Folkston ICE complex to expand into nation's largest detention center

Federal and private operators are moving ahead with a major expansion of the Folkston Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center in Charlton County, Georgia, a project that would fold the D. Ray James Correctional Facility into a privately run ICE complex overseen by the GEO Group. Local officials and company filings place the enlarged facility's capacity near 2,986 to 3,000 beds, a scale that would make Folkston among the nation's largest immigration detention sites.

Reports differ on precise numbers. Most detailed accounts, including a Charlton County and Rep. Earl L. "Buddy" Carter release, describe an increase from roughly 1,100 current beds to nearly 3,000. A separate outlet, Evrimagaci, reports a more expansive figure exceeding 4,000 detainees; that larger tally is not corroborated by the more specific bed counts cited elsewhere. Journalists and policymakers are treating the range as contested while noting the consensus toward a roughly threefold increase.

Financial terms and funding sources are similarly varied in public accounts. Rep. Carter's June 6, 2025 release describes a federal-county contract worth $47 million to expand D. Ray James and formally integrate it into the Folkston center. NPR reporting places a separate federal commitment of $96 million flowing to the GEO Group over two years for expansion work. Local reporting also ties the project to recent federal budget legislation that allocates funding for detention infrastructure, including a reported $45 billion line in President Donald Trump’s budget legislation for new immigration detention construction.

Local officials have touted immediate economic gains. County and city estimates project about 400 new jobs related to corrections, nursing, administration and support roles, with reported hourly wages ranging from $17 to $60 for some positions. Rep. Carter's release states the City of Folkston would collect about $600,000 annually in water and sewer fees from the expanded facility, and another report attributes roughly $230,000 in yearly revenue to the county under the GEO Group–federal contract.

Yet community advocates and health observers warn of profound social and public health consequences. Inspectors cited in reporting by Atlpresscollective documented inhumane conditions in the existing facility, and NPR noted that detainees could become a majority of Folkston's population once expansion is complete. Those shifts carry potential strains on local health services, increased needs for mental health care and heightened risks for infectious disease transmission when large numbers of people are congregated in confined settings without robust oversight.

Many residents oppose the expansion on moral and economic-dependency grounds. Savannah Pollock, a Folkston native, criticized private operators for "prey[ing] on small rural towns," encapsulating a common worry that short-term economic boosts will leave communities reliant on incarceration economies while raising long-term equity concerns.

The project frames broader policy debates about the role of private corporations in immigration enforcement, federal investment priorities and the capacity of rural health systems to absorb large institutional populations. Public health experts and human rights advocates are calling for transparent oversight, independent inspections and binding standards for medical and mental health care in any expanded facility. As the Folkston project proceeds, officials will face mounting pressure to reconcile job and revenue promises with the health, safety and dignity of detainees and the surrounding community.