U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement may be considering opening a detention center at Portland International Airport.
According to recent news reports, the Acuity International global professional services company is advertising for jobs “overseeing the daily operational functions of an ICE detention facility.” The location of the jobs is listed as 7000 Northeast Airport Way in Portland, which is the airport owned by the Port of Portland.
Port officials say they have not been contacted by U.S. Homeland Security or any private contractors about such a facility, however.
KGW-TV first reported on Dec. 4 that job listings had been posted two days before seeking applications for a warden, assistant warden, security manager, quality assurance manager, unarmed guard supervisor and assistant operations manager.
The jobs are posted as “notional,” meaning the company is recruiting in anticipation of winning a government contract. They are similar to listing posted previously for a possible ICE facility in Newport that has not yet been officially confirmed.
The story was subsequently confirmed by other Portland TV stations, Oregon Public Broadcasting, The Oregonian and Willamette Week. None of them has received any comment from Homeland Security.
Mayor Keith Wilson’s office has not been notified about the possible facility, according to city spokesperson Cody Bowman.
“The City of Portland continues to receive limited and incomplete information from the federal government regarding ongoing ICE matters,” OPB reported Bowman as saying. “We have no additional information beyond what has been publicly posted. Mayor Wilson strongly opposes the presence of any ICE detention facility in Portland.”
ICE operates a facility in the Portland’s South Waterfront neighborhood that has been the scene of months of protests. It is not officially a detention center, although it has holding cells when people can he kept for up to 12 hours, according to its city permit. Portland officials say ICE has violated the permit numerous times and the city has moved to cancel it, which the building owner has appealed.
The City Council recently passed an ordinance creating a new “Detention Facility Impact Fee” and a “nuisance fee” targeting private property owners who lease to detention centers. It is primarily intended to offset city costs like police overtime and environmental cleanup caused by problems created at such facilities. The ordinance, which passed 9 to 2 on Dec. 3, 2025, allows city administrations to see the fees through the rule making process.
According to KGW-TV, NBC News reported in November that the Trump administration is looking to vastly expand the government’s detention capacity by buying large warehouses and retrofitting them as detention facilities for immigrants before they are deported.
On Nov. 29, ICE signed a new $29.9 million dollar contract with KPB Services LLC for concept design for “processing centers and mega centers through the United States.”