NORTH LAKE
CONCENTRATION CAMP
concentration camp (n) : a place where large numbers of people (such as prisoners of war, political prisoners, refugees, or the members of an ethnic or religious minority) are detained or confined under armed guard
— Merriam-Webster Dictionary
60 MILES SOUTH OF TRAVERSE CITY SITS THE LARGEST ICE PRISON IN THE MIDWEST.
In Baldwin, Michigan, 64 miles south of Traverse City, a private corporation holds up to 1,800 people behind razor wire.
They have not been charged with a crime. 87% have no criminal record.
This page is the case against it — and a guide to fighting back.
Know Your Defendant
Before There Was GEO Group,
There Was Wackenhut
The company holding up to 1,800 people in Baldwin, Michigan didn't start in the prison business. It started as a CIA front operation.
In 1954, George Wackenhut, a former FBI agent, founded The Wackenhut Corporation in Florida. The company's early contracts were with the federal government: security at nuclear facilities, Cape Canaveral, and classified installations. Wackenhut didn't just guard things. It gathered intelligence. Within a decade, it had compiled dossiers on more than four million Americans suspected of communist sympathies — a private blacklist operating in parallel to the government's own.
Declassified CIA documents confirm what investigators had long suspected: from 1960 to 1967, Wackenhut served as a CIA cover entity, allowing agency personnel to occupy positions within the company for covert operations. Reagan's CIA Director William Casey was Wackenhut's personal attorney. Deputy CIA Director Frank Carlucci sat on its board. By the early 1990s, intelligence circles were calling it the "shadow CIA." Investigative journalist Danny Casolaro was pursuing Wackenhut as a central thread in his "The Octopus" investigation when he died under disputed circumstances in 1991.
In 1984, Wackenhut created a corrections division. In 1994, it went public on NASDAQ. In 2002, the parent company was acquired by Group 4 Falck — and CEO George Zoley bought back the corrections subsidiary for $132 million, contractually required to drop the Wackenhut name. In 2003, it was rebranded The GEO Group. The name changed. The business model (government dependency, political access, and profit from human confinement) did not.
"Wackenhut has allowed the CIA to occupy positions within the company to carry out covert operations."
— CIA Analyst William CorbettThe Lineage
- 1954 The Wackenhut Corporation founded by ex-FBI agent George Wackenhut. Early contracts: nuclear sites, Cape Canaveral.
- 1960 CIA cover entity. Declassified documents confirm Wackenhut used as an intelligence front through 1967.
- 1984 Corrections division created. Wackenhut enters the prison business.
- 1994 Goes public on NASDAQ. Wackenhut Corrections Corporation lists as a subsidiary.
- 2002 Parent company acquired by Group 4 Falck.
- 2003 Rebranded as The GEO Group. CEO George Zoley buys back subsidiary for $132M.
- 2025 North Lake contract awarded. 1,800 beds. $85M/year. Baldwin, Michigan.
The Record
North Lake: Timeline of Corruption
The facility has opened and closed four times in 25 years. The pattern follows the politics, with one goal in mind: profit.
Origins
Built by Wackenhut Corporation under contract with the Michigan Department of Corrections to house youth offenders. Lake County, one of the poorest counties in Michigan, begins its dependency on incarceration as an economic model before the facility ever holds a single adult.
First Closure
Closes due to state budget cuts. The county absorbs the economic hangover of a facility that generated dependency without stability. The building sits vacant.
Expansion
GEO Group, Wackenhut's direct corporate successor, expands the facility from 570 to 1,748 beds. The prison grows, but the community's alternatives do not.
Out-of-State Overflow
280 high-security inmates from Vermont, transferred from prisons in Arizona and Kentucky, arrive in Baldwin. County Commissioner Dan Sloan promises 150 jobs. The facility becomes a dumping ground for other states' overflow populations.
Second Closure
GEO terminates the Vermont contract. Vermont relocates its prisoners. The county absorbs another round of economic whiplash. The pattern is becoming clear: GEO profits on the way in, and the community pays on the way out.
