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ICE Detention Center Expansion in NC Amid Protests

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2026-07-26 18:41 UTC → 2026-07-28 15:58 UTC · added removed

ICE Detention Center Expansion in North Carolina NC Amid Protests

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is moving proceeding with plans to reopen the former Rivers Correctional Facility Institution in Winton, North Carolina, as a 1,400‑bed immigration detention center. center, with completion targeted for the end of 2026. The site, prison, closed in 2021 and owned by private‑prison operator GEO Group, is slated for completion by the end would become one of 2026. the largest detention facilities on the East Coast. Internal ICE documents obtained by The the New York Times describe detail the agreement with GEO Group to repurpose the prison, reflecting a broader federal strategy to expand site, while ICE has said it has no additional detention capacity by converting existing facilities rather than building new ones. centers to announce. State officials and activist groups have opposed continue to oppose the plan. project. Governor Josh Stein has publicly opposed locating stated he does not want the center facility in the state, and protests have gathered at the North Carolina General Assembly. The ACLU of North Carolina has highlighted the prison’s history past reports of violence, contraband, sexual abuse, and inadequate medical care when it operated as a criminal‑alien requirement facility. ICE officials argue at the new center will reduce transportation distances for detainees from neighboring states, lower costs, site. Protests have gathered at the North Carolina General Assembly and address what they describe as a regional “detention desert.” elsewhere. The project illustrates ICE’s shift toward leveraging existing prison infrastructure North Carolina conversion is part of a broader federal effort to meet growing expand immigration‑detention demands across the Carolinas capacity by converting existing prisons, warehouses, and other facilities rather than building new ones. This expansion proceeds despite heightened national criticism after July shootings in which ICE agents killed immigrants, prompting Democratic lawmakers to call for investigations into ICE’s recruitment and use‑of‑force policies. Demonstrators have also focused on other ICE sites, such as the broader East Coast. Delaney detention center in New Jersey, underscoring continued public opposition to the agency’s growing detention network.

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  1. 2026-07-28 15:58 UTC ICE Detention Center Expansion in NC Amid Protests
  2. 2026-07-26 18:41 UTC ICE Detention Center Expansion in North Carolina

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