Overview
- GEO announced Wednesday that it signed a five‑year support services contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to activate the company‑owned Rivers Facility in Winton, a 1,320‑bed site.
- Under the deal GEO will provide security, maintenance, food service, medical care, legal counsel and other support services while ICE uses the facility as a federal processing center.
- GEO says the contract could generate about $80 million in the first full year of operations and that the site will help meet rising demand for detention space.
- The facility has a troubled record: a 2016 Department of Justice review found high rates of inmate‑on‑inmate violence, sexual misconduct, contraband and positive drug tests before the site closed in 2021.
- State leaders and advocates have pushed back, with Gov. Josh Stein and the ACLU of North Carolina opposing the reopening and critics warning it pits local job hopes against human‑rights and safety concerns.