Federal Immigration Contract
GEO secures a 10-year contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to house non-citizen immigrant convicts. The model shifts. This is no longer a corrections facility — it's part of the for-profit federal immigration detention machine.
Third Closure
Closes in September after the Biden administration cancels all federal contracts with for-profit private prisons. The 10-year contract lasts three years.
2025
Reopening — The Largest ICE Prison in the Midwest
Reopens as the North Lake Processing Center under ICE contract. Capacity: 1,800 beds. GEO annual revenue: $70+ million. Daily rate: $139 per detainee. It is now the largest immigration detention facility in the Midwest and the second-largest in the United States. 87% of those held have no criminal record.
90%+
Between August 2025 and February 2026, over 800 habeas corpus petitions were filed on behalf of people detained at North Lake. Judges ruled in more than 90% of cases that detainees were being held unlawfully. DHS did not release them.
Aug 2025 – Feb 2026, Source
2026
Hunger Strike
Detainees launch a hunger strike. Approximately 200 people participate in protest of medical neglect, procedural delays, and inhumane conditions. The Department of Homeland Security officially denies the hunger strike is happening.
2026
Legal Action
The ACLU of Michigan and Michigan Immigrant Rights Center formally file a complaint that the facility is denying adequate medical care and systematically blocking detainee access to attorneys, immigrant advocates, and civil rights organizations.
Follow The Money
The Contract Was Purchased,
Not Awarded
GEO Group did not win federal contracts through competitive merit. They bought access through a carefully orchestrated campaign of political contributions, consulting arrangements, and revolving-door relationships — then collected a government check when the administration they funded took power.
NYSE: GEO
in GEO Group's history
$139/detainee/day · 1,800 capacity
87% with no criminal record
The Revolving Door
The People Who Run ICE
Used to Work for GEO Group.
The People Who Run GEO Group
Used to Work for ICE.
This is not coincidence. It is architecture. A network of officials has spent decades rotating between the agency that awards detention contracts and the corporation that collects them — making oversight structurally impossible and profits structurally guaranteed.
The revolving door between ICE and private prison companies like GEO Group is corrupt. These companies profit from locking people up, and the officials who are supposed to oversee them are cashing in.
“Your career can be characterized as a continuous, decades-long trip in and out of the revolving door between ICE and the private prison industry. Americans should not have to wonder whether ICE enforcement priorities are being driven by the financial interests of politically connected detention contractors.”
When the person who runs ICE spent a decade on GEO's payroll, and the person who ran ICE before him is now GEO's VP of Client Relations, the question is no longer whether there is a conflict of interest. The question is whether there is anything left that isn't.
How They Profit
$194,600 Per Day.
Every Day.
GEO Group does not provide a public service. It extracts revenue from human detention. Every person held at North Lake is a billing unit. The longer they stay, the more GEO collects — paid entirely by American taxpayers.
$139 per detainee per day, paid by ICE regardless of legal status, criminal history, or length of detention. 87% of detainees have no criminal record. The per-day rate does not decrease over time — a detainee held for 18 months generates 3× more revenue than one held for 6.
Families and supporters who send money to detainees' commissary accounts are charged a 5% fee on all non-cash deposits. GEO profits from the act of a family trying to feed their loved one. There is no opt-out — it is the only mechanism for sending funds.
GEO operates the commissary store and vending machines inside North Lake. Detainees who cannot afford commissary items go without. Those who can afford them generate additional margin for GEO on top of the taxpayer-funded daily rate.
Phone calls are not free. Detainees pay per call to contact family, attorneys, and advocates — generating revenue for GEO from every attempt to access legal counsel or maintain human connection. This is one reason legal representation rates remain so low.
This calculation covers North Lake alone. GEO holds dozens of ICE contracts nationally under the same administration their money helped elect.
THE CONDITIONS INSIDE
NO HUMAN SHOULD BE TREATED THIS WAY.
Medical Neglect
ACLU of Michigan and Michigan Immigrant Rights Center formally alleged denial of necessary medical care. Detainees report delayed treatment, ignored symptoms, and no mental health access.
