Largest ICE Detention Center in Midwest Opens in Baldwin, MI

BALDWIN — On June 16, 2025, North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan—a 1,800‑bed private prison—reopened under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), marking it as the largest immigrant detention center in the Midwest.

Located in Lake County, a rural region far from an international border, North Lake is being repurposed by GEO Group to house migrants awaiting final immigration rulings.

Community Division Over Private Prisons

President Biden’s suspension of Justice Department contracts with for-profit criminal detention facilities has been reversed, allowing privately operated prisons to hold federal detainees. GEO Group made 28% of its revenue from ICE contracts in 2020 and estimates an annual profit of over $70 million from the Lake County facility alone.

The reopening is seen as a financial lifeline in Lake County, which has been ranked among Michigan’s poorest. GEO Group is expected to hire between 400 and 500 staff, offering stable employment in a region where unemployment rates hover around 7.6%.

Although GEO Group expects a multi-year contract, locals are skeptical that the facility will remain open, highlighting Baldwin’s history of transient prison contracts sea­sonally reopening then shuttering.

Conditions of Ice Detention Centers Spark Human Rights Concerns

Immigrant advocates and legal rights groups, including the ACLU of Michigan, have condemned the reopening. They warn of potential abuse, citing past accusations of poor conditions in ICE detention centers, mistreatment, medical neglect, and barriers to legal counsel—issues which previously triggered hunger strikes.

ACLU of Michigan's Executive Director Loren Khogali called the launch “a major threat to our immigrant friends and neighbors throughout Michigan and the Midwest.”

In addition to inhumane conditions in ICE detention centers, the ACLU is concerned that detainees may lose their due process rights and access to lawyers. They urge Michigan’s Congressional delegation to conduct oversight tours, emphasizing that the facility’s remote location could limit external monitoring.

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The Baldwin facility’s opening mirrors a larger national push by the Trump administration to expand detention capacity. This wave of new centers includes sites in California, Florida, Kansas, New Jersey, and Texas—most notably, a 5,000-bed detention center in the Everglades dubbed ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ set to open in July.

Nationwide protests have emerged as part of a broader national backlash against Trump-era immigration enforcement policies. On June 21, over 100 demonstrators—including former employees of GEO Group—held signs including “NO GEO NO ICE” along Highway 37 in objection to the new site. 

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

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