The City of Mableton, in a unanimous city council vote Wednesday, approved a temporary moratorium on immigration detention centers within city limits. The moratorium will remain in effect through Dec. 31, 2028.
In passing the moratorium, the main reasons given for its passage leaned heavily on stress on the city’s infrastructure, and the land use and zoning impacts on the city as it implements its planning decisions.
Mayor Michael Owens said it’s important that “we ensure and we know what we’re getting ourselves into with every step that we take forward.”
“We’ve seen this in social circle, Georgia,” Owens said. “We’ve seen it in Oakwood, Georgia.”
“These are metro Atlanta areas where there are challenges where cities find themselves with detention centers that was never built out to be,” he said. “Items such as water and sewer systems are overloaded and overstressed.”
“We’re already talking about challenges that we’re having in the city right now with some of these core infrastructure issues,” said Owens. “The last thing we need in this city is to be housing, not pallets, but people.”
Brianne Perkins, the Chief of Staff for state Representative Terry Cummings, whose District 39 includes Mableton, delivered a statement from the representative:
I strongly support the City of Mapleton’s resolution calling for a moratorium on ICE detention centers. Across the country, immigration detention has raised profound civil and human rights concerns about due process, family separation, and the treatment of people, including citizens held in custody.
Our community should not be a site for expanding a system that too often operates with limited transparency and accountability.
Mableton is right to pause and ask whether detention facilities reflect the values of dignity, justice, and fairness that we expect in a Democratic society. A moratorium gives local leaders and residents the time to exam the impacts on civil rights, community trust, and public safety.
A press release issued by the city after the meeting states:
The moratorium applies to requests involving the establishment, location, operation, permitting, development, expansion or licensing of immigration detention centers. It also covers rezonings, zoning changes, land use permits, construction permits, building permits, plan reviews and other related development approvals. The measure supports ongoing work to strengthen zoning tools, review land use policy and guide growth.
Mableton is already over built!