Officials in Social Circle, Georgia, have filed a federal lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security over plans to construct a large-scale immigration detention facility in the town.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, challenges plans to convert a warehouse into a detention center capable of holding 10,000 people. Social Circle has a population of approximately 5,000 residents.

The complaint alleges that federal agencies are proceeding with the project without completing required environmental assessments. Town officials argue the facility would strain local infrastructure beyond capacity, potentially resulting in water shortages and sewage system failures.

The lawsuit specifically warns that the proposed facility could overwhelm the town's small infrastructure, leading to what officials described as "dry taps and raw human waste spills." Local officials contend that the scale of the detention center would fundamentally alter their community.

The legal challenge represents the latest example of local resistance to federal immigration enforcement facilities. The case will test whether communities can successfully block immigration detention projects on environmental and infrastructure grounds.

Neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security immediately responded to requests for comment regarding the lawsuit or the timeline for the proposed facility.