On Thursday, July 17, 50501 Savannah and guests learned about the GEO group and The Folkston ICE Detention Center. At the end of the Zoom, participants learned how they can take action to support individuals impacted by The Folkston ICE Detention Center and to make their objections known to the government. 

Slideshow and text at this link

Taking Action

Letter Campaign
Clicking on the links below will open up a Google doc letter to the person listed. You will be prompted to make a copy of the letter. You can personalize each letter from there with your name, address, and the date. Please make any changes you desire so the letter addresses your specific concerns or send it as is. You will need a google account to open these letters. Non-google versions will be added shortly. 

• Letter to Donald Trump 

• Letter to Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security 

• Letter to Todd Lyons, Acting Director of ICE 

• Letter to Buddy Carter, Representative to Georgia's First Congressional District 

• Alphya Benefield, Chairwoman, Charlton County Board of Commissioners

• James Everett – District 2 Commissioner

• Jesse Crews – District 3 Commissioner

• Joseph "Drew" Jones – District 4 Commissioner

• Lucas "Luke" Gowen – District 5 Commissioner (Vice-Chairman)

• FEC Commissioner Shana M. Broussard (Chair)

• FEC Commissioner James E. Trainor III (Vice Chair)

• FEC Commissioner Dara Lindenbaum (Commissioner)

• Senator Jon Ossoff

• Senator Reverend Rafael Warnock

Immigration Court Observation

The American Bar Association's Commission on Immigration's (COI) Immigration Court Observation & Awareness Project ("Project") is an opportunity for volunteers to learn firsthand about the immigration court system, while helping identify patterns and practices that will inform advocacy to support access to counsel and due process rights for noncitizens. 

This is an independent, unsupervised volunteer opportunity. You will do online training to learn how to engage in court observation. Volunteers pick the dates and times that work best for your schedule and observe online court cases when convenient. We anticipate that you will need to commit to approximately 5-7 hours of volunteer time for this project. Volunteers do not need any previous experience with immigration law, and do not need to be lawyers or other legal professionals.

The link to volunteer is here https://airtable.com/appvu2YWcnp0n7Tyd/ pagv3EmYow2Imdgh8/form.

Interpreter

The Immigration Justice Campaign is an initiative of the American Immigration Council and American Immigration Lawyers Association. The mission is to increase free legal services for immigrants navigating the immigration system. Interpreters are needed for this critical job. If you speak a language in addition to English and would like to volunteer as an interpreter, please go to this link: https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/get-involved/volunteer/.

Grassroots Advocates

Take action with Immigration Justice Campaign. This organization is looking for more people to join a 17,000+ strong corps of grassroots advocates. Together, they make concrete demands to push for a better immigration system. See action you can take at this link. 

Protests

Watch your local grassroots organizations for protests about immigration, ICE, or specific detention facilities. Some ways to keep up-to-date on protests include the following:

• Check mobilize.us for actions in your area

• Follow social media accounts of your local grassroots organizations

• Sign-up on mailing lists for your local grassroots organizations

• Sign-up with the local Democratic party in your area

Specific Organizations

The following organizations are dedicated specifically to addressing injustices affecting migrants and detainees. Follow them on social media to learn what they are doing: 

• El Refugio (https://elrefugiostewart.org/), 

• Migrant Equity Southeast (https://www.migrantequity.org/), 

• Shutdown Folkston ICE Facility (https://www.instagram.com/shutdownfipc/): visits, pen-pal programs, court-watching opportunities.

Selected Articles and Videos

• ICE finds violations at Folkston detention center but continues to contract with The GEO Group, July 15, 2025

• Folkston Immigration Detention Center to Become Nation’s Largest, July 9, 2025

• South Georgia soon to become home to nation's largest immigrant detention center, July 9, 2025

• Immigrants with no criminal convictions represent sharpest growth in ICE detention population, July 3, 2025

• EPA Drops Legal Case Against the GEO Group, a Major Trump Donor, Over Its Misuse of Harmful Disinfectant in an ICE Facility, June 10, 2025

• Private prisons and local jails are ramping up as ICE detention exceeds capacity, June 4, 2025

• Georgia Today: Folkston ICE center doubles capacity; Cuts to Job Corps program; Space photo exhibit, June 4, 2025

• US Supreme Court to review GEO Group's loss in immigrant detainee forced labor case, June 2, 2025

• Trump Shuts Down 3 Watchdog Agencies Overseeing Immigration Crackdown, March 21, 2025

• An ICE Contractor Is Worth Billions. It’s Still Fighting to Pay Detainees as Little as $1 a Day to Work, March 19, 2025

• Private prison giant sees $1B ICE contract as start of ‘unprecedented opportunities’ under Trump, February 27, 2025

• United States District Court Central District of California Class Action Lawsuit - Ligaya Ronduen, et al., vs. The GEO Group, January 6, 2025

• Private prison firms contributed more than $1M to Trump's reelection. Now they expect a business boom, November 20, 2024

• What Trump’s Victory Means for the Private Prison Industry, November 5, 2024

• Private prison behemoth is first corporation to max out to Trump, July 3, 2024

• Government's own experts found 'barbaric' and 'negligent' conditions in ICE detention, August 16, 2023

• Violations of ICE Detention Standards at Folkston ICE Processing Center and Folkston Annex, June 30, 2022

• Emails show GEO Group employee threatening ICE detainees who didn't clean their jails, November 7, 2019

• Following super PAC support, private prison company wins Trump admin contract, April 17, 2017

• Disappeared in America: The Faces of Trump's Immigration Dragnet, Undated

• Cashing in On Cruelty - Stories of death, abuse and neglect at the GEO immigration detention facility in Aurora (Colorado), Undated