News confirming the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to open a detention center in Social Circle is causing growing concerns and unrest in the town just as plans for a processing facility in Oakwood are in Hall County.
Residents and local officials in Social Circle repeated recently they’re not happy with plans for the center, Georgia News Network reports. Social Circle city manager Eric Taylor tells ANF the plans DHS has revealed for the facility are “sloppy at best.”
It is expected to house 7,500 to 10,000 detainees and employ at least 2,000 people. The DHS also says it will include indoor and outdoor recreation areas, laundry services, and a gun range.
It is going to be one of eight mega centers in the U.S. City officials told Channel Two they still aren’t getting any answers on their concerns about infrastructure and resource capacities. They say the city has repeatedly made it clear that it doesn’t have the resources to accommodate the demand.
Here in Hall County, two events were held over the weekend in reaction to plans for the Oakwood facility: a protest in downtown Gainesville and a prayer vigil at the chosen site for the Oakwood center. And, as we reported earlier today, a citizens group is calling on local elected officials to okay a moratorium on ICE facilities in their jurisdictions. (See separate story.)