Detained in Georgia: Georgia’s immigration detention system and the people it affects

This story was provided by 285 South media partner WABE.

Georgia has consistently held some of the highest numbers of people in immigration detention. Now, as President Donald Trump has pushed aggressive immigration enforcement policies, the numbers continue to climb. 
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detains thousands of immigrants in facilities across the state, mostly in rural communities in south Georgia. 

In WABE’s series, “Detained in Georgia,” we visit one of those communities to tell the stories of people who have lived in the area for decades, people who are detained there now and people who travel there in order to assist those in detention. 

Immigration detention in Georgia

There are three immigration detention centers in Georgia. Irwin County Detention Center, which had been closed following allegations of medical abuse, recently resumed operations. Folkston ICE Processing Center is expanding. Stewart Detention Center is already one of the largest detention centers in the country.  

Stewart is just outside Lumpkin, Georgia, a largely rural place with no library, no doctor’s offices and no grocery stores in the immediate area. 

Though Stewart Detention Center employs locals, Lumpkin is an economically stressed town with a dwindling population. There are more people detained in Stewart than there are residents of Lumpkin. 

That has an effect not just on the people who call Stewart County home, but also on the people being held in the detention center. It’s tough for them to find attorneys. It’s hard for their families to visit them.

There have been complaints about a lack of access to medical care at Stewart Detention Center, and about sexual assault and forced labor. Advocates say the facility has some of the most detainee deaths out of any facility in the country, as 13 people have died there since the facility opened in 2006. In statements over the years, spokesmen for CoreCivic, the company that runs SDC, have said it always passes random inspections from ICE and meets and exceeds the federal standards set for detention centers. 

‘Detained in Georgia’ series

While federal funding for many programs has been cut, money is pouring into immigration enforcement, including billions of dollars for detention centers. 

As spending on detention goes up — as well as the number of people detained in Georgia —  WABE’s series delves into Lumpkin’s history and economy, goes inside immigration court and meets the locals, the attorneys and the advocates who are all connected to Stewart, one way or another.