Overview
- DHS confirmed it is building a detention facility in Social Circle, and city officials report the warehouse at 1365 E. Hightower Trail has been purchased for the project.
- Reporting indicates the facility could hold up to 10,000 detainees and sits roughly 4,000 feet from Social Circle Elementary School.
- Timelines remain unsettled, with some reports pointing to housing detainees as early as February and others to an opening as early as April.
- City leaders say they were excluded from DHS engineering evaluations and are seeking written assessments and economic and infrastructure impact analyses.
- Local and state figures from both parties have raised objections, with Sen. Jon Ossoff and Mayor David Keener urging the plan be dropped and Rep. Mike Collins requesting formal evaluations, citing inadequate local capacity.