{"id":29154,"date":"2026-01-23T11:16:55","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T16:16:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/?post_type=press-releases&p=29154"},"modified":"2026-01-23T11:17:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T16:17:43","slug":"sen-ossoff-mayor-keener-push-back-on-reported-plans-to-build-ice-detention-facility-in-social-circle-ga","status":"publish","type":"press-releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/sen-ossoff-mayor-keener-push-back-on-reported-plans-to-build-ice-detention-facility-in-social-circle-ga\/","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Ossoff, Mayor Keener Push Back on Reported Plans to Build ICE Detention Facility in Social Circle, Ga."},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month, The Washington Post reported<\/a> the Trump Administration planned to build \u201clarge-scale\u201d detention facility in Social Circle<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social Circle community has <\/em>strongly opposed<\/a> <\/em>reported plans to build facility<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Ossoff & Mayor Keener: \u201cA proposed ICE detention facility is not right for Social Circle, and the City of Social Circle does not support it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social Circle, Ga. <\/strong>\u2014 U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff and Social Circle Mayor David Keener are pushing back on reported plans to build a large-scale ICE detention center in Social Circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month,\u00a0The Washington\u00a0Post<\/em>\u00a0first reported<\/a>\u00a0the Administration\u2019s plan to open several \u201clarge-scale\u201d detention centers across the country, including a prospective facility in Social Circle, which would be one of seven warehouses nationwide holding 5,000 to 10,000 immigrant detainees to be staged for deportation \u2014 more than the City\u2019s current population of roughly 5,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social Circle residents and city leaders have repeatedly voiced strong opposition<\/a> to ICE’s reported plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, alongside Social Circle Mayor David Keener and local leaders, Sen. Ossoff is elevating the City\u2019s concerns<\/a> directly to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons, urging them to promptly engage the City\u2019s leadership with more information on the reported plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA proposed ICE detention facility is not right for Social Circle, and the City of Social Circle does not support it. We are urging the Administration to abandon this plan, which risks overwhelming the City’s resources and more than tripling its population,\u201d U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff and Social Circle Mayor David Keener said in a joint statement.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the City\u2019s official public statement<\/a>, \u201cthe City does not have the water and sewer infrastructure to support this type of facility. Current capacity limitations would not support a development of the size described in media reports. This proposal could result in an effective tripling of the City\u2019s population that is hovering right around 5,000 citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, local leaders have said there is not a site within the community that will provide a safe distance from homes, businesses, and schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCity and county officials have reported challenges getting answers from ICE about the prospective facility,\u201d Sen. Ossoff <\/strong>wrote<\/strong><\/a> to Secretary Noem and Acting Director Lyons.<\/strong> \u201cI urge the Department to carefully consider the significant concerns raised by Social Circle\u2019s leaders and citizens regarding the proposed ICE facility. I further urge the Department to promptly engage the City\u2019s leadership to ensure that its citizens receive critical information regarding the proposed facility and its potential impacts on their community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here<\/a> to read Sen. Ossoff\u2019s inquiry to DHS and ICE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

# # #<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last month, The Washington Post reported the Trump Administration planned to build \u201clarge-scale\u201d detention facility in Social Circle Social Circle community has strongly opposed reported plans to build facility Sen. Ossoff & Mayor Keener: \u201cA proposed ICE detention facility is not right for Social Circle, and the City of Social Circle does not support it.\u201d Social Circle, Ga. \u2014 […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29154","press-releases","type-press-releases","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/29154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-releases"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/29154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29156,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/29154\/revisions\/29156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}