Legal experts are taking note of an innovative legal approach behind a small town’s lawsuit against a proposed 10,000-bed ICE detention facility, The Guardian reported.
Keker, Van Nest & Peters represents Social Circle, Ga., which alleges that ICE and the Department of Homeland Security violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act in advancing the project. Dubbed a “mega center,” the facility would nearly triple the population of the town of 5,000 residents and significantly strain the area’s environment and water and sewer infrastructure.
“It’s pretty rare for a 5,000-person town to go up against the federal government in such a high-profile matter,” Keker partner Adam Lauridsen said.
The case is drawing attention partly because Social Circle is the first local jurisdiction, rather than a state attorney general, to bring such a challenge. Lauridsen said the lawsuit demonstrates that local communities can use existing legal tools to ensure federal agencies comply with the law before moving forward with projects that would significantly impact residents.
“It shows that towns have the power to resist ICE and DHS coming in and building detention centers that will hurt the town and its people,” he said.
The lawsuit goes beyond similar challenges filed around the country by also invoking Georgia’s public nuisance law. Legal scholars said the combination of environmental, administrative, and public nuisance claims could provide a framework for other communities seeking to challenge large-scale federal detention projects.
“The federal government needs to plan things out and explain what it’s doing – it can’t just shoot first, explain later,” Lauridsen said.
The Keker team on the case includes Lauridsen, Hamilton Jordan, Julie Hunter, Aseem Mehta, and Sonja Riley-Swanbeck.
You can read the full story in The Guardian here.