Trump's Terms A town's warehouse will become an ICE detention center. The town says it wasn't asked
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Feb 13, 2026 Grant Blankenship, a Georgia Public Broadcasting reporter who covered the on-the-ground story, walks through DHS plans to convert a million-square-foot warehouse into an immigration detention center. He describes the surprise sale, local officials saying they were not consulted, worries about water and infrastructure, and residents’ concerns about fences, population spikes, and property values.
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Federal Purchase Turns Warehouse Into Detention Site
- The Department of Homeland Security bought a 1+ million sq ft warehouse in Social Circle, Georgia to hold detained immigrants.
- The purchase blindsided the small town and repurposes a distribution center into mass detention space.
City Manager Warns About Infrastructure Limits
- Social Circle city manager Eric Taylor says the building is a shell not built for human habitation and that the town lacks sufficient infrastructure.
- He warns the town's water permit could be exhausted if DHS fills the facility as planned.
Water Permit Could Be Quickly Exceeded
- Social Circle's daily river water permit is about one million gallons, which local officials say is already used in summer.
- Adding thousands of detainees could triple population overnight and strain water and other services.