NO DUE PROCESS
Between Aug 2025–Feb 2026, judges ruled in more than 90% of 800+ habeas petitions that detainees were being held unlawfully. No charges. No timeline. No end date.
87% OF DETAINEES AT NORTH LAKE HAVE NO CRIMINAL RECORD.
87% OF DETAINEES AT NORTH LAKE HAVE NO CRIMINAL RECORD.
FOOD & BASIC NEEDS
Detainees report rotten and moldy food. Commissary access requires outside funds, with mark-ups as high as 300% above vendor cost. GEO takes 5% of every deposit sent by families.
HUNGER STRIKES
Detainees at multiple facilities have staged hunger strikes protesting medical neglect and indefinite delays. DHS has denied they are happening, and consistently targets those that participate.
MENTAL ABUSE
Prolonged detention beyond 6 months. Lockdowns, restricted movement, language barriers, and suicide attempts reported. No independent oversight.
LEGAL BLACKOUTS
Advocates and attorneys report being blocked from accessing clients. No public defender. Legal help is charity-dependent or nonexistent. Bond amounts are grossly increased.
If someone you know has been detained at North Lake, or if you want to help someone inside, here's what you can do right now.
the impact
This doesn't stay in Baldwin.
North Lake's reach extends far beyond the razor wire. It terrorizes the county that surrounds it, ripples into the fields and hospitals that sustain our region, and mirrors a national pattern that economists are now documenting in plain numbers: mass detention doesn't fix the economy. It breaks it.
Ground Zero — Baldwin / Lake County
The poorest county in Michigan didn't need a prison. It needed investment.
Lake County is one of the most economically distressed counties in Michigan. Its 20.5% poverty rate is nearly double the national average of 12.5%. Its median household income of $50,805 is roughly $30,000 below the national median. Its unemployment rate sits at more than 7% — nearly twice the national rate of 4%. And one in three of its children lives in poverty.
When GEO Group and the Trump administration point to North Lake as an "economic driver" for Baldwin, they are making a bet that a community desperate enough won't ask too many questions. The research tells a different story. Detention facilities generate far fewer local jobs than promised, suppress wages in surrounding areas, and extract tax dollars from the very communities they claim to serve.
GEO Group has already demonstrated where its loyalties lie. In 2024, the company filed a $15 million tax assessment petition against Lake County — arguing it shouldn't have to pay full property taxes on a facility it profits from enormously. It had already won a ~$1 million tax refund from the Lake County School District in a prior legal battle. GEO is not an economic partner. It is a tenant that sues its landlord.
Meanwhile, the immigrant farmworkers and service workers who actually sustain Lake County's economy — picking fruit, stocking shelves, caring for the elderly — live under the constant threat of arrest. North Lake doesn't just incarcerate people. It sends a message to every undocumented worker in a 60-mile radius: you are not safe here. That chilling effect empties labor markets, closes small businesses, and hollows out the communities GEO claims to support.
64 Miles North — Traverse City & the Grand Traverse Region
The cherries don't pick themselves. And right now, the people who pick them are afraid.
The Grand Traverse region produces more tart cherries than anywhere else on earth. Its apple orchards, vineyards, and farms employ thousands of seasonal workers — and by USDA estimates, roughly 42% of crop farmworkers nationwide have no work authorization. Michigan's numbers mirror that reality. These are your neighbors. They are the reason fruit reaches the shelves at Oryana, the reason the harvest happens at all.
North Lake is 64 miles from downtown Traverse City. That is close enough to cast a long shadow. When ICE activity surges — when workers see friends disappear into a facility they know by name — they stop showing up. Not because they quit, but because showing up feels like a gamble they can't afford. Crops go unharvested. Farms absorb losses they pass on to you. Local restaurants and grocers feel the supply chain tighten.
It doesn't stop at the farm gate. Traverse City's hospitals, nursing homes, and care facilities depend on immigrant workers to stay staffed. When those workers retreat from public life, wait times grow, services shrink, and the burden shifts — often onto family members who quietly step away from their own jobs to fill the gap.
