A small Georgia city is escalating its fight with the federal government over a planned immigration detention “mega center” that local leaders say could turn Social Circle into a prison town and overwhelm basic services.
The city filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. The lawsuit asks a judge to block federal plans to convert a warehouse at 1365 East Hightower Trail into a mass detention facility, WSB-TV reported.
Federal officials previously told Social Circle leaders the site was identified as one of eight national “mega centers” under a new detention model, and the city said the facility could hold 7,500 to 10,000 detainees. DHS plans to reduce its detention footprint from roughly 300 facilities to 34 nationwide, the city said in a February update.
The complaint says DHS and ICE bought the 235-acre warehouse property in February without prior communication with local officials and failed to study the effect on residents, utilities and the surrounding environment. Social Circle alleges the project would effectively triple the town’s population and strain fresh water and sewage treatment capacity.
City leaders are especially focused on infrastructure. Social Circle City Manager Eric Taylor told WSB-TV the project could send about 1 million gallons per day into a sewage plant with capacity for 600,000 gallons.
The lawsuit argues the agencies violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the Administrative Procedure Act and Georgia public nuisance law. Legal experts told The Guardian the public nuisance claim could give other local governments a broader playbook for challenging federal detention projects.
DHS has said the facility would have “no adverse effect on the community and surrounding properties,” WSB-TV reported.
