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Trump's second term brings expansion of Folkston ICE facility, soon to be largest in U.S.

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FOLKSTONICE

Reuters Wires

One year into Donald Trump’s second term, immigration enforcement is reshaping life in parts of rural America including Folkston, Georgia. Folkston is a small town near the Florida border where a massive ICE detention center has become central to the local economy.The Folkston ICE Processing Center,, run by private prison operator GEO Group, has expanded in recent years, cementing its place as one of the largest immigration detention facilities in the country. Supporters say it brings jobs to a struggling region but residents argue it has come at a moral cost.For Reverend Leeann Culbreath, an Episcopal priest serving congregations across rural South Georgia, that cost is impossible to ignore.Inside a quiet church in nearby Tifton, Georgia - about two hours from the ICE facility -  Culbreath kneels to pray.Since 2017 Culbreath has devoted herself to immigrant justice work, regularly visiting the center to support detainees.“When Trump was elected, I knew that it would be as bad as it is now,” Culbreath told Reuters. “The calls for mass deportation and only going for the worst of the worst — that’s just a ruse. It would be mass detention.”Culbreath recalls visiting the facility nearly a decade ago, when detained men pleaded for help.&quot;I will never forget that day with that many men crowding around me, all of them shouting help us, help us. You know, we can&#x27;t get out of here and we&#x27;re not getting our court dates and we are not getting care that we need,” Culbreath said. “It hasn&#x27;t been reformed, it hasn&#x27;t been fixed, and it&#x27;s only going to get worse with the expansion.&quot;Faith leaders like Culbreath say the town’s growing reliance on the facility to support the economy is troubling.“It breaks my heart. That&#x27;s not what Georgia is.” Culbreath said.Meredith Yoon, litigation director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice, warns the expansion could worsen long-standing problems.“People should definitely be concerned about Folkston expanding,” Yoon told Reuters. “Folkston has had a long history of violation of people&#x27;s rights who are detained there. Lack of health care, poor treatment by the guards, poor quality of food, lack of communication with ICE, squalid conditions.”In Folkston, Reverend Antwon Nixon the pastor of Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church says the town should not be defined by detention.“Being known for having the largest facility, but also with the reputation that ICE has been having,” Nixon said. “It’s a black eye in the community.”Standing at his pulpit, Nixon warns that action is the only solution.“It’s going to take people speaking up, running for office, being proactive,” Nixon said. “I don&#x27;t think we continue to react to what the administration is doing and think that&#x27;s going fix anything.&quot;In a town where roughly one-third of residents live below the poverty line, faith leaders warn economic hardship has left the community vulnerable to exploitation by the immigration detention economy.“As a minister, I worry about the soul of Georgia,” Culbreath said. “What this does to our spirits, our churches, and our witness of love.”Reuters reached out to GEO Group for comment on the expansion but did not receive a response.(Production: Jayla Whitfield-Anderson)

One year into Donald Trump’s second term, immigration enforcement is reshaping life in parts of rural America including Folkston, Georgia. Folkston is a small town near the Florida border where a massive ICE detention center has become central to the local economy.

One year into Donald Trump’s second term, immigration enforcement is reshaping life in parts of rural America including Folkston, Georgia. Folkston is a small town near the Florida border where a massive ICE detention center has become central to the local economy.

Trump's second term brings expansion of Folkston ICE facility, soon to be largest in U.S.

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Trump's second term brings expansion of Folkston ICE facility, soon to be largest in U.S.

Reuters

Published January 20, 2026 08:04 AM PHT

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