— Diane Swonk, Chief Economist, KPMG — Fortune, Aug 2025
This is not an abstract policy debate. It is happening right now, in the orchards and care homes and kitchens that make this region run. North Lake is the engine of that fear — and it's parked in our backyard.
The National Pattern — The Data Is In
The jobs didn't go to Americans. They disappeared.
For years, the argument for mass deportation rested on a simple premise: remove undocumented workers, and American workers fill their jobs at higher wages. Economists have now tested that premise against the real data from Trump's second term. The premise is false — and the damage is measurable.
In July 2026, ICE recorded its single highest monthly arrest total: 51,000 people detained in one month. That same month, the U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs — yet the unemployment rate went down. The reason: the workforce itself shrank. Immigrant workers, including many with legal work authorization, stopped participating in the labor market out of fear. They don't register as unemployed because they never filed a claim. They simply vanished from the count — and from the economy.
Health care — which had been the lone pillar holding up an otherwise weak labor market — added just 22,000 jobs in July, well below its 36,000 monthly average for the prior year. Social assistance sectors like daycare and elder care also slowed sharply. These are, in the words of KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk, the sectors "dominated by immigrant labor." In 2022, 28% of direct care workers in the U.S. were immigrants — up from 21% in 2011. As the American population ages and demand for those roles grows, mass detention is pulling the workforce in the opposite direction.
— Diane Swonk, Chief Economist, KPMG — Fortune, Aug 2025
The construction industry — where immigrants make up 26.3% of the workforce and roughly one in three tradespeople — shows the same pattern. When a contractor loses enough laborers to delay a project, the electricians, plumbers, and project managers on that same job lose work too. The cascade flows upward through the supply chain, touching workers who never had any contact with immigration enforcement at all.
New research by economists Chloe East and Elizabeth Cox, examining ICE surge areas throughout 2025, found that for every six undocumented workers removed from the labor market, one U.S.-born worker also lost their job. Among U.S.-born men with a high school degree or less in construction, employment fell 3% after ICE surges. These are not immigrant jobs. These are American jobs — and they are disappearing because the economy that supported them was dismantled.
The chilling effect compounds all of it. A July 2026 study published by EconoFact found that for every 1,000 ICE arrests of immigrant men, there is a 2.5% decline in employment among at-risk immigrant men — higher than any prior estimate, because the current enforcement is so visibly indiscriminate that even workers with legal status are staying home. Workplace safety violations and minimum wage violations are also rising — because workers too afraid to report abuse are workers employers can exploit.
How You Can Help
Resistance is all-hands-on-deck. Every skill, every hour, every act of solidarity counts. Find what fits you — and do that.
No warehouse is fit for human confinement. Every conversion plan must be stopped — completely, with no detention use allowed at that site.
No public money, permits, services, or local infrastructure should be used to cage our neighbors. Those resources belong to the community.
Full public disclosure of all plans and contracts. Meaningful community consent before any federal detention action moves forward. No closed-door deals.
Indivisible's Immigrant Justice Summer workbook gives you a concrete, hyper-local plan for showing up safely when ICE comes to your community.
Download the Workbook →Canvass local businesses to protect their workers from unconstitutional ICE entry. When employers know their rights, entire workplaces become safer.
Get the Toolkit →People inside North Lake need commissary funds, visitation, bond hearing support, and legal help. Local organizations are coordinating all of it.
Meet the Organizations →When ICE moves, speed matters. Join or help build a local network ready to mobilize quickly — whether that's documenting, witnessing, or sounding the alarm.
Learn More →Paint a mural. Host a cookout. Create space for grief and solidarity. Not everyone fights the same way — and that's exactly the point. Show up in the way only you can.
Our Resources →Know your rights, document what you see, build your skills. Our resource library has guides, printables, and tools — filter by Immigration Rights to get started.
Visit Resource Library →
It's going to take all of us.
