025, ICE flew 42 men from the Northwest ICE Processing Center (Tacoma, WA) to the ACC to relieve overcrowding. The men came from 22 countries. Two were transferred back to Washington state immediately; 40 remained. After approximately one month, 35 remaining detainees were transferred out of state (by July 1, 2025).

Conditions Complaints

Attorneys testified before the Alaska House Judiciary Committee (June 20, 2025) that detainees experienced:

Overcrowding: 3 people per cell
Lengthy lockdowns despite no criminal charges
Overuse of handcuffs
Limited attorney/family access — calls denied or restricted
Strip searches after attorney visits
Use of force by DOC staff
Language barriers — communication access inadequate

The ACLU of Alaska sent a letter to state AG Treg Taylor demanding that ICE detainees not be held more than 72 hours unless conditions improved.

Pepper-Ball Use of Force (revealed May 2026)

A May 4, 2026 Washington Post investigation of internal ICE use-of-force records documented an incident at an Alaska ICE-holding facility in which guards fired pepper balls (chemical-filled plastic spheres) into a communal space, producing “orange clouds of chemical dust.” Among those affected was Pedro Cantú Ríos, 68, who has a lung condition and said he was left gasping for air. The sergeant’s incident report did not indicate detainees acted violently or were on the verge of violence; guards escalated rather than de-escalating or consulting supervisors, as ICE rules require. All detainees were then locked in cells for at least two days without showers or clean clothes; Cantú Ríos was denied a doctor visit for at least a day. He was subsequently deported to Mexico.

Second Facility: Hiland Mountain (March 2026)

ICE detention in Anchorage Municipality is no longer confined to ACC. In March 2026, ICE held a pregnant detainee (Valeria Mendoza Santiago) at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center, the state women’s prison in Eagle River (also FIPS 02020), before a federal court ordered her release. (See county-fight: anchorage-ak-pregnant-woman-hiland-mountain.)

Ongoing Use (2025-2026)

The facility continues to hold ICE detainees arrested within Alaska (as opposed to the June 2025 overflow event). From January 2025 through mid-January 2026, 99 people were held in Alaska jails on behalf of ICE, with ACC as the primary holding location.

Legal Framework

Alaska DOC describes itself as a “downstream agency” carrying out a contractual obligation with DHS/ICE to temporarily house detainees. The arrangement predates the 2025 enforcement surge — it exists under a general federal detainee contract with the U.S. Marshals Service.

Why It Matters

ACC represents an unusual model: a state-run correctional facility being used for immigration detention, with conditions designed for criminal custody applied to civil immigration detainees. The June 2025 overflow event demonstrated that Alaska’s remoteness does not insulate it from the national detention capacity crisis — ICE actively flew detainees TO Alaska to relieve pressure elsewhere.

Detention Pipeline

Anchorage Correctional Complex — State prison holding ICE detainees under USMS contract