Oppose the New ICE Detention Facility in Oakwood, Georgia

In addition to the warehouse conversion already planned in Social Circle, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) now intends to open another detention center in Oakwood, Georgia. DHS plans to establish this facility as a processing center with capacity for 1,500 people to feed into the 10,000 person capacity detention center planned for Social Circle.

DHS is moving forward with these facilities despite strong opposition from community members and local government. Officials in both towns assert that they lack the water and sewer infrastructure to support a large influx of detainees. In addition, the fiscal impact of these facilities on the local community is significant. The federal government is not required to pay property tax, so once DHS completes the purchase of the properties, the towns lose out on this revenue stream. Moreover, parents are concerned by the fact that the proposed Oakwood facility, like the one in Social Circle, is within one mile of an elementary school.

In addition to these community impacts, it is well documented that detainees held in centers like these are regularly subjected to overcrowding, inadequate food, and substandard medical care, which has resulted in dozens of deaths across the country. Converting these warehouses into detention centers is an unconscionable affront to human rights and indefensible display of federal overreach.

Demand that your representatives oppose the proposed detention center in Oakwood, Georgia.

Content for this call topic kindly provided by 50501GA and Necessary Trouble Georgia.