Georgia Today: New ICE detention center; HIV prevention medication; Affordable housing

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode, residents of the city of Social Circle say they are not happy about plans for a new ICE detention facility, Georgia lawmakers pass legislation to boost access to HIV prevention medication, and to make housing in Georgia more affordable, some lawmakers say they need to level the playing field. 

Phil Olaleye: Before a large institutional investor can buy a newly listed single-family home, those families or that owner-occupied buyer would have first dibs. 

Peter Biello: Today is Friday, Feb. 13. I'm Peter Biello, and this is Georgia Today. 

Story 1:

Peter Biello: The Department of Homeland Security is looking for real estate. Communities across the country have been shocked to learn that DHS wants to use warehouses in their towns for detention space amid the ongoing immigration crackdown. That includes warehouses in the Northeast Georgia city of Oakwood and 45 minutes to the south in the city of Social Circle. As GPB's Grant Blankenship reports, people in Social Circle are not at all happy with the idea. 

Grant Blankenship: The warehouse 50 miles east of Atlanta near Interstate 20 is not much to look at. It's really just a box: an over 1-million-square-foot gray box dotted with semi-trailer loading docks. It's built to be a distribution center. While attempts by the Department of Homeland Security to lease or buy properties like this in other states have fallen apart, this one is a done deal. A sales deed shows the federal government paid just under $129 million for the space. Eric Taylor really wishes they hadn't. 

Eric Taylor: This is not something, hands down, that the city can support. 

Grant Blankenship: Taylor is the city manager for the City of Social Circle, population about 5,000, which now includes the Homeland Security warehouse, which will be used to hold detained immigrants. And he says politically, this shouldn't be a problem. 

Eric Taylor: Social Circle went approximately 73% in favor of Donald Trump in the last election. 

Grant Blankenship: This opposition is not about the immigration crackdown. It's about infrastructure. 

Eric Taylor: The frustration here is that they're looking at a building that was not built for human habitation. There's nothing more than a shell of a building. 

Grant Blankenship: He says DHS won't answer his calls, but if they did, he would tell them: The city doesn't have enough drinking water. 

Eric Taylor: The permit we have to draw water out of the river is only a million gallons a day. 

Grant Blankenship: Taylor says in the heat of Georgia summer, residents will use right up to that limit. Now toss in an ICE detention center. 

Eric Taylor: Triples our population overnight. 

Grant Blankenship: If it holds up to 10,000 people as planned. DHS did not respond to our request for comment, but that figure comes from Republican Mike Collins, Social Circle's representative in the U.S. House and apparently the only Georgia elected official who's managed to talk directly to DHS about their plans. 

Mike Collins: And I fully support ICE, 100%. 

Grant Blankenship: That's Collins talking to reporters during a recent trip to the Georgia state Capitol building. Collins is running against Democrat John Ossoff for the U S Senate. Collins says he agrees with people, like city manager Eric Taylor, that the detention center is a bad fit for the town, but he says there's still room to make it work. 

Mike Collins: I think that as long as DHS comes in there and sits down and says, "This is what we found, this is how we're going to operate this," and takes care of any of the concerns with the local officials there to make sure that they don't impact them negatively, then they'll be able to operate that facility. 

Grant Blankenship: The residents have their doubts, like this mother whose child attends the local elementary school less than a mile from the ICE warehouse. 

Speaker 6: Are they going to put a 16-foot barbed-wire fence up that the kids have to see every day? 

Grant Blankenship: We're not using her name because of her fear of community blowback, but she says she's tired of the "told-you-so" comments on social media about her neighbors, like... 

Speaker 6: "You guys voted for this." No, the detention center next to my child's school was not on my ballot. That wasn't — that wasn't what I voted for. 

Grant Blankenship: She's also a real estate agent and the warehouse sale is already keeping her busy. 

Speaker 6: I've had calls for people wanting to sell their homes. They're worried about becoming a "prison town" and that nobody's gonna wanna live in Social Circle. 

Grant Blankenship: Rep. Collins says DHS plans to detain people in the Social Circle warehouse as soon as April. Meanwhile, city officials are still waiting to talk directly to the Department of Homeland Security. For GPB News, I'm Grant Blankenship in Social Circle. 

Peter Biello: Senator Raphael Warnock has filed an amendment to the continuing resolution to fund the Department of Homeland Security that would prohibit the construction, renovation, and expansion of warehouses that will serve as detention centers in Social Circle and Oakwood. The amendment also prohibits acquisition of such a facility, but it is unclear if that would matter in the case of Social Circle, where the purchase was finalized earlier this month.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: The trial of Colin Gray, the father of the accused Apalachee High School shooter, will begin on Monday after a jury was selected this week in neighboring Hall County. GPB's Chase McGee has more. 

Chase McGee: Both prosecutors and Gray's attorneys agreed to choose from a pool of jurors in Hall County, citing concerns that a jury put together in Barrow County would bring their own biases to the case. Kay Levine is a professor of law at Emory University. She says it's not unusual to see this happen in cases that get a lot of attention. 

Kay Levine: Lots of people who live in the community, they may have heard some side commentary about the people who are involved. Prosecutors and defense attorneys and the judge need to make sure that the only evidence that the jurors are going to hear is the evidence that is produced in court. 

Chase McGee Colin Gray is facing multiple felony charges for allegedly providing his son the rifle used to kill two teachers and two students at Apalachee High School in September of 2024. For GPB News, I'm Chase McGee. 

