Warnock Elevates Local Leaders’ Opposition to ICE Facility During Visit to Social Circle

Senator Reverend Warnock visited Social Circle after local leaders wereblindsided by the Trump Administration’sdecision to bring a new ICE detention facility to the communitySenator Warnock’s visit followshis efforts to block the purchaseof warehouses that will serve as detention centers in Social Circle and OakwoodICYMI from The Covington News:Sen. Raphael Warnock visits Social Circle to voice opposition to ICE facilityICYMI from the Rockdale Citizen:Warnock says he’ll take Social Circle’s concerns to Washington
Above: Senator Warnock surveys Social Circle’s wastewater treatment site, which would struggle to support a mass detention facility in the community
Social Circle, GA– U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) joined local leaders in voicing opposition to the Trump Administration’s efforts to open an ICE detention facility that would severely strain local resources with no plan for federal support alleviating the anticipated harms. The Senator’s visit came after local leaders wereblindsided by the Trump Administration’sdecision to bring a new ICE detention facility to the community, and followshis efforts to block the purchaseof warehouses that will serve as detention centers.Senator Warnock met with local leaders who have said they do not have the infrastructure to support the facility, including Social Circle Mayor David Keener and City Manager Eric Taylor. Taylor said that the city is only permitted to use one million gallons of water per day. During the hottest temperatures, he said that 80 to 90 percent of the allotted amount is used with the city’s current population of 5,000. He added that the sewer system is operating at a capacity of 660,000 gallons per day, far more than the expected additional one million gallons per day needed for the site.“Folks in Social Circle voted for this president overwhelmingly,”said Senator Warnock.“But here’s what they didn’t vote for — they didn’t vote for a 10,000-person detention center that will triple the size of their town, to place a massive detention center next to an elementary school. They didn’t vote for potential ‘boil water’ advisories or sewer overflows because this administration has overstrained their city’s resources. They didn’t vote for their voices to be unheard and trampled by their own federal government.”During his visit, Senator Warnock surveyed Social Circle’s drinking water treatment site and wastewater treatment site. The Senator also visited Social Circle Elementary School where he met with concerned parents and the superintendent. He concluded his tour of the city at the site of a one-million-square-foot warehouse on East Hightower Trail where Homeland Security plans to house as many as 10,000 detainees beginning as early as April. ICE purchased the warehouse and surrounding 235 acres in February for $128 million.
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