The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is scrapping plans to create a number of deportation mega-facilities, despite a $38 billion plan for expanding detention capacity.
One of the facilities is in Social Circle, Georgia.
“The City of Social Circle has received notification from Congressman Mike Collins that the Department of Homeland Security… is no longer pursuing an ICE detention facility within the City of Social Circle,” the local government said in a statement Thursday.
Originally, the facilities was planned to house up to 10,000 detainees—more than twice the population of the city—in addition to over 2,000 employees.
The facility cost the federal government $128.5 million, more than four times the price paid for it in 2023.
🚨REPORT🚨
7 ICE deportation warehouses purchased for more than $700 million will now be sold or transferred to other federal agencies.
I reached out to DHS and asked them about this and they DID NOT deny the NYT report:
“From day one, DHS has remained singularly focused on… pic.twitter.com/tWrgmwkMGq— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) June 19, 2026
According to The New York Times, a total of seven facilities, from New Jersey to Utah, will be scrapped.
DHS began to rethink the plans to extend detention facilities after Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem was replaced by Markwayne Mullin.
It’s unclear what DHS will do with the facilities, many of which have been subject to legal challenges to prevent them from being repurposed for detention.
“From day one, DHS has remained singularly focused on removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from the United States and is always evaluating the best methods to do so,” a spokesperson said in a statement to CNN on Friday.
“These heinous criminals, once arrested, should be removed at lightning speed, not housed on American soil at the taxpayer’s expense. DHS is moving swiftly to utilize EXISTING detention space with our state and county partners.”
