The biggest ICE detention center in the U.S. will be built in Georgia

South Georgia will soon be home to the largest ICE detention center in the U.S. Charlton County approved a nearly $50 million agreement with ICE in June to expand the Folkston ICE Processing Center from 1,100 detainees to nearly 3,000. In 2022, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General published the results of a 2021 unannounced inspection of the Folkston detention center. Inspectors reported “unsanitary and dilapidated” facilities, mold growth and water damage, lack of access to hot showers, an absence of hot meals and low staffing. After a final review by the Department of Government Efficiency, the contract expansion to the facility is now moving forward, according to a report from The Washington Post. The planned expansion at Folkston — alongside Georgia’s Stewart Detention Center, already the second-busiest in the country — could cement the region’s role in the Trump administration’s efforts to grow the deportation pipeline. The AJC's Lautaro Grinspan talks about what this expansion means for Georgia and the rest of the U.S. Credits: AJC | GEO Group | OpenAerialMap | Office of Inspector General | U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement | NPR | AP | Getty Images | Global Detention Project | TRACE