Trump Management Revives Controversial Georgia Detention Center amid Deportation Push
The Trump administration is once again utilizing the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia, a facility plagued by allegations of medical abuse and non-consensual gynecological procedures performed on detained immigrant women, as part of a broader effort to accelerate deportations.
The move, confirmed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson to The Intercept, has ignited alarm among immigration advocates and former Department of Homeland Security officials, who warn of a return to inhumane conditions. While the agency could not confirm whether detentions had already begun, attorneys and advocates familiar with ICE operations reported that individuals were being temporarily held at the facility as early as Friday.
The Irwin County Detention Center first gained national attention in the fall of 2020 following accusations from detained women and a whistleblower nurse detailing widespread medical misconduct. The allegations centered on “excessive, invasive, and ofen unnecessary gynecological procedures” performed on female detainees, often without their informed consent,
“It’s a really dangerous sign,” said a former DHS official who previously worked at Irwin and spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. “Using the facility to detain immigrants again would be an absolute mistake.”
ICE has indicated that both men and women in their custody will be held at the facility on a temporary basis, for a maximum of 72 hours, though the agency has not yet officially confirmed these details. ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.
The renewed use of Irwin comes as the White House intensifies pressure on ICE and its partners to expedite arrests in support of President Trump’s “mass deportation” agenda.The surge in ICE-related arrests has reportedly overwhelmed the existing detention system, prompting the administration to expand contracts with private prison operators. The Washington Post reported in September that ICE was considering re-opening contracts with Irwin and other facilities with troubled histories.
“This administration dose not care about civil rights and they certainly don’t care about the conditions of these facilities,” said the former DHS official, who was among numerous staff members removed from their positions this year. “I think they’re just trying to round up as many people as they can and get rid of them without any due process and without any regard for conditions.”
Immigration advocates share these concerns. “This shocking development is very much in line with this administration’s modus operandi of going to extreme lengths to dehumanize and brutalize migrants,” said Azadeh Shahshahani, legal and advocacy director at Project South, a civil rights group instrumental in bringing attention to the conditions at Irwin. “We stand with migrant women who were subjected to medical abuse and other egregious human rights violations at Irwin.”
The Irwin County Detention Center, operated by private prison contractor LaSalle Corrections, has historically housed local detainees, U.S. Marshals Service federal detainees, and individuals in ICE custody. Following the Biden administration’s decision to halt immigrant detentions at Irwin in 2021, the facility continued to hold individuals under the custody of Irwin County and the U.S. Marshals Service. LaSalle Corrections posted numerous job openings at Irwin on Thursday, signaling preparations for increased activity.
A 2022 inquiry by the DHS Office of Inspector General found that medical care at Irwin, excluding the gynecological procedures, was “inadequate.” Findings related to the allegations of nonconsensual gynecological procedures were deferred to another office within the OIG and have not been publicly released.
The resumption of detentions at Irwin echoes past concerns about conditions at other Georgia facilities. After the Biden administration ceased detaining women at Irwin in 2021, ICE began transferring them to the Stewart Detention Center, where an Intercept investigation in 2022 revealed allegations of sexual assault by a nurse contractor.
“The survivors of [ICE detention at irwin] still bear the scars, and given the DHS’s termination of nearly every oversight mechanism available to monitor and ameliorate violations of their own standards, it will be challenging for those affected to prevent or correct harms in yet another remote detention center,” said Sarah Owings, an Atlanta-based immigration attorney who previously represented immigrants detained at Irwin. “Given Irwin’s history, I do not think it is a good idea to rekindle this contract.”
