A $21 million, privately-run immigration detention facility in Farmville, VA, considered to be largest immigration detention center on the mid-Atlantic coast, opened its doors last month. The facility will house some 584 detainees in its first phase and might eventually grow to hold 1,000. Many of those in the facility will be level 1 offenders caught through the Secure Communities, which relies on police in local jails to enter arrest data into a joint FBI and Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (ICE) database. The facility operators Immigration Company of America (ICA-Farmville) include Richmond businessmen Ken Newsome, Warren Coleman and Russell Harper, first timers to the private prison business.

Over the last couple of months, our previous Farmville post has resulted in several comments about the facility and its operations. We encourage individuals to write us at deportationnation [at] gmail.com with tips.

Our current project Deportation Nation, is a follow-up to Business of Detention, and home of an independent investigation that critically examines the increase in detention of innocent and low-level immigrant offenders as a result of enforcement programs mandated to target “dangerous criminal aliens,” specifically the Secure Communities program.