“Safe and prosperous” 9th District Congressman Andrew Clyde (R-Jackson County) said Thursday in expressing confidence that the ICE detention facility to be built in Oakwood will not be a detriment to South Hall and the county as a whole.
Clyde told The Times he’s been told the lock-up will have 1,400-1,600 beds and that the average length of stay for detainees that have been picked up by ICE is 3-7 days.
The federal government, he said, expects to spend $158 million to convert the warehouse which will be used for the facility to suit its purposes and another $160 million to operate it for the first three years.
That, Clyde implied, is good news noting the “ripple effects” it will have on the local and state economy, the 1,500 jobs that will be necessary for the retrofit, and more than 400 jobs each year it’s in business. Not to mention about $14 million “in local, state, and federal tax revenue would be generated by annual operations, including sales tax and income tax.”.
He goes on to say the “identification and fit for the purpose of each (such) facility (includes) an engineering review of the existing utilities and facility infrastructure. And he added that an engineering team determined that the facility would have no detrimental effect on infrastructure in South Hall.
Clyde, one President’s strongest allies in Congress and one of two congressmen who represent Hall County, said it’s his belief that the Oakwood facility will “play an important role” in the president’s efforts to drive all illegal residents from the country.