ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — The City of Social Circle was informed Sunday that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has reportedly purchased a facility that will be used as an immigration detention facility.

“It’s just simply un-American,” said Rick Burt, the co-lead with Indivisible Georgia 10, a non-profit advocacy and government accountability group.

Atlanta News First previously reported that feds were moving forward with establishing an immigration detention facility at a large warehouse located at 1365 E Hightower Trail. The city previously denied reports that ICE was building a detention facility within city limits and called the proposed facility “infeasible.”

RELATED: ‘My hope is it goes away’: Social Circle leaders opposed to potential ICE facility

According to the 2020 census, Social Circle has a population of 4,974. The detention center is expected to house up to 10,000 people, which is double the city’s population, according to city officials.

City officials said the federal government has not contacted them or asked for any input. The city cites concerns of water and sewer capacity, and also not having enough police and firefighters to handle the increase in population.

“One of the questions I have is how they are going to get this done, and what’s expected of us. How are they going to address all the water and infrastructure needs?” said Eric Taylor, city manager for the City of Social Circle.

Last week, city officials met with Congressman Mike Collins, who informed them about the Department of Homeland Security’s upcoming purchase. Officials said Collins told them the site had initially been considered as an alternative location but is now identified as a preferred site.

“We’re not solving an immigration problem here. We’re putting forces on the streets,” Burt said. “The facility was never designed to house people humanely. This is an industrial facility. It’s not something where you put human beings working beyond an eight-hour shift, certainly not spending their lives there.”

Indivisible Georgia has expressed concern that taxes may increase for Social Circle residents.

“I think the bottom line is taxes may need to go up to support something that, across the board, people are against. It’s hard to make it any clearer that the government is not serving us, despite our beliefs and political persuasions,” Burt said.

Burt also said the group worries about potential human and constitutional rights violations inside such facilities, citing ICE reports of 32 deaths in custody in 2025.

“I think what we’re seeing is that whether you’re a criminal or not doesn’t seem to matter under this regime, and we’re certainly going to work as hard as we can to stop it,” Burt said.

The group is also concerned about the lack of information from the federal government.

“The secrecy around this whole thing should concern everyone in America. It’s not even a political issue. Whether you support or oppose ICE or Homeland Security, why does everything need to be a secret?” Burt said. “Independent of your political views — whether you support Donald Trump or not — it should make everyone upset and outraged, quite frankly.”

Burt said Indivisible Georgia 10 is organizing protests, including at the Monroe office of Congressman Collins, and emphasized that the group does not accept “no” easily.

“We see this as an opportunity to work together for a change. Everyone I’ve spoken to and read about is against this facility. That is what makes us strong, and we’re going to take that energy forward to work together on this and other issues,” Burt said.

This is a developing story. Check back with Atlanta News First for updates.

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