Locals from heavily-Republican Social Circle share why they’re against Trump’s ICE mega detention center

*This story was reported by Lily Oppenheimer and first published by our media parter WABE.

In the solidly Republican stronghold of Social Circle, roughly an hour east of Atlanta, there’s a phenomenon happening.

It’s a case study of an area that overwhelmingly voted for President Donald Trump and his mass deportation agenda by 73 %. Now, city leaders are trying to band together with Democrats like U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock to stop the Department of Homeland Security from converting a vacant, 183-acre warehouse into a mega Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility.

DHS told local officials that it plans to house up to 10,000 detainees there by September. Social Circle has a current population of roughly 5,000 residents. Many shared their concerns about the planned ICE center with WABE.

City leaders report that they’re dismayed by the lack of transparency from DHS and ICE, and are now directly fighting against the president’s plans to reshape immigration policy and enforcement in their backyard. 

The proposed facility in Social Circle is identified as one of eight ICE “large-scale” centers that will be located across the nation and cost an estimated $38.3 billion, part of Trump’s 2024 campaign promise to carry out “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.”

Locals from across the political spectrum tell WABE that they’re outraged for several reasons. Some say they don’t want the surge in ICE agents and the increase in traffic that will happen roughly a mile from a local elementary school.

Planned ICE detention center raises concerns over water and sewer infrastructure in Social Circle

Others like Social Circle City Manager Eric Taylor warn about the strain on wastewater treatment and public safety resources, and concerns regarding water and sewer infrastructure have still not been addressed.

Documents provided to the city by DHS indicate this detention facility alone would have a sewage treatment demand of more than 1 million gallons per day. The city’s current wastewater system processes 660,000 gallons and is already operating at capacity.

Other proposed wastewater treatment plans from DHS are either not located within the city of Social Circle, or still need to be constructed — which would take an estimated 18 months.

DHS also recently bought land and a warehouse in Oakwood, Georgia, for more than $68 million. The land just south of Gainesville in Hall County would detain up to 1,600 people at a time. Republican U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, whose district includes Oakwood, wrote in a news release that this smaller ICE processing center would hold people for three to seven days.

ICE did not respond to WABE’s request for comment about the Social Circle warehouse, city leaders’ concerns and Warnock’s visit.