Georgia town sues over ICE plan for vast immigration detention center

Officials in the small Georgia town of Social Circle have filed a lawsuit against federal immigration agencies over plans for a huge immigration detention facility, arguing the project threatens to overburden local services and damage the environment. The complaint , filed on Wednesday in US district court for the middle district of Georgia, accuses US Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) and the Department of Homeland Security ( DHS ) of moving ahead with the project without completing mandatory environmental assessments. City officials say the agencies intend to transform an existing warehouse into what they described as an immigration detention “mega center”. The lawsuit asks the court to pause the development while judges determine whether federal authorities violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the Administrative Procedure Act and Georgia public nuisance law. Founded in 1869, Social Circle covers about 11 square miles in Walton county and nearby areas east of the Atlanta metropolitan region. It is a small rural town with 19th-century buildings downtown, and horse and cattle farms and hay for sale on the outskirts. Local officials, including the town’s mayor and police chief, have all publicly opposed the DHS’s plans to open what could become one of the largest immigration detention centers in the US. …