North Lake Correctional Facility near Baldwin accepted its first immigration detainees Monday
That’s according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In a written statement, ICE said it plans to release the number of detainees held there on Thursday when it issues its next biweekly detainee count.
North Lake is owned by GEO Group, a private prison company. It was a federal prison until its closing in 2022.
Its 1,800 bed capacity makes it one of the largest ICE detention centers in the country.
The federal government’s push for more immigration detention has benefitted GEO, which announced last week that it will also reopening an 1,900 facility in Georgia.
GEO also said a legal ruling will allow it to fill another 1,900 detention center in Los Angeles that had been operating below capacity.