Story 3:

Peter Biello: The state senate has passed a bill aimed at eliminating the income tax for some Georgians. Senate Bill 476 would make the first $50,000 for single filers and $100,000 for joint filers tax-free. The bill's sponsor, Vidalia Republican Blake Tillery, said it would save taxpayers an average of $5,000. 

Blake Tillery: That's the cost of child care for three months. It's the cost of rent for three to six months.

Peter Biello: Democrats, including Stone Mountain state Sen. Kim Jackson, were skeptical about the math. 

Kim Jackson The only people who we're putting $5,000 back in their pockets are the people who make over six figures. 

Peter Biello: The bill would pay for the income tax cuts by getting rid of some corporate tax breaks. Republicans pushed it through yesterday on a party-line vote. The bill now moves to the state house for more consideration. 

Story 4:

Peter Biello: Fulton County's Board of Elections met yesterday for the first time since the FBI seized roughly 700 boxes of 2020 ballots last month. Election staff defended the county's work to maintain current voter registration records. Chief Registration Manager Catherine Glenn was emotional while addressing board members. 

Catherine Glenn: There are many voices, competing interests, surrounding voter registration, some advocating for removals, others advocating for expanded access. Our responsibility is not to engage in those debates. Our responsibility to get it right. 

Peter Biello: Board members also voted to ratify a lawsuit challenging the FBI seizure. Republican state Sen. Greg Dolezal is calling for a possible state takeover of Fulton County elections. 

Story 5:

Peter Biello: Dredging is underway in the shipping channel at the Port of Brunswick. The Georgia Ports Authority said yesterday the $17 million project is aimed at restoring the channel to its authorized depth for ship safety and efficiency. The Port of Brunswick became the nation's busiest gateway for autos and heavy equipment in 2024, handling more than 900,000 units of roll-on, roll-off cargo. Once the dredging has completed, as expected this summer, it'll be the first time since at least 2010 that the channel has been at its authorized depths. The project is expected to complement a $100 million expansion at the port's Colonels Island terminal. 

Story 6:

Peter Biello: Macon-Bibb County is laying the foundation for a potential casino on the site of an old mall department store. The county's urban development authority yesterday gave a 10-year purchase option on the property to Pennsylvania-based gaming company GLPI. Macon Mayor Lester Miller says the county is preparing for the possibility of legalized gambling. 

Lester Miller: The state of Georgia has to determine whether or not they're gonna allow casinos. But certainly if they do, and Middle Georgia shows us that site, this company would have the exclusive right to use that property there. 

Peter Biello: State lawmakers have discussed casinos for years, but so far legislation hasn't made it over the finish line. GLPI intends to demolish the old JCPenney at the Macon Mall to redevelop the site. 

Story 7:

Peter Biello: Democrats in the Georgia House have released their plans to help reduce the cost of housing. GPB's Sarah Kallis reports the legislation proposed yesterday addresses a wide range of affordability issues. 

Sarah Kallis: "Affordability" is the buzzword during this year's legislative session, and the Democrats have their own plan to reduce costs of both homeownership and renting. One of the bills in the plan is House Bill 1252, sponsored by Rep. Phil Olaleye, that would give Georgians a leg up over investor firms when buying a home. 

Phil Olaleye: Before a large institutional investor can buy a newly listed single-family home, those families or that owner-occupied buyer would have first dibs. 

Sarah Kallis: Other bills in the package include removing zoning restrictions that ban building a second dwelling on a property, banning AI price-fixing on rental websites, and exempting some public servants from paying homestead property tax. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis at the state Capitol. 

Story 8:

Peter Biello: The Georgia House has passed legislation aimed at increasing access to HIV prevention medication. Senate Bill 195 would allow pharmacists to prescribe and administer the pre-exposure drugs known as PrEP and PEP. Avondale Estates Democrat Carla Drener says patients no longer would need to find a primary care provider for a prescription. 

Carl Drener: Communities with provider shortages, and in urban communities where appointment demands exceed capacity, pharmacies are often the most accessible health care point in both places: open longer hours, close to where people live and already trusted. 

Peter Biello: Georgians are diagnosed with HIV at twice the national rate. That's according to data from the nonpartisan health research and policy institute, KFF. Representatives passed the bill 155 to 7. It now moves to the state Senate for more consideration. 

Story 9: 

Peter Biello: Flu hospitalizations mostly have tapered off after a busy respiratory illness season. That's according to the latest data from the Georgia Department of Public Health, including cases through the end of January. A total of 140 flu-related deaths have been reported since October, most of them among people 65 years and older. The state still is seeing a high level of activity for all influenza-like illness. That includes outpatient visits for RSV and COVID. Shots to protect against respiratory viruses are available at local public health departments regardless of a person's ability to pay. 

Story 10:

Peter Biello: There will be spring-like temperatures all across Georgia this weekend, from the upper 50s in Blue Ridge to 60 in Macon and touching 70 degrees in Valdosta. Nice weather to get out of the house and enjoy your community. Some of the festivals you can find across the state include: the Lunar New Year Festival at Stone Mountain Park; Valdosta's first annual Mardi Gras festival; Helen will be hosting a Mardi-Gras festival as well; Blue Ridge has its 15th annual Fire and Ice Chili Cook-Off; and Dublin, Ga., will kick off its monthslong St. Patrick's Day Festival tomorrow. 

Peter Biello: And that is a wrap on today's edition of Georgia Today. Thank you so much for tuning in. We hope you have a great weekend planned. Check out gpb.org/news for updates to any of the stories on the podcast today or for the latest headlines. And remember if you've got feedback or perhaps a story idea that we should know about, send it to us by email. The address is georgiatoday@gpb.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening and have a great weekend. 

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