OAKWOOD, Ga. — The Hall County Board of Commissioners are the latest municipal government body to request more transparency over the construction of immigration detention centers in metro Atlanta.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to build two confirmed to be planned for the metro area.
One is already underway in Social Circle, east of Atlanta. Another area is also expected to be getting a warehouse-turned-processing facility in Hall County.
U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde’s office confirmed to the Hall County Commission that a warehouse on Atlanta Highway in Oakwood would be turned into a small processing facility for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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Similar to the process in Social Circle, Oakwood officials, and now Hall County commissioners, have said they have not received much information from the federal government about these decisions, nor had they been able to discuss impacts to the local community with federal officials.
The City of Oakwood released a statement saying that while they support ICE’s mission and responsibilities, they had identified multiple concerns with the creation of a detention center in Oakwood.
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Hall County officials said they were working to coordinate meetings between the Oakwood City Council and federal officials, but some commissioners are against the facility’s construction.
Speaking for himself and not on behalf of the commission, District 3 Commissioner Gregg Poole said “Due to the lack of communication from our federal and state officials, I’m not for this facility. It will increase taxes for our Hall County citizens, and I do not support it.”
In a statement shared with Channel 2 Action News, Clyde said ICE has conducted a thorough due diligence process for each facility it plans to operate in the metro area, and that each one was reviewed, finding facilities in Social Circle and Oakwood would have “no detrimental effect” at the locations chosen.
Clyde’s office said once in operation, facility stays are expected to average between three days and a full week, with a bed capacity of 1,400 to 1,600.
The office called the facility in Oakwood a major economic project, creating more than 1,000 jobs.
“As a result of the thorough analysis, the Department of Homeland Security plans to make a major economic investment in a new detention facility in Oakwood, Georgia,” Clyde’s office shared. “DHS estimates it will spend $158 million retrofitting the facility and an estimated $160 million to operate the facility in the first three years. Including all ripple effects to the Georgia economy, this facility will support a total of 1,520 jobs during retrofit and up to 429 jobs each year of operation.”
In a statement made Thursday, Hall County commissioners said they are supporting Oakwood amid its concerns over how an ICE facility would impact residents and urged their federal partners to address those subjects.
“We want to let the Hall County community know that we, the Hall County Board of Commissioners, are fully committed to supporting our municipalities and our citizens in ensuring that local concerns are heard and addressed by our federal partners,” Hall County Board of Commissioners Chairman David Gibbs said Thursday, following a statement issued by the Oakwood City Council. “We understand and support public safety both federally and locally, but not without regard to the impacts to our infrastructure and community as a whole.”
While Clyde is supportive of the new ICE facility in Oakwood, U.S. Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock introduced legislation specifically to block the facilities’ construction.
“I’m standing with the residents of Social Circle and Oakwood and fighting to BLOCK these detention facilities from towns that don’t want them,” Warnock said in a statement.
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