(The Center Square) – Illegal immigration detention facilities proposed for two Georgia towns would be blocked if an amendment to the continuing budget resolution is approved by Congress.
The Department of Homeland Security is planning for two detention centers in Social Circle and Oakwood.
Social Circle, a town of about 5,000 people east of Atlanta, could see a facility that would house up to 10,000 detainees. Oakwood is just outside of the county seat of Gainesville.
Officials from the cities and counties said they were not told before it became public knowledge.
“We understand and support public safety both federally and locally, but not without regard to the impacts to our infrastructure and community as a whole,” said Hall County Board of Commissioners Chairman David Gibbs in a statement.
Residents in both towns are concerned about the facility’s impact on their towns’ infrastructure. The proposed detention center in Social Circle is 4,000 feet away from a new elementary school, or about 11 football fields including end zones.
“It’s a fairly heavily trafficked area because of the school twice a day,” Social Circle resident John Miller said in a TCS interview. “And then it’s only a two-lane bypass. Now we have learned that their intention is to hire 2,500 new employees. So that means they’re going to increase the daily commute by 5,000 trips to and from.”
Hall County Commissioner Greg Poole said he is not backing the Oakwood facility, citing a lack of communication from federal and state officials.
“It will increase taxes for our Hall County citizens, and I do not support it,” Poole said.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, an opponent of funding ICE, filed an amendment to the continuing resolution that would block both detention facilities.
“The people of Georgia want secure borders; they do not want massive immigration detention centers in their backyards,” Warnock said. “If the Trump administration focused on getting violent criminals out of the country, we would not need new detention centers straining Georgia’s rural communities.”
Senate Democrats said they will not vote for a continuing resolution unless it includes restrictions for ICE. Their demands include a man on ICE agents wearing masks and prohibiting agents from entering private property without judicial and immigration court warrants.
Without an agreement, the government could be partially shut down beginning Saturday.