Social Circle cuts water to ICE facility. How GA towns fight back
Social Circle cuts water to ICE facility. How GA towns fight back
Irene Wright, USA TODAY Wed, March 18, 2026 at 3:35 PM UTC
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UPDATE: This story has been to include sections from the Oakwood City Council resolution.
Two towns in Georgia are preparing to become new hubs for Immigration and Customs Enforcement sites in the southeast as the Department of Homeland Security works to retrofit industrial warehouses into detention facilities.
A smaller warehouse in Oakwood, Georgia is set to become a detainee processing facility, holding about 1,500 beds. A massive warehouse in Social Circle, Georgia is being converted to a longer term detention center where detainees will be held before deportation. As many as 10,000 detainees could be held there.
Oakwood and Social Circle are both small towns about 40 to 50 minutes outside Atlanta, Oakwood to the northeast and Social Circle to the southeast. Officials in both towns found out their properties had been selected by DHS when Washington Post reporters called to confirm documentation they had received. It was a surprise to city officials in both cases.
Residents of Oakwood and Social Circle have strongly opposed the centers, despite voting for Republicans overwhelmingly in the last few elections. Officials say the water and sewer systems can't handle the sudden influx and added capacity these facilities will need, but there has been little to no conversations between DHS officials and local engineers.
The facilities are expected to begin hosting detainees later this spring, but there is a lot of work that has to be done both to the warehouses and the towns' infrastructure before that can happen. Town officials have little to no control over the properties once they were purchased by the federal government.
That hasn't stopped them from trying.
Social Circle cuts off water, sewer to future ICE facility
Options for city officials are limited, but Social Circle has taken the first major step to slow down the construction process as they demand transparency from DHS.
The city has shut off water and sewer services at the detention center, and a lock has been placed on the water meter, a city representative confirmed to WSB-TV. The lock will be in place until DHS provides answers to questions from the city about infrastructure support.
Water will remain off "until ICE indicates how water and sewer to the facility will be served without exceeding the limited infrastructure capacity," a representative told the outlet.
In a previous statement in February, the city said DHS told officials the center is one of eight "mega centers" across the U.S. as part of a new "Hub and Spoke Model" where smaller processing facilities (like the one in Oakwood) would feed into regional centers. DHS said the model would be implemented by the end of the 2026 fiscal year.
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"In documents suppled to the City by DHS, it is stated that the facility will have 'no adverse effect on the community and surrounding properties.' The City contends that the information provided is insufficient in fully answering our questions," according to the statement. "... The City's concerns regarding water and sewer infrastructure have not been addressed to our satisfaction. We continue to have more questions than answers."
Social Circle was already in plans to build a new sewer treatment plant that would be operated internally, instead of the current system that is outside the city limits, and increase the capacity over time as the city's population grows.
"If DHS intends to rely on this future facility to meet the demands of its project, the question remains whether it plans to assist in alleviating the significant financial burden associated with accelerating or expanding that infrastructure," the city said.
Oakwood residents support resolution to pause facility construction
During an Oakwood City Council meeting on March 9, residents spoke out in support of a proposed resolution that would ask federal officials to pause the 1,500-bed facility.
The resolution ultimately passed unanimously, but it is largely procedural and doesn't make any changes to city policy or action.
According to the resolution, shared with USA TODAY by city planner B.R. White, the city filed a "FOIA" or Freedom of Information Act request asking for "all documentation concerning the Oakwood Facility" that led to the conclusion of "No Significant Impact," by DHS, including "scoping documents, environmental studies, traffic studies, sewer-capacity analyses, public-safety impact assessments, and all contractor-prepared materials."
The city said the "absence of any such documentation reasonably suggests that the required environmental and administrative reviews have not been completed," officials wrote in the resolution, or that they "have not been disclosed to the local government most directly affected."
The resolution asks DHS to stay all action at the Oakwood facility until the FOIA request is completed.
"The City of Oakwood is evaluating all legal options available to protect its residents," officials wrote.
Irene Wright is the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA TODAY's Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Georgia town cuts off water to ICE facility amid fight with DHS
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