Rep. Ross Tours Cary ICE Facility, Pushes for Georgia Inspection
Rep. Deborah Ross toured the Cary ICE facility with Rep. Valerie Foushee and says detainee complaints center on the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia, not Cary.
CARY, NORTH CAROLINA — U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross says most of the immigration detention complaints her office receives are linked to the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia, where North Carolinians can spend months in federal custody, rather than the ICE processing facility in Cary.
Ross recently conducted a congressional oversight visit to the Cary facility alongside Rep. Valerie Foushee. Following the tour, Ross told NC Newsline she is advocating for a congressional inspection of the Stewart facility in Georgia, where detainees are sent after brief processing in Cary.
What Ross Saw Inside the Cary Facility
Ross described the Cary site as a small, short-term processing center, not a large detention facility. She mentioned that the two representatives examined every part of the building during their visit.
“It’s not a big processing center. It’s just a small facility,” Ross said. “There are two things that go on in the facility, and we went through every nook and cranny.”
According to Ross, individuals picked up by ICE enter through a secure bay before moving to a processing area. The facility contains three holding cells — one for women and two for men. Ross noted one of the men’s cells is reserved for violent offenders to separate them from individuals detained for lesser violations such as overstaying a visa.
“People stay in those holding cells only a couple of hours, and then a van picks them up and takes them to the Stewart facility in Georgia,” Ross said. “We saw everything, including cameras that allowed us to see into the holding cells. At the time we were there, there were not many people in the cells, and there were not many people being processed. It was actually kind of a quiet situation.”
Concerns Shift to Georgia After Transfer
Ross said the Cary facility itself generates relatively few complaints from constituents. The more pressing concern is what happens after detainees are transported to the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia, where North Carolinians can remain in federal custody for extended periods.
Ross indicated she is pressing for a congressional inspection of the Georgia facility as part of her oversight efforts, according to NC Newsline’s reporting on the interview.
The Cary facility serves a limited function in the broader detention pipeline, Ross said, describing it as equipped to process people but not designed for longer-term holding. The oversight visit was part of ongoing congressional scrutiny of immigration enforcement operations that escalated following a federal immigration crackdown in November 2025.
