Social Circle, a small town in Georgia with about 5,000 residents, filed a lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on May 15 to halt plans for a 10,000-bed immigration detention center in the town [1].
The federal agencies purchased a warehouse at 1365 East Hightower Trail in February 2026, paying $128 million—more than five times its prior assessed value—to convert it into the facility [1, 2]. ICE plans to employ about 2,500 workers at the detention center and aims to open it by June 2026, despite no renovation work having begun [1, 2].
Local officials, including the mayor and police chief, oppose the plan. The lawsuit alleges the detention center would overwhelm Social Circle’s water and sewage systems, potentially causing dry taps and raw sewage spills. It also claims ICE and DHS violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to conduct required environmental assessments and other legal obligations [1, 2].
Social Circle covers about 11 square miles of rural land east of Atlanta, known for its historic buildings and farms. Residents first learned of the ICE project from a Washington Post report in December 2025 [1]. The lawsuit aims to block the detention center construction in district court.
The facility is part of a nationwide ICE plan to build multiple large detention and processing centers for 92,600 immigrants, with a total expected cost of $38.3 billion [2]. A DHS spokesperson said, "As with any transition, we are reviewing agency policies and proposals" [2].
The case now awaits court action as Social Circle seeks to prevent construction ahead of ICE’s planned June opening.
