ICE allegedly no longer planning detention center in Social Circle

Facility could be sold in the future

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reportedly is no longer interested in converting a 1.2-million square-foot warehouse in Social Circle, recently purchased by the federal government, into an Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center that had been planned to house as many as 10,000 people awaiting deportation and to employ as many as 2,500 people.

The Social Circle facility, at the corner of Social Circle Parkway and East Hightower Trail, was planned to become part of a national network of detention facilities aimed at getting illegal immigrants out of the United States.

But according to a statement released Thursday by the city government, Social Circle officials received notice Thursday from U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., whose 10th District seat includes Social Circle, that DHS “is no longer pursuing an ICE facility within the City of Social Circle.”

The statement goes on to note that “the information is based on confirmation from multiple sources within DHS.”

The news comes a little more than a month after the city filed a federal lawsuit against DHS, ICE, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and ICE Acting Director Todd M. Lyons. The filing asserts, among other things, that the two agencies failed to conduct a federally required analysis of the effects of the detention facility on the community.

Instead of conducting an analysis, the lawsuit contends, DHS and ICE went “… charging ahead without input from Social Circle’s town officials or regard for the significant problems … (the) facility would cause.”

As of Thursday, there had been no other substantive filings in the case.

Little activity has been observed at the Social Circle warehouse since its purchase by the federal government, with some minor driveway grading off East Hightower Trail being about the only visible change to the property. For weeks, a car appearing to be some sort of security vehicle was parked near the Social Circle Parkway entrance to the warehouse, but it had not been evident on the property in recent days.    

Looking forward, the city’s statement notes that the municipal government “is hopeful that the property will ultimately return to the local tax base and once again contribute to the economic vitality and long-term success of the Social Circle community.”

According to the latest information available from the Walton County Tax Assessor’s Office, the warehouse and the more than 200 acres upon which it sits are valued at $58,323,800, up from $29,786,800 in 2025, when construction was ongoing. 

Also according to the most current information from the county assessor’s office, the tax value of the property, in terms of revenue available to Social Circle, is $180,943.76. 

The federal government paid more than $128.5 million for the warehouse when it bought the property earlier this year from PNK Group, a New York-based real estate development firm.

The Thursday statement indicates that it is the city’s understanding that “the property could be sold if there are no other federal agencies that express interest in the property. While the exact process has not been confirmed, it is anticipated that any sale would occur through the General Services Administration.”

As federal property, the warehouse is not subject to property taxation, nor is it subject to local zoning and development regulations, although federal officials are encouraged to work with local communities on those issues.  

City officials first learned that Social Circle was being considered as an ICE detention center site in a late December report in The Washington Post. From that point, city officials tried, initially with limited success, to track down information and assistance from both federal and state government sources.

At the same time, the city, largely through the efforts of City Manager Eric Taylor, worked diligently to convince ICE and DHS officials that the city of 5,000 people simply did not have the water, sewer and emergency services infrastructure to adequately serve a facility that would effectively triple the town’s population.

The city did get support from the state’s two U.S. senators, Democrats Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock. Warnock visited Social Circle to learn firsthand from city officials about the infrastructure challenges posed by the planned massive detention center, and Ossoff steered city officials’ concerns to decision-makers in the federal government.

Both Warnock and Ossoff were praised in the city’s Thursday statement “for pursuing legislation that would require local approval for federal detention facilities.”

The statement also had kind words for Collins, noting that his office “served as an important liaison between City officials and DHS, helping facilitate communication, obtain answers to questions raised by the city, and provide updates as information became available.”

Also praised in the city’s statement announcing an apparent end to plans for an immigration detention center in Social Circle were “the many individuals and organizations that helped advocate for our community throughout this process.”

 Among the community groups that got involved in the process was the One Circle Community Coalition, a grassroots effort aimed at bringing together people of various political persuasions interested in shaping the future of Social Circle as a small town with a diversity of locally owned and operated businesses as the backbone of its economy.

John Miller, a local businessman and a driving force with the coalition — which was formed months before news of ICE plans for the warehouse surfaced — said Thursday he was “super excited” that ICE appears to be abandoning its plans for the Social Circle warehouse.

On its Facebook page, the coalition called the apparent abandonment of plans to turn the warehouse into a detention center “a big win for our city!”

The One Circle Community Coalition will continue the work it began months ago, according to Miller. “Our group is going to continue to try to bring people together,” he said.

Also involved in efforts to turn back plans for the ICE warehouse in Social Circle were Indivisible Boldy Blue and Indivisible Georgia 10, two local groups that are part of the nationwide progressive Indivisible movement.

In a joint statement released Thursday evening, both groups pronounced themselves “overjoyed at the news that the Trump administration is abandoning its efforts to place a mega immigration detention center in Social Circle,” and asserting that the plan “never made sense.”

The apparent abandonment of plans for the detention center in Social Circle “shows that when citizens come together with courage, integrity, bipartisan determination and mutual respect, we can help a whole community win,” the Indivisible groups noted in their statement.

The two Indivisible groups thanked Ossoff and Warnock for “their tireless work in demanding accountability from the Trump administration on this issue,” and also thanked Taylor and Social Circle officials “for their determination and creativity in representing the interests of their community.”

At one point, Taylor placed a lock on the warehouse’s water meter – a move supported by the city council – in hopes of getting federal officials to talk with the city about their plans for the warehouse.

“We celebrate this win,” the statement continued, “(b)ut IndivisibleGA10 and Indivisible Boldly Blue will not stop fighting to protect our immigrant neighbors.”

Social Circle was not the only community to learn Thursday that ICE had abandoned plans to establish a detention center in the face of a lawsuit. According to news reports, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Thursday that ICE would sell a warehouse it had purchased in February in the city of Romulus.

The city government and Nessel sued DHS and ICE in March, contending that the warehouse, planned for 500 detainees and facility staff, was in an inappropriate location close to schools and neighborhoods, is located in a floodplain, and lacks adequate infrastructure.

According to a Thursday report in The New York Times, in addition to Social Circle and Romulus, ICE is planning to sell or hand off other warehouses, including one in nearby Flowery Branch, Ga., as well as in the Pennsylvania towns of Hamburg and Tremont, in Salt Lake City, and in Roxbury, N.J.