Folkston gaining 400 jobs with ICE immigration processing center expansion

By T.S. Carter |

FOLKSTON, Charlton County, Georgia – Detaining people in a wide-ranging immigration crackdown has become big business in the United States,

And nowhere will the detention business be bigger than in Folkston, a small South Georgia town 80 miles from Lakeland and 10 miles from the Florida line.

On Facebook one resident called it a “game changer,” and that it is, with estimates that the expansion of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center announced June 9 will bring 400 jobs to the city of 4,800 residents.

The processing center now holds 1,100 detainees. But with the expansion, the facility will accommodate up to 3,000 beds, making it the nation’s largest immigration detention.

The plan is to consolidate with the vacant D. Ray James Correctional Facility situated on property next store.

The expansion will establish South Georgia as a key cog in an immigration detention pipeline pursued by President Donald Trump. Together withSouthwest Georgia’sStewart Detention Center in Lumpkin,the Folkston facility’s nearly doubling of space will make the region a major destination for processing immigrants for deportation. The Stewart Detention Center, situated about 140 miles from Lakeland,is ranked as the nation’s second busiest processing center.

The decision to expand the federal detention center in Folkston, integrating it with the D. Ray James Correctional Facility, is driven by several key factors:

• Increased Detention Capacity: The primary goal is to significantly increase the capacity for processing and holding immigrants.
• Enhanced Federal Detention Operations: The expansion aims to enhance existing federal detention operations.
• Economic Growth and Job Creation: Charlton County officials have noted the potential for significant revenue for the city of Folkston from providing water and sewer services to the expanded facility. It is estimated the city will gain $600,000 annually in utility fees.
• Consolidating Facilities: The expansion involves merging the D. Ray James Correctional Facility, a GEO Group-owned facility, with the existing ICE Processing Centre. This consolidation allows for increased efficiency and utilization of existing infrastructure.
• Support for Southern Border Security: The expansion is presented as a measure to strengthen Georgia’s role in “securing the southern border.”

No timeline for the expansion has been set.

U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, whose First Congressional District includes Folkston, praised the creation of roughly 400 jobs and the overall economic growth the project brings to the district.

“With this expansion, Georgia will strengthen its status as a national leader in the fight to secure our southern border,” Carter said in a press statement.

 

Downtown Folkston could get an economic boost from the estimated 400 news jobs coming soon.

 

 

 

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center expansion to 3,000 beds will make it the largest immigration detention facility in the nation.

 

 

 

The ICE facility will be combined with the unused D. Ray James Correctional Facility situated on neighboring property.