The City of Social Circle, Georgia, an hour east of Atlanta, is suing the federal government for its plan to convert a warehouse into an immigration detention center without consulting local officials.
This comes as a government watchdog is investigating how the warehouse plans unfolded around the country.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, claims the Department of Homeland Security failed to meaningfully grapple with the city’s water and sewer treatments in a way that violates federal and state law. The suit outlines how the feds did not conduct environmental impact surveys or engage area residents.
DHS bought a 1-million-square-foot warehouse in the city in February to detain up to 10,000 immigrants and employ up to 2,500 people. The city has around 5,000 residents, and city officials say their infrastructure is already at capacity.
DHS planned to begin detaining people in the warehouse in June. Area residents and local officials have opposed the facility for months for a range of reasons, from the lack of consultation and communication from the federal government to some residents’ opposition of immigration detention.
