Mar 2, 2026

Deyton Detention Facility + Geo Group

The Robert A. Deyton Detention Facility is an ICE detention center.  It is run FOR PROFIT by Geo Group, Inc.  BIG profits.  It looks like it would be pronounced DAY-ton, but apparently, the correct pronunciation is DEE-ton.  



The main Deyton facility.


So much razor wire!


Location 

Deyton is around 30 miles south of Atlanta. The address is shown online as Lovejoy (Clayton County) in some places and Hampton (Henry County) in others.  It's closest to Lovejoy and is in Clayton County, but just barely.  The Geo site uses the Lovejoy address, but most maps use the Hampton address.  
 

Recap from Previous Posts about Geo-Group

I did a deep dive into Geo Group in July in this post - Folkston, Georgia Concentration Camp - Part 1 of 3, which I recommend reading since much of it still applies.  A few takeaways from that post and the two follow up posts - 
  • Geo Group runs lots of for-profit ICE detention centers and have been awarded expansions even though they are accused of many violations.   
  • Pam Bondi, the U.S. Attorney General, is a former GEO Group lobbyist.  ^%$#@!
  • Geo Group’s GPS tracking technology is also being heavily utilized by ICE to track down immigrants, making the company one of the “big business winners” of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, according to The New York Times.
  • Another big detention center concentration camp run by Geo Group is in Folkston, GA, near Savannah.  Folkston is in Buddy Carter's district and Buddy Carter is a very enthusiastic supporter of the detention facility.  Update: Buddy Carter is running for governor.  He is major MAGA and visited with trump very recently trying to get an endorsement.

Connections to Geo Group

In the post about the Folkston Detention Center, it points out that Pam Bondi, our infamous attorney general, was previously a lobbyist for Geo Group.  It turns out, she wasn't the only trump appointee associated with Geo Group.  Tom Homan, trump's "border czar" was, too.  Remember, Homan was the guy caught red-handed accepting a bribe ($50,000 bag of cash) in exchange for government contracts during an FBI sting, but the trump White House shut down the investigation.  

Recent Death of Inmate at Deyton

Geo-Group has a long list of violations.  Just recently (January 14, 2026), detainee, Heber Sanchaz Domínguez died at Deyton.  He was 34 years old.  Advocates said his death is part of a troubling trend. He is the fifth person to die in ICE custody in the U.S. in the first 16 days of 2026.  (11 Alive News). He leaves behind a wife and two children, one of whom has Downs Syndrome.  There is an online fundraiser for his family.  There is also an online petition for the DHS Office of Inspector General, the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility, and the U.S. Congress to launch an immediate, independent investigation into the death of Heber Sanchez Domínguez.  We can demand that in post cards as well.


Heber Sanchaz Domínguez and his wife

Representative for GA District 13 (where Deyton is located)

David Scott is the representative for the Deyton Detention Facility location.  Again, just barely.  It's in Georgia District 13.  Scott is 80 years old - the oldest Democrat in Georgia’s congressional delegation. He has represented his district since 2003.  He was once considered a fine and popular representative but now, his age and health issues have affected his performance.  He has a very poor voting record. Scott did not vote in the last six, most municipal, elections, but the Georgia lawmaker missed voting in the 2024 presidential election and the most recent election on Nov. 4.  He is being challenged in the upcoming primary by a number of candidates, including State Rep. Jasmine Clark. 





READ MORE 

Tom Homan’s financial ties to private prison locking up immigrants raise questions - MS Now. "New disclosure forms revealed by The Washington Post show Trump's border czar was paid thousands of dollars by a company making money from deportations before he joined the administration...  So the order of events is as follows: Tom Homan and Pam Bondi consult and lobby for Geo Group, Geo Group helps elect Trump in 2024, Homan and Bondi join Trump’s administration in 2025, and then Trump’s administration helps Geo Group make profits. At a minimum, that raises questions about a conflict of interest.  But the White House says there’s nothing to see here."


Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan Took Cash from Private Prison Giant Now Raking in $130 Million in ICE Contracts - Business Times.  "GEO stock has surged 90% since Election Day. The company, based in Boca Raton, Florida, also operates deportation flights and a major surveillance program for immigrants not in custody. At least three GEO executives-Matthew Albence, Daniel Bible, and Daniel Ragsdale-previously held senior ICE roles."  "Jason Houser, ICE chief of staff from 2021 to 2023, said the revolving door between private prison contractors and government immigration posts is well established. "There is no profit in deportations, only in detention," Houser told The Post. "And that's where the revolving door allows for individuals to cash in."

Georgia Congressman Called Out for Failing To Vote in 6 Elections - Newsweek - "Representative David Scott, an 80-year-old Democrat from Georgia’s 13th Congressional District, is facing renewed scrutiny after public records revealed that he has not voted in six consecutive elections, including the 2024 presidential contest."

OPINION: Rep. Bell on Robert A. Deyton Detention Center Death: Get ICE out of Clayton County - All on Georgia "On Jan. 14, 2025, Heber Sanchaz Domínguez, a 34-year-old Mexican national, passed away while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at the Robert A. Deyton Detention Center. He was pronounced deceased at 3:09 a.m. EDT after being found unresponsive. The cause of death is currently under investigation.  It occurred under the watch of ICE and within a facility operated by the GEO Group, a private corporation that profits when bodies are filled and cells remain occupied. When profit becomes the motive, humanity becomes optional."

Congresswoman Nikema Williams Calls for Answers from Noem, DHS on Death of Heber Sanchaz Dominguez at Deyton Detention Facility - Nikema Williams.  "Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05) and Congressman David Scott (GA-13) led a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons demanding an immediate and complete independent investigation into the death of Mr. Herber Sanchaz Dominguez on January 14, 2026 at the Robert A. Deyton Detention Facility in Clayton County."

Atlanta Ended Its ICE Contract. But a Nearby Facility Quietly Started Jailing Immigrants. - Rewire News Group - This article is from Dec 2018, but is still a worthy read.

Chemical gas used in private Georgia jail. Judge reduces NC victim’s sentence - Charlotte Observer. "A guard at a private jail in Georgia threw a canister of yellow, chemical smoke at