CHARLTON COUNTY, Ga. – A controversial plan to expand an immigrant detention facility in southeast Georgia is moving forward after a delay, according to Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-GA).
Carter announced he landed a lucrative Department of Homeland Security (DHS) contract to expand the D. Ray James Correctional Facility in Charlton County to become part of the Folkston Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Processing Centre.
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According to The Washington Post, the federal government had paused a plan to issue a $47 million contract to expand the center while the contract is reviewed by the U.S. DOGE Service. The Post said the contract was flagged and reviewed under a federal policy that requires all Department of Homeland Security contracts worth more than $20 million to be reviewed by DOGE.
At nearly 3,000 beds, Carter said the expansion would increase capacity and enhance federal detention operations already in place, bringing roughly 400 jobs.
“With this expansion, Georgia will strengthen its status as a national leader in the fight to secure our southern border. I’m proud to have worked with Charlton County to get the D. Ray James Correctional Facility expansion over the finish line, which will bring jobs and economic growth to our region, and I will continue to support our brave ICE agents as they seek to restore law and order,” said Rep. Carter.
The City of Folkston will receive approximately $600,000 a year in revenue from water and sewer services to the facility, he added.
Immigrant advocates protested the expansion of the facility outside the Atlanta ICE Field Office on Thursday.
11 Alive reported that Thursday’s protest came in anticipation of a vote by the Charlton County Board of Commissioners to approve a contract modification with ICE that would greenlight the expansion. But that vote, originally set for Thursday evening, was been postponed. A new date has not been set, and it’s unclear if that vote will still happen and how it will affect the project moving forward.
