Overview
- News reports published July 23–24 say ICE intends to reopen the former Rivers Correctional Institution in Winton as a roughly 1,400‑bed immigration detention center to be operated by GEO Group, while ICE has publicly said it has no new detention centers to announce.
- Internal ICE documents cited by reporters indicate the agency’s Washington field office would manage the site and that GEO Group has been in talks to convert and operate the prison.
- Hertford County reactions are split between residents who see new jobs and advocates who oppose the plan; the ACLU of North Carolina and local protesters have called for cancellation and more transparency.
- The proposal follows a scaled‑back warehouse conversion push led by former DHS officials and is connected to a DHS Office of Inspector General review of procurement and spending on the earlier effort.
- If opened, the facility would concentrate East Coast detention capacity in North Carolina at a time when ICE arrests in the state have risen sharply since January 2025 and new state laws increase local cooperation with federal authorities, which could speed transfers and raise community and legal consequences for detainees and families.