Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility

About our facility

The Elizabeth Service Processing Center (Elizabeth SPC) is located in Elizabeth, New Jersey, a heartbeat away from the New York metropolitan area. The medical clinic opened its doors in 1997, and serves a population of 325 male and female detainees.

Meet our staff and see what we do

Operated by the Division of Immigration Health Services (DIHS), the ambulatory clinic is staffed by a dedicated group of skilled professionals, comprised of Public Health Service officers, civil service and contract support staff. These employees carry out the DIHS mission to protect America by providing health care and public health services in support of immigration law enforcement.

The clinic is operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The clinic consists of three examination rooms, one screening room, a pharmacy, an urgent care room, a medical records room and two administration offices. Over 8,000 patient visits are handled by the clinic each year, and the detainees hail from over 30 different countries. Their average length of stay is 45-60 days. Detainees are seen in the clinic daily for sick call, physical examinations, laboratory and X-ray procedures, infectious diseases and management of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension.

Our clinic has the distinction of a triple accreditation. We are accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), the National Commission on Correctional Healthcare (NCCHC) and American Correctional Association (ACA). In addition to clinical roles, our proximity to three international airports gives USPHS officers the opportunity to go on domestic and international medical escorts and a variety of special assignments. Although we may be a small clinic, we encompass the DIHS spirit by adding dignity to a necessary process of alien detention, serving without fanfare at the forefront of public health protection for the American populace!

Our Location

Elizabeth, New Jersey is one of the greatest cultural areas in the United States. It is only ten miles from downtown Manhattan, minutes from Newark, NJ and seventy miles from Philadelphia. Elizabeth is close to lots of activities from shopping and sightseeing to cultural and sporting events.

Places to go, People to see

So if you fancy the greatest collection of museums in the U.S., the best that Broadway has to offer, or shopping like you've never experienced, the Elizabeth SPC is a place to consider. For those who work hard and need to unwind after a long day, the facility is merely an hour's drive from New Jersey's famous beaches and beach towns that Bruce Springsteen immortalized in so many of his songs. A two-hour drive will get you to the Catskill, Pocono and Adirondack Mountains.

For the avid sports fan, we are the home of the NY Giants, NJ Jets, NJ Nets, and the NJ Devils. A short ride will get you to the NY Knicks, NY Islanders, NY Yankees, Philadelphia Eagles or Phillies games. The area is a mecca for equestrian events. We have great fishing in the Atlantic waters and hunting in nearby Pennsylvania and New York.

To learn more

About the Division of Immigration Health Services' Elizabeth Detention Center and the clinical and administrative opportunities available, please contact us at the address below: