North Lake Processing Center — Baldwin MI (GEO Group) · MI · 1,800 · GEO Group

Overview

The North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan is a 1,800-bed GEO Group-operated ICE detention facility that was reactivated in 2025. It has been described as “notorious” in reporting on ICE detention conditions.

Key Details

Capacity: 1,800 beds (men and women, exclusively ICE)
Average daily population: 1,300+ (as of Feb 2026); peaked near 1,419 in Feb 2026
Operator: GEO Group
Contract value: $87 million annually (multi-year)
Reopened: June 2025 (closed 2022 under Biden private prison ban)
Location: Baldwin, Lake County, Michigan (FIPS 26085)
Designation: Largest immigration detention facility in the Midwest

Death in Custody

On December 15, 2025, Nenko Gantchev, a 56-year-old Bulgarian national, died at the facility. He was found unresponsive on the floor of his cell, struggling to breathe. Staff performed CPR and used defibrillators for nearly 30 minutes. Time of death: 9:54 p.m.

U.S. Reps. Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham) and Hillary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids) sent a letter to DHS Secretary Noem and Acting ICE Director Lyons demanding answers. They toured the facility in mid-February 2026 but reported getting “no answers” about Gantchev’s death. The cause of death remains under investigation as of April 2026.

Medical Neglect and 911 Calls

Lake County dispatch logs show dozens of emergency calls from the facility since its June 2025 reopening, with major spikes in October and December 2025. Specific incidents include:

December 28: Four emergency calls in a single day
November 22: 30-year-old detainee on suicide watch refused 8 meals, avoided psychiatric meds, collapsed
Three days later: 23-year-old detainee attempted suicide
Multiple: Recurring cardiac events; dispatcher noted “What’s today, EKG day?”
Access issues: One ambulance on scene could not get in because staff could not find the keys

One West Michigan man detailed medical neglect during his detention, reporting inadequate care for serious conditions.

Hunger Strike (April 2026)

On Monday, April 21, 2026, roughly 300 men in at least one unit launched a hunger strike, protesting prolonged detention, inadequate communication from ICE, and facility living conditions. The advocacy coalition No Detention Centers in Michigan said hundreds participated; protesters gathered outside the facility on April 22. Detainees cited “dangerous conditions, a lack of adequate food and medical care, and cruel legal obstacles that have kept many in captivity with no end in sight.” One detainee said: “I don’t know why I’m sitting here, I want deportation,” expressing a desire to return to his pregnant wife. ICE data cited an average stay of 49 days, but advocates documented many detainees held nearly six months. Neither ICE nor GEO Group responded to requests for comment. By the morning of April 23, at least one unit had stopped the strike.

On April 24, 2026, civil rights organizations called for an independent investigation into the facility.

ACLU / MIRC Complaint (May 2026)

On May 14-15, 2026, the ACLU of Michigan and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) sent a formal complaint to Kevin Raycraft, director of ICE’s Detroit Field Office, alleging that detainees’ constitutional and legal rights are not being met — covering medical care, legal counsel/visitation, and access to judicial proceedings. The two groups also called on Congress to require an independent investigation. Documented cases include:

A woman who suffered a hypertensive emergency after being denied her blood-pressure prescription
A woman who requested a mammogram seven times after finding a breast lump and never received one
A man found in his cell “crying, shaking, and unable to walk” after being denied insulin
A man with epilepsy who had a seizure after not receiving medication in time

Detainees were reportedly told to pay for their own medications, which the groups say violates ICE policy. Attorneys were turned away over “arbitrary” dress-code enforcement — in one instance a female attorney was told to remove her underwire bra before entering. About 1,400 immigrants were held as of April 2026 (capacity 1,800).

Sexual Assault Reported, Then Deported Mid-Investigation (June 2026)

On June 1, 2026, Michigan Public and Michigan Advance (and a parallel national ProPublica investigation) reported that a 50-year-old transgender Venezuelan woman — identified as “Q” to protect her as an alleged sexual-assault victim — reported being repeatedly sexually harassed and assaulted by her assigned cellmate at North Lake. Q had arrived in Pontiac, MI the prior summer, working at a barbershop, and spent her February 2026 50th birthday in detention. She reported being masturbated on over several days and, on March 16, 2026 (~3–4 AM), strangled with a bed sheet and forcibly penetrated. A SANE exam documented anal tearing, bruising, and bite marks.

Timeline:

March 16, 2026: Transferred from North Lake to a hospital in Cadillac, then to Shelterhouse in Gladwin for a SANE exam.
March 18, 2026: Returned to North Lake.
Two days after the Lake County sheriff’s interview: Transferred out of North Lake, then bounced through four more detention centers in Texas and Arizona.
Mid-April 2026: Deported to Venezuela while ICE confirmed its investigation was still “ongoing.”

The cellmate denied the allegations; DNA results were not included in the sheriff’s report. Lake County Prosecutor Tom Evans said he was “still reviewing the evidence” — no charges filed. GEO Group said it “mandates zero tolerance towards all forms of sexual abuse” and pointed to PREA audits and training, but declined an interview. Reporting notes North Lake has not appeared in a PREA audit since 2022 (it was closed until its June 2025 reopening), and that the Trump administration moved in January 2026 to roll back PREA rape protections for transgender people in ICE facilities. Deporting a complaining witness before the investigation concluded effectively foreclosed any prosecution — a pattern advocates flag as undermining ICE’s own PREA obligations. This adds to the ACLU/MIRC complaint and hunger strike in the documented-conditions record at the facility.

Conditions Reports

Family members reported to the No Detention Centers in Michigan coalition (October 2025):

Extended lockdowns lasting several hours (up from 45 min previously)
Detainees no longer allowed to eat in the dining hall — food brought to cells
GEO Group restricted attorney access and halted visitations when coalition protested
ICE encouraged self-deportation but with prolonged delays and lack of transparency
Reports of inmate protests over delays

GEO Group’s response: claims to provide “medical care, family visitations, translation services, dietician-approved meals, and recreational amenities.”

Habeas Corpus Wave

Over 800 habeas petitions filed in Michigan federal courts since January 2025, primarily from North Lake detainees. Judges granted most petitions, requiring the government to provide bond hearings or release detainees. Key rulings:

Judge Brandy R. McMillion (Eastern District, Aug 2025): Freed Juan Manuel Lopez-Campos from Monroe County Jail, calling mandatory detention “not only wrong but also fundamentally unfair”
Western District (Jan 2026): Freed Fernando Ramirez Adame (valid work permit through 2028, detained 3 months)
Western District (Feb 2026): Granted Dalveilys Pineda’s petition (Venezuelan asylum seeker, 4 months detained)

GEO Group Financials (2025)

2025 profit: $254 million (up ~700% from $32 million in 2024)
New contracts: Worth up to $520 million in annualized revenues
ICE capacity expansion: From ~20,000 to ~26,000 beds (new facilities in NJ, GA, FL, MI)
Political connection: GEO Group donated $1 million to Trump’s 2024 reelection campaign
Leadership: CEO J. David Donahue retiring Feb 2026; founder George Zoley assuming role Mar 2026-Apr 2029

Context

One of four GEO Group facilities reactivated in 2025 as part of the company’s expansion from ~20,000 to ~26,000 ICE beds. More than 4,600 people spent time in ICE custody in Michigan from Jan-Oct 2025, with nearly half passing through Baldwin. Michigan now hosts both the North Lake Processing Center (private) and the contested Romulus warehouse (federal), making it a significant node in the detention network.

ICE is working toward 100,000 beds nationwide, with the Trump administration allocating $45 billion for the effort.

Detention Pipeline

North Lake Processing Center — Baldwin MI (GEO Group)