ICE wanted to build a detention centre - this small farming town said no

ICE wanted to build a detention centre - this small farming town said no10 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleMadeline HalpertSocial Circle, Georgia Getty ImagesA proposed detention centre would triple the population of Social Circle, GeorgiaFor months, two neighbours, Democrat Gareth Fenley and conservative John Miller, have been united in the same daily mission.Each morning the two get into their cars and drive several miles down the farm-lined roads of their small Georgia town to an empty one-million square-foot gray warehouse.On arrival, they search meticulously for signs of construction, breathing a sigh of relief each time the massive property appears untouched.The sprawling industrial warehouse, which the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) bought in February, is part of a $38.3bn (£29bn) plan to open up dozens of immigration detention centres across the US.Those plans have faced fierce opposition, not just in Democratic communities, but in conservative towns like Social Circle, which overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump in the last election - including his campaign promise to deport millions of undocumented immigrants."People have different reasons for aligning with the exact same message," Fenley said. "That message is: 'Detention centre, not welcome here.'"Watch: Residents from both parties push back against detention centerMany who support the president's immigration policies are concerned the facility would starve the small town of critical resources by tripling its population, turning a place once known for its quaint Blue Willow Inn buffet restaurant into a prison town.In March, those concerns led City Manager Eric Taylor to shut off the water in the warehouse, a move that made this one-stoplight town the unlikely face of resistance to the administration's plans."If you open up that water meter, it gives them full access to the entire supply of the whole city," Taylor told the BBC. &quo...