A small Georgia town appears to have successfully fought off plans for a massive immigration detention center. Social Circle, a rural community in Georgia, announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has canceled plans to convert a warehouse into a facility that could have held up to 10,000 detainees, making it one of the largest such centers in the country.
Local Opposition and Legal Action
The cancellation is reportedly part of a broader reversal under new DHS Director Markwayne Mullin, who has rolled back Trump administration efforts to expand detention capacity after spending $1 billion on warehouse acquisitions in recent months. The federal government had purchased the Social Circle warehouse for $128 million in early February—nearly five times its assessed value of $29 million in the previous year, according to city manager Eric Taylor.
Plans for the detention center would have tripled the local population, straining water and sewage systems, as well as local police and ambulance services. Despite being in a county where nearly 75% of voters supported Trump, residents mobilized against the plan. Taylor shut off the federal government's access to water at the warehouse in February, as reported first by the Guardian. He also contacted U.S. Representative Mike Collins and Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, who became involved. Groups like Indivisible Boldly Blue and Indivisible GA 10 also pushed back.
Last month, Social Circle became the first small town to sue the federal government over detention center plans, using a novel legal strategy. In late May, Taylor heard rumors that DHS was pulling out, confirmed by sources at DHS and Collins. However, no official written confirmation arrived. "At this point, we're not sure anyone's going to put it in writing," Taylor said. "From the very beginning, this is how this whole thing has evolved … we've had to piecemeal what the situation is."
Uncertain Future for the Warehouse
On Friday morning, Taylor expressed cautious optimism: "We hope everything is what it seems to be." DHS did not respond to a query from the Guardian. It remains unclear whether the agency will offer the warehouse to another federal agency or sell it to a private buyer. Taylor prefers the latter, as the federal government pays no taxes on the property. The former owners, PNK Group, paid about $300,000 in taxes last year. "If they want to consider giving it to us, we'll take it off their hands," Taylor said. But if the Trump administration retains ownership, he added, "Hopefully they've learned their lesson here and communicate with us from the very beginning."
Throughout the ordeal, Taylor fielded calls from national and international reporters, including from France and Japan. "I never thought I'd have to deal with anything of this magnitude," he said. "It's amazing the focus on this small town, just minding its own business."
