A city in Georgia cut off water access to the site of a planned ICE detention “mega center” and is refusing to lift the block until the agency can properly detail the facility’s daily needs.
Social Circle placed a lock on the water meter connecting to a massive warehouse on Hightower Trail that the Department of Homeland Security plans to use to house up to 10,000 detained migrants.
The lock will remain “until ICE indicates how water and sewer will be served without exceeding our limited infrastructure capacity,” city manager Eric Taylor said in a statement to the Georgia Public Broadcast.
The city has repeatedly highlighted the strain the detention center will place on the estimated 5,000-person municipality.
“Our permit to draw water out of the river is 1 million gallons a day. Our sewer plant can process 660,000 gallons per day and is at capacity. [DHS’ bottom line up front] analysis indicates a daily water and sewer need that exceeds these amounts,” the city said.
The detention center will hold anywhere from 7,500 to 10,000 migrants and 2,500 staffers, according to a separate statement from the city. The facility floor plans published by DHS do not allot for 10,000 beds.
Taylor confirmed that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement representative was informed about the block shortly after the property was sold to DHS.
DHS argued that the facility will be designed in a way that has “no adverse effect on the community and surrounding properties,” as recounted in the city’s statement.
DHS aims to open the facility sometime between mid-May and June. It estimates that the detainees will stay there for about 60 days before they are deported or shipped elsewhere.
The sprawling “mega center” will have holding areas, gyms, recreational spaces, cafeterias, a gun range and more.
The site is just one mile away from the city’s elementary school.
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