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DHS Scraps Controversial Plan for 10,000-Bed Immigration Detention Mega Center in Social Circle, Georgia
SOCIAL CIRCLE, Georgia — The Trump administration is backing away from its highly controversial plans to convert an industrial warehouse in a small Georgia community into a massive immigration detention mega center. The sudden reversal comes just four months after the federal government first confirmed its 128.5 million dollar purchase of the building, a move that ignited intense pushback from local residents and sparked a federal lawsuit from municipal leaders.
The City of Social Circle announced that it received formal notification from Congressman Mike Collins confirming that the Department of Homeland Security is no longer pursuing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. The federal government’s initial blueprints slated the site to accommodate up to 10,000 detainees, a figure that would have nearly tripled the small town's population. Local administrators repeatedly warned that the municipal infrastructure could not sustain the facility, noting that the city's wastewater treatment system handles 660,000 gallons per day while federal officials projected a sewage demand exceeding one million gallons per day. In a bid to stall the project, local leaders locked the property's water meter earlier this year and filed a federal lawsuit in May accusing the agency of failing to conduct required environmental reviews.
The cancellation reflects a broader strategic shift within the Department of Homeland Security under the leadership of Markwayne Mullin, who succeeded Kristi Noem as cabinet secretary. According to federal documents, the administration is currently scrapping plans to transform a total of seven recently acquired warehouses across the country into detention hubs, ranging from facilities in New Jersey to Salt Lake City, Utah. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson indicated that the agency remains focused on removing criminal illegal aliens but intends to prioritize existing detention spaces with state and county partners rather than constructing new multi-million dollar regional facilities.
The policy shift was quickly celebrated by Georgia's congressional delegation, including Democratic Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, who aggressively lobbied against the warehouse network. Ossoff praised the local community for uniting against the proposal to protect their infrastructure, stating the news demonstrates that public pressure is highly effective. While the federal government has not publicly finalized its next steps for the 1 million-square-foot facility, Social Circle administrators express hope that the property will ultimately be offloaded to private buyers so it can return to the local tax rolls and contribute to the area's economic development. Caution remains high in neighboring Oakwood, Georgia, where another warehouse conversion project has reportedly been halted, though local attorneys there emphasize they will remain skeptical until the properties are officially put up for sale.
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By: NBC Palm Springs
June 20, 2026
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