The building already exists, which is the point. Rivers Correctional Institution in Winton, in Hertford County, North Carolina, sits on 257 acres and has been closed since 2021 [1].
Internal ICE documents show plans to reopen it this year as a 1,400-bed immigration detention facility operated by GEO Group, which would make it one of the largest immigration detention centers on the East Coast [1].
Its history is part of the record. Rivers previously drew Justice Department scrutiny over poor conditions, contraband and violence by officers [1]. It is being brought back for a population with fewer procedural protections than the one it held before.
Governor Josh Stein objected in plain terms. 'Like many other North Carolinians, I do not want it in our state,' he said, and gave his reason: 'ICE and Border Patrol have not earned our trust' [1]. He cited the custody figures - 22 deaths in immigration facilities so far in 2026, and 33 in 2025 [1].
A governor cannot block a federal detention contract, and Stein's objection is a statement rather than a veto. What it establishes is that the state's chief executive has said on the record that he does not want it, on the grounds of the operator's conduct, before a single person is booked in [1].