Organizations Doing The Work
These organizations are on the ground — inside the system, beside the people, doing the work that doesn't make the news. Find the approach that fits you, and plug in.
Hope For Neighbors
Hope For Neighbors began with a single visit. When founder Pastor Dale Dalman went to see a former church member at North Lake, he encountered something he couldn't walk away from — hundreds of detained immigrants with no nearby family, no resources, and no one showing up for them. What started as one act of care has grown into a volunteer-powered movement of over 250 people serving detained neighbors every week.
The organization is rooted in faith, but open to everyone. There are no religious requirements to volunteer or to receive support. What matters is showing up.
How To Get Involved
Hope For Neighbors runs ten active subgroups — find the one that fits your skills and availability. Areas include: visitation at North Lake, legal information support, letters of encouragement, commissary deposits, transportation (Above Ground Railroad), backpacks & clothing, prayer cards, family connection, and hosting individuals after release. New volunteers can join through their Facebook page.
Immigrant Action Coalition
Immigrant Action Coalition is a grassroots, volunteer-driven 501(c)(3) dedicated to direct support for detainees and their families at GEO North Lake. They operate on a simple set of values: humility, love, truth, respect, wisdom, honesty, and strength. They don't lobby. They don't strategize from a distance. They show up — as visitors, advocates, and allies.
Recently, IAC has retained a network of attorneys willing to take pro bono cases for people detained at North Lake, expanding their capacity to fight for detainees inside the legal system.
How To Get Involved
IAC volunteers support detainees through visitation, commissary funding, legal navigation, and post-release resources. If you want to turn resistance into direct assistance — and be present with the people most directly affected — this is the place to start.
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No Detention Centers Michigan
No Detention Centers Michigan is a statewide coalition with a clear position: no person or family should be caged. They believe in freedom of movement as a fundamental human right, and they organize to make that belief actionable — working to shut down existing detention facilities and block new ones before they open.
NDCM has been fighting the GEO Group's presence at North Lake for years — through the facility's previous incarnations and now again since GEO announced its plans to reopen the site as an ICE detention center in 2025. They build power through collective action, and they embrace a diversity of tactics.
How To Get Involved
NDCM mobilizes people who are ready to fight the system, not just support people inside it. If abolition is your framework and collective action is your method, reach out directly to get connected with their organizing work.
START HERE
IMMIGRANT JUSTICE SUMMER — 5-PART TRAINING SERIES
The record is public. The corruption is documented. The case is clear.
The rest is up to you.
Sources
Wackenhut / GEO History
George Wackenhut founded company / FBI background Claim: Founded 1954 by ex-FBI agent George Wackenhut https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wackenhut
4 million dossiers on Americans Claim: Company compiled files on 4+ million Americans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wackenhut https://www.securityinfowatch.com/security-executives/article/10600334/the-wackenhut-legacy
CIA cover entity 1960–1967 Claim: Wackenhut served as CIA cover entity https://firstsecretcity.com/2018/12/07/spooky-protection/
William Casey as Wackenhut's attorney Claim: Future CIA Director William Casey was Wackenhut's personal attorney https://firstsecretcity.com/2018/12/07/spooky-protection/
Frank Carlucci on Wackenhut board Claim: Deputy CIA Director Frank Carlucci sat on Wackenhut's board https://firstsecretcity.com/2018/12/07/spooky-protection/
CIA analyst Corbett quote Claim: CIA analyst William Corbett stated Wackenhut allowed CIA to conduct covert operations through the company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G4S_Secure_Solutions
