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Protesters rally in Ballantyne against possible ICE detention center in North Carolina

Zach Thomas
/
Courtesy
Protestors gathered outside GEO's eastern regional office in Ballantyne on Tues, Feb. 17, 2026.

Dozens of people gathered Tuesday evening outside the eastern regional office of GEO Group in Ballantyne to protest a possible U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in North Carolina.

The ACLU of North Carolina says ICE plans to use Rivers Correctional Facility in Winton, which is owned and operated by GEO Group, a private prison contractor.

“We continue to call for ICE to be abolished, we demand that no new ICE detention centers be opened in North Carolina and we call on people to follow the money and see who’s actually behind this,” said Zach Thomas with PSL Charlotte.

The ACLU of North Carolina also says ICE plans to open two additional detention facilities in Greensboro, totaling three proposed facilities statewide.

GEO Group currently operates about a dozen ICE detention centers across the U.S.

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Julian Berger is a Race & Equity Reporter at WFAE, Charlotte’s NPR affiliate. His reporting focuses on Charlotte's Latino community and immigration policy. He is an award-winning journalist who received the 2025 RTDNAC Award for an economic story examining how fears of immigration enforcement affected Latino-owned businesses in Charlotte.