LUMPKIN - Organizers say about 270 people attended a vigil outside a federal immigration detention center in southwest Georgia.
The vigil Friday morning was the fifth annual gathering outside the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin organized by Georgia Detention Watch, a coalition of civil liberties and immigrant rights groups.
The focus of this year's vigil was the impact of detention on the families of detainees, especially the children.
Pedro Guzman is a Guatemalan native who was released from Stewart six months ago after having been held there for 18 months. His wife attended last year's vigil with her mother and the couple's young son, and his mother-in-law got arrested to protest his detention. Guzman said it felt amazing to be able to attend this year's protest to support those still in detention.
The facility is operated by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) which operates a similar facility in Gainesville.
(AccessNorthGa.com's Ken Stanford contributed to this story.)
Sunday
July 13th, 2025
5:09PM