Danny Casolaro / The Octopus Claim: Investigative journalist Danny Casolaro was investigating Wackenhut when he died in 1991 under disputed circumstances https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Casolaro
GEO Group renamed 2003 / Zoley buyback Claim: Zoley bought corrections subsidiary for $132M; renamed to GEO Group in 2003 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GEO_Group
Political Donations & Conflicts of Interest
$2.8M donations to Trump — Claim: GEO Group and CoreCivic donated nearly $2.8M combined to Trump's 2024 campaign and inaugural fund https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/trumps-budget-bill-benefits-private-immigration-detention-companies-that-donated-to-trump/
GEO stock +4.5% on Nov. 11, 2024 — Claim: GEO stock jumped 4.5% on November 11, 2024, the day Homan was named Border Czar (compared to Nov. 8 close) https://investors.geogroup.com/stock-information/historic-price-lookup
Tom Homan $5,000+ GEO consulting fees Claim: GEO paid Homan more than $5,000 in consulting fees before his appointment https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-border-czar-recently-consulted-for-immigrant-detention-center-operator/
$45B detention / $29.9B enforcement in Big Beautiful Bill Claim: One Big Beautiful Bill allocates $45B for detention and $29.9B for ICE enforcement https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/trumps-budget-bill-benefits-private-immigration-detention-companies-that-donated-to-trump/
Revolving Door
David Venturella: ICE → GEO → ICE Acting Director Claim: Venturella cycled between ICE and GEO, named Acting ICE Director June 1, 2026 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Venturella https://www.npr.org/2026/05/12/g-s1-121766/ice-acting-director-venturellav
$6M+ GEO compensation to Venturella — Claim: GEO Group paid Venturella more than $6M over his tenure https://www.motherjones.com/mojo-wire/2026/05/elizabeth-warren-david-venturella-ice-geo-group/
Ethics waiver granted to Venturella Claim: Trump administration granted Venturella waiver from ethics rule barring work on former employer's contracts https://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/1/todd_lyons_resigns
Daniel A. Bible: ICE San Antonio → GEO Executive VP — Claim: Bible served as ICE Field Office Director in San Antonio before joining GEO as Executive VP https://www.ice.gov/sites/default/files/documents/bios/danielBible_0.pdf https://www.pogo.org/investigates/private-prison-giant-hired-ice-detention-chief
Matthew Albence: ICE Acting Director → GEO — Claim: Albence served as Acting ICE Director before joining GEO Group https://prospect.org/2025/08/08/2025-08-08-private-prisons-cash-in-trumps-mass-deportations/
Julie Myers Wood: ICE Director → GEO Board — Claim: Myers Wood served as ICE Director before joining GEO Group's board of directors https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Myers https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/THE-GEO-GROUP-INC-16970422/company/
Daniel Ragsdale: ICE Deputy Director → GEO SVP — Claim: Ragsdale served as ICE Deputy Director before joining GEO as SVP Contract Administration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Ragsdale https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/THE-GEO-GROUP-INC-16970422/news/The-GEO-Group-Inc-Announces-the-Appointment-of-Daniel-Ragsdale-as-Senior-Vice-President-Contract-48603541/
700% GEO profit increase 2024–2025 Claim: GEO Group profit rose from $32M in 2024 to $254M in 2025, nearly 700% increase https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2026/mar/1/private-prison-firm-geo-group-reports-record-254-million-profit-after-new-ice-contracts/
Sen. Warren quotes Claim: Sen. Warren letter to Venturella (May 2026) and press release on ethics commitments (Aug. 2026) https://www.motherjones.com/mojo-wire/2026/05/elizabeth-warren-david-venturella-ice-geo-group/
North Lake Facility — Conditions & Events
87% no criminal record Claim: 87% of North Lake detainees have no criminal record https://www.mlive.com/news/2026/03/911-calls-document-health-emergencies-suicide-attempts-at-michigans-largest-ice-detention-center.html
800+ habeas petitions; 90%+ granted Claim: 800+ habeas corpus petitions filed Aug. 2025–Feb. 2026; judges granted ~90% https://www.michiganpublic.org/criminal-justice-legal-system/2026-03-04/judges-rule-hundreds-of-immigrants-unlawfully-detained-at-ice-center-in-northern-michigan
