Ossoff-backed bill would require local approval for new ICE facilities

Senator Jon Ossoff, running for reelection in a closely-watched race in Georgia this year, has joined four other members of congress in backing a new bill that would limit what the Department of Homeland Security can do with new ICE facilities.

The “Respect for Local Communities Act” was introduced in the Senate by Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan from New Hampshire, and has been cosponsored by Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, Democrats from Arizona, and Ossoff.

Georgia was supposed to be home to a Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in Oakwood as well as one of the nation’s eight projected “megacenters” for detaining as many as 10,000 people in Social Circle. Both projects were met with outrage from their communities, and officials in both parts of the state say they have had little to no contact with DHS, despite the agency relying heavily on their infrastructure.

The plans are currently paused as new Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin reviews policies and plans from his predecessor, Kristi Noem, who was ousted from her position after contentious congressional oversight hearings.

What is the Respect for Local Communities Act?

S.3894, or the Respect for Local Communities Act, would require the Department of Homeland Security to consult and include towns and cities in the decision to buy land and develop new properties for ICE operations.

The bill would “prohibit the (DHS) from constructing, acquiring, or operating any new processing site or detention center without providing a mechanism for public comments regarding such activity, entering into a signed, written agreement with appropriate state and local officials, and providing Congress with advance notice of such activity.

Communities would have 30 days for public comment where the federal government would have to provide information on the “scope of the construction, acquisition, renovation or operation” of the facility.

It’s this kind of information that local communities have been asking from the current DHS, and where they have been stonewalled, according to city officials in Oakwood and Social Circle.

Ossoff supported by local Georgia leaders

For months, the Social Circle community has been clear in its opposition to this administration’s proposed ICE detention facility, which local leaders have warned risks overwhelming the city’s infrastructure,” Ossoff said in a statement. “Yet despite clear local opposition, this administration’s plans and intentions have been shrouded in secrecy without any local input. This bill will require the federal government to get local agreement before building such facilities.

The bill does not prevent the new facilities from being constructed, but does limit where they could be built by requiring local support.

“Our community remains strongly opposed to ICE’s proposed detention facility, which risks overwhelming our infrastructure and more than tripling our population. ICE and DHS‘ failures to communicate with us about these plans has made the situation even worse and created months of havoc,” Social Circle Mayor David Keener said in a statement. We’re grateful to Senator Ossoff for his continued opposition to this project and for his support of this federal legislation that would ensure our community has a voice in this process and cannot be ignored.

Ossoff’s fellow Georgia senator, Raphael Warnock, visited Social Circle earlier this year, and echoed what city officials have been sharing from inside the town. He also tried to stop the centers through amendments in a federal funding bill.

At the end of March, Ossoff and Warnock cosigned a letter to Mullin and Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, demanding answers to infrastructure questions posed by Social Circle officials. There was an April 7 deadline for an answer, though the Senators have not released whether they received a response.

Irene Wright is following the development of ICE facilities in Georgia as the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA TODAY’s Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.