Stewart Detention Center — Lumpkin GA (CoreCivic) · GA · 2,000+ · CoreCivic

Overview

The Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Stewart County, Georgia is a CoreCivic-operated ICE facility with capacity exceeding 2,000 beds. It is one of the largest and most notorious ICE detention facilities in the country.

Population

Average daily population rose from ~1,500 to over 1,800 since January 2025.

Deaths

14 deaths in custody since ICE began detaining people at Stewart in 2006 — one of the deadliest ICE facilities in the country. Average daily population now exceeds 2,000.

Recent deaths (2025):

Abelardo Avellaneda-Delgado, 68, Mexican national — died May 5, 2025, became unresponsive during transport to Stewart
Jesus Molina-Veya, 45, Mexican national — died by suicide June 7, 2025

Recent deaths (2026):

Denny Adán González, 33 — died April 28, 2026. CoreCivic staff found him unresponsive in his cell around 10:25 p.m. and began CPR. Suspected cause is suicide (official cause under investigation). He was reportedly held in solitary confinement at the time — a practice internationally recognized as torture. González was arrested in North Carolina in December 2025 (assault on a female / domestic violence) and transferred to ICE custody at Stewart in January 2026. Detention Watch Network reported him as the 18th reported ICE detention death of 2026 nationally, and the second Georgia ICE-custody death of 2026. Advocates are calling for a full independent investigation into his death and the “rampant use of force” at Stewart.

Georgia Senators Ossoff and Warnock have repeatedly blasted ICE over deaths across Georgia facilities.

Bond Hearings — Stewart Is the Epicenter of the Eleventh Circuit’s Pro-Bond Ruling

Stewart sits in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia and the Eleventh Circuit, which on May 6, 2026 ruled FOR bond hearings in Hernández Álvarez v. Warden, FDC Miami (No. 25-14065) — holding that immigrants who entered without inspection but were arrested in the interior are entitled to bond hearings under INA § 236(a), not mandatory no-bond detention under § 235(b)(2)(A). See bond-hearing-circuit-split-2026.

The Eleventh Circuit ruling formalized a fight that began at Stewart. The lead district case, brought by Atlanta immigration attorney Karen Weinstock on behalf of Jesús Arizmendi Mora — a Mexican national held at Stewart who had lived in the U.S. for over two decades — produced a Nov. 3, 2025 order from U.S. District Judge Clay D. Land directing ICE to provide a bond hearing. Land: “Congress clearly intended for some aliens, who are arrested and similarly situated to [Arizmendi Mora], to be provided with the opportunity for a bond.” Since that ruling, at least 15 bond-hearing orders have followed in the Middle District of Georgia, with more pending — a habeas wave concentrated on Stewart detainees, now reinforced by binding circuit precedent. This is the clearest pathway out of indefinite detention for the Stewart population short of deportation.

Conditions

Inept mental health care, solitary confinement, medical neglect
Unsanitary conditions, forced labor, use of force
Ongoing investigation into sexual assault by a detention center nurse
Subject of DOJ investigations, ACLU lawsuits, and extensive reporting

Economic Capture

Stewart County (population ~6,000) is one of Georgia’s poorest counties. The detention center is the largest employer — classic economic capture.

Monitoring Organizations

El Refugio — hospitality house in Lumpkin for visiting families
Project South — conditions documentation
Southern Center for Human Rights — litigation
Georgia Detention Watch — ongoing monitoring

Detention Pipeline

Stewart Detention Center — Lumpkin GA (CoreCivic)