The U.S. Senate introduced a bill that would require local approval of immigration detention facilities before they’re built.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff from Georgia is a cosponsor of the bill, called the “Respect for Local Communities Act.”
This year, the Department of Homeland Security spent nearly $200 million on warehouses in Georgia to convert them into Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities, one in Social Circle, about an hour east of Atlanta, and one in Oakwood, about an hour northeast of Atlanta.
Neither city was consulted about the plan, nor looped into the planning process. For months, people from across the political spectrum protested the federal move for reasons ranging from a logistical lack of infrastructure, opposition to ICE detention, and the belief that locals should have a say about what the feds were doing to their communities.
“That, for me, has been so satisfying to see so many people from so many different perspectives get out of their comfort zone and be alongside each other to speak out against this detention center,” said Gareth Fenley, a community organizer in Social Circle, at a protest in March.
