ICE plans to open federal immigration detention center in Eastern North Carolina by 2026, says NYT

A former federal prison in eastern North Carolina appears poised to become the state's first dedicated federal immigration detention center, according to a report by The New York Times citing internal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement documents.

The newspaper reported ICE plans to open a detention center this fall at the former Rivers Correctional Institution in Winton. The proposed facility would be run by private prison company GEO Group and house about 1,400 detainees, making it one of the largest immigration detention centers on the East Coast. 

It comes just days after court battles and a public pressure campaign preceded the closure of a massive detention camp in Florida, called “Alligator Alcatraz” by supporters and opponents alike.

Earlier this week dozens of activists rallied at the state legislature in Raleigh, urging state leaders to oppose any effort to start detaining immigrants in North Carolina.

Democratic Governor Josh Stein was not at Wednesday’s protest, but on Friday he added to the opposition.

“The planned ICE detention center in Winton is not state-owned, and I did not approve this transaction,” Stein wrote on social media. “Like many other North Carolinians, I do not want it in our state. ICE and Border Patrol have not earned our trust.”

A spokesperson for the state prison system told WRAL they have no control over the decision since the site is a private prison, not a state facility. WRAL contacted ICE officials and GEO Group on Wednesday and again Friday seeking comment but didn’t receive a response.

Protesters in Raleigh earlier this week said the facility would expand the Trump administration's immigration enforcement efforts and pointed to American Civil Liberties Union records they said showed the prison was under consideration. GEO Group has previously come under fire for alleged physical and sexual violence at facilities in multiple states.

The Rivers site previously operated as a federal prison before its 2021 closure. A 2016 U.S. Department of Justice review of privately operated federal prisons found Rivers had among the highest rates of inmate-on-inmate violence, sexual misconduct, contraband and positive drug tests in the federal private prison system.

“We have a choice about the North Carolina that we want to be,” immigrant advocate and Brava NC founder Iliana Santillán said at the rally. “Do we become a place that responds to human suffering with more walls, more detention, and more separation? Or do we choose dignity?”

More than 50 immigrants have died in detention camps awaiting deportation since President Donald Trump returned to office last year, promising ramped-up immigration enforcement. Trump has given many large government contracts to GEO Group, which heavily backed his reelection campaign, and which he owns hundreds of thousands of dollars of stock in. 

The possibility of reopening Rivers has been public for nearly a year.

In August 2025, The Washington Post reported the Trump administration was considering reopening the prison as part of a broader effort to expand immigration detention space. During an earnings call that same month, GEO Group Executive Chairman George Zoley told investors the company hoped to reopen Rivers and was negotiating with ICE.

The prison closed in 2021 after former President Joe Biden signed an executive order directing the federal government to phase out contracts with privately operated prisons. Before closing, the facility employed about 300 people in Hertford County.

The state prison system told WRAL it has concerns the new site might recruit guards or other workers away from already-understaffed state prisons, which are among the main employers in several northeastern North Carolina counties.

But one local resident said the promise of new jobs isn’t worth it.

“Rivers is not an economic development. It's not what we need," Hertford County resident Caroline Stephenson said at Wednesday's rally. "Hertford County needs jobs that don't profit off other people's pain and suffering."

The report comes as federal immigration enforcement continues to increase in North Carolina.

According to the Deportation Data Project, ICE has arrested more than 6,300 people in North Carolina since Trump took office in January 2025 — roughly double the number during the previous two years under Biden.

It also follows passage of North Carolina's Border Protection Act, which became law over Stein's veto. The law expands cooperation between ICE and state agencies, including the State Highway Patrol, State Bureau of Investigation, Department of Public Safety and Department of Adult Correction.

Republican lawmakers say the law creates consistent statewide standards and improves public safety. Opponents argue it will increase immigration enforcement and detention across North Carolina.

"It is simply common sense that law-enforcement agencies should work together to identify and remove individuals who are in this country illegally and commit crimes," House Speaker Destin Hall’s spokeswoman Demi Dowdy said in a statement Wednesday. "Thanks to these efforts, dangerous offenders are being taken off our streets, and North Carolina communities are safer as a result."