DHS Drops Plan to Turn Georgia Warehouse Into Detention Mega Center, City Says

The Trump administration is stepping back from its plan to turn a warehouse in Social Circle, Georgia, into a large immigration detention center, only four months after confirming that the federal government had purchased the property.

In a statement released Thursday, the City of Social Circle said it had been notified by Congressman Mike Collins that the Department of Homeland Security is no longer moving forward with plans for an ICE detention facility inside the city.

Facility Was Expected to Hold Thousands of Detainees

The original plan for the warehouse was massive. According to earlier facility details, the site could have held up to 10,000 immigration detainees, nearly twice the full population of Social Circle.

The project also would have brought an estimated 2,000 to 2,500 employees to the area, raising concerns about whether the small city’s infrastructure could handle such a major federal operation.

Federal Government Paid $128.5 Million for the Property

Property records show the federal government paid $128.5 million for the warehouse. That price was more than four times higher than the $29.3 million the property sold for in 2023.

City officials said it is not yet clear whether the government will sell the site or use it for another purpose. However, local leaders said they hope the property eventually returns to private ownership and contributes again to the city’s local tax base.

The city said it wants the property to support the economic strength and long-term success of the Social Circle community.

Georgia Senators Welcome the Decision

The announcement was praised by Georgia’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, both of whom had strongly opposed the warehouse detention plan from the beginning.

Ossoff said the Social Circle community had been united against the proposal, arguing that it could have overwhelmed the city’s infrastructure. He added that the outcome showed the power of public pressure and organized local opposition.

Strong Local Opposition in a Trump-Friendly County

The detention center proposal quickly triggered strong opposition in Social Circle, even though the city is located in a politically conservative county.

President Donald Trump won more than 70% of the vote there in the 2024 presidential election, but many residents and local leaders still pushed back against the plan because of its size and possible impact on the community.

DHS Reportedly Scrapping Multiple Warehouse Plans

The Social Circle reversal comes as DHS is reportedly abandoning plans to convert seven recently purchased warehouses into immigration detention facilities.

According to a report from The New York Times, those warehouse projects stretched from Roxbury, New Jersey, to Salt Lake City, Utah.

The broader plan had been part of a more than $700 million program aimed at expanding immigration detention capacity.

DHS Reviewing Detention Expansion Strategy

A source told CNN in April that DHS began reconsidering the warehouse detention expansion program after Markwayne Mullin succeeded Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary.

However, the administration has not publicly provided detailed information about what will happen next with the program.

In a statement to CNN on Friday, a DHS spokesperson said the department remains focused on removing serious criminal immigration offenders from the United States and is reviewing the best ways to do that. The spokesperson said DHS is moving quickly to use existing detention space with state and county partners rather than housing detainees in newly converted warehouse facilities at taxpayer expense.

Lawsuits Target Several Warehouse Projects

Several proposed warehouse detention sites, including the one in Salt Lake City, have faced lawsuits seeking to block the projects.

As of Friday, the federal government had not filed court documents in those pending cases confirming that it planned to abandon the warehouse conversions. Because of that, officials and opponents in affected communities are continuing to watch closely.

Utah Officials Remain Cautious

The Utah Democratic Party said it had not yet seen documentation proving that DHS had changed its plans for the Salt Lake City warehouse.

In a statement, the party criticized the decision to buy and potentially abandon or sell the facilities, calling it financially reckless and unfair to taxpayers. The party also said Salt Lake City is home to immigrants, refugees, and families, and argued that mass detention facilities do not belong in the community.

A spokesperson for the Salt Lake County mayor’s office, Eric Biggart, also said Friday that the office had not received direct confirmation from DHS about the facility. However, he said the county hoped the reports were accurate and would support DHS selling the warehouse.

Oakwood, Georgia Opponents Also Waiting for Proof

Similar caution remains in Oakwood, Georgia, about 40 miles from Social Circle, where another warehouse had been planned as a detainee processing center.

Local attorney Ari Mathé, who has helped lead opposition to the Oakwood project, said residents will not fully believe the plan has been dropped until there is an official statement and a legitimate new owner or tenant moves into the property.

The Trump administration’s decision to step away from the proposed Social Circle ICE detention center marks a major victory for local opponents who argued the facility would overwhelm the small Georgia city. Still, many questions remain about the future of the $128.5 million property, the broader federal warehouse detention strategy, and similar projects in places such as Salt Lake City and Oakwood. Until DHS provides clearer documentation and final decisions, affected communities are likely to remain cautious.