April 2026 hunger strike / DHS denial Claim: Hunger strike began April 19–20, 2026; DHS publicly denied it was occurring https://www.michiganpublic.org/criminal-justice-legal-system/2026-04-21/ice-detainees-in-baldwin-begin-hunger-strike
ACLU / MIRC legal action May 2026 Claim: ACLU of Michigan and MIRC filed action alleging denied medical care and blocked attorney access https://www.michiganpublic.org/criminal-justice-legal-system/2026-05-14/legal-groups-allege-inadequate-medical-care-at-michigan-immigrant-detention-facility
$85M (70M) annual GEO contract / $139 per day — The $70M figure reflects partial occupancy or a partial-year estimate. Decide which figure to publish. Claim: GEO earns approximately $70M annually from North Lake; $139/detainee/day https://investors.geogroup.com/news-releases/news-release-details/geo-group-reports-second-quarter-2025-results-and-announces-300
2019 BOP contract Claim: GEO secured a 10-year BOP contract for North Lake in 2019 https://apnews.com/press-release/business-wire/business-texas-prisons-michigan-089958016ee14e5d96398a53739b08ad
Lake County Economic Data
20.5% poverty rate / $50,805 median income Claim: Lake County poverty rate 20.5% vs. 12.5% national; median household income $50,805 https://datausa.io/profile/geo/lake-county-mi
One in three children in poverty Claim: 33% of children in Lake County live in poverty https://datausa.io/profile/geo/lake-county-mi
Unemployment over 7% — Claim: Lake County unemployment approximately 7.4% (February 2026) vs. ~4% national https://www.michigan.gov/mcda/labor-market-information/employment-situation-press-releases/2026/04/23/michigan-regional-jobless-rates-decrease-during-february
GEO $15M tax assessment petition — Claim: GEO Group filed a petition challenging its 2024 property assessment in Lake County, seeking a $15M reduction https://www.lakecountystar.com/news/article/geo-group-challenges-2024-property-assessment-19768849.php
~$1M tax refund from Lake County School District — Claim: GEO Group previously won approximately $1M in tax refunds from the Lake County School District https://www.bridgemi.com/quality-life/ice-plans-move-baldwin-prison-residents-hope-jobs-will-stay/
Economic Impact — National
6 → 1 job loss ratio / Construction employment drop Claim: For every 6 undocumented workers removed, 1 U.S.-born worker loses their job; construction employment among U.S.-born men with HS diploma fell 3% in ICE surge areas https://fortune.com/2026/05/05/ice-deportations-us-born-job-losses-study/ https://www.colorado.edu/today/2026/05/04/heightened-ice-enforcement-harms-us-born-workers-shrinks-workforce
0.54% U.S.-born male employment decline per 1,000 ICE arrests — Claim: 0.54% decline in employment among U.S.-born men for every 1,000 ICE arrests https://econofact.org/ice-arrests-result-in-a-decline-in-employment-state-level-projections
51,000 ICE arrests in July 2026 / 23,000 jobs lost Claim: ICE recorded 51,000 arrests in July 2026 (record monthly high); U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs same month https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/26/record-arrests-deportations-immigrants https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/07/jobs-report-july-2026.html
28% of direct care workers were immigrants (2022) Claim: 28% of U.S. direct care workers were immigrants in 2022, up from 21% in 2011 https://www.phinational.org/immigration-and-the-direct-care-workforce/
Diane Swonk quote Claim: KPMG Chief Economist Diane Swonk quoted on immigrant labor ecosystems and care gaps https://fortune.com/2026/08/07/deportation-economy-july-jobs-report-immigrants-ice-raids/
145,000 U.S. citizen children with detained parent — Claim: 145,000+ U.S. citizen children have had a parent detained since January 2025 https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-many-children-are-affected-by-parental-immigrant-detention/
Farmworker / Agricultural Data
42% of crop farmworkers lack work authorization Claim: USDA estimates 42% of U.S. crop farmworkers have no work authorization (2020–22 NAWS data) https://www.workingimmigrants.com/2026/08/8342/
Traverse Indivisible is committed to factual accuracy. Every claim on this page is sourced. If you identify an error or misattribution, contact us and we will correct the record promptly.
We do not need to exaggerate. The documented facts are damning enough.