AccessNorthGa.com

By Jerry Gunn
Thursday, February 25th 2010

GAINESVILLE – Around 50 people, mostly from area Catholic Churches, assembled in front of the North Georgia Detention Center On Main Street at noon Thursday to call for fair treatment and human rights for inmates they say don’t belong inside the walls.

The chill of February did not discourage them from gathering with signs advocating dignity and fairness according to P.J. Edwards, with Georgia Detention Watch, who wishes the immigration detention facilities would go away.

“The vast majority of these detainees aren’t criminals, they aren’t a threat to society, and this level of detention isn’t really unnecessary,” Edwards said. “There are alternatives like parole and community based ‘checking in’ that are shown to be effective and much less expensive.”

According to the Detention Watch Network the prayer service and public testimony in front of Correction Corporation of America’s Gainesville facility was part of a national campaign emphasizing ‘Dignity, not Detention: Preserving Human Rights and Restoring Justice”.

During an August 2009 open house and tour of the new North Georgia Detention Center CCA warden Stacey Stone promised his facility would be a ‘good Midtown Gainesville neighbor’. Stone said CCA has spent $4.5-million to convert the former Hall County jail on Main Street into a holding center for illegal immigrants facing deportation, plus another $1-million for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices next door.

A year ago CCA announced a five-year Inter-Governmental Service Agreement between Hall County and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to house up to 500 detainees at the former county jail.