Social Circle puts ICE warehouse plan on ice with water meter lock

Caption

This warehouse in the city of Social Circle is in 2026 the focus of inquiries by both Democrats and Republicans after rumors it was being considered for a role in federal immigrant detention.

Credit: Grant Blankenship/GPB News

Social Circle is barring water use by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's planned detention center for now, according to city leaders.

The tiny city of Social Circle has been trying to get details from the Department of Homeland Security about the agency's plan to convert a warehouse into a detention center for up to 10,000 ICE detainees — double the size of the city's current population.

PREVIOUS REPORTING: 

• As ICE detention center plans loom, Warnock tours Social Circle's aged water infrastructure
• ICE bought a warehouse in Social Circle, Ga. The city wishes it hadn't

Since then, city leaders have had one conversation with DHS, during which they said all their objections and concerns went unheard. So the city has taken steps of its own.

"There is a lock on the meter," said Eric Taylor, city manager for Social Circle. "A representative from ICE was informed about the lock on the meter shortly after the sale of the property when she inquired about how to establish an account. The lock is there until ICE indicates how water and sewer will be served without exceeding our limited infrastructure capacity. 

"Our permit to draw water out of the river is 1 million gallons a day. Our sewer plant can process 660,000 gallons per day and is at capacity," the statement continued, adding that analysis indicates that adding the detention center's daily water and sewer need would exceed these amounts.

A sales deed shows DHS paid just under $129 million for the space, which sits about a mile from an elementary school.

"This is not something, hands down, that the city can support," Taylor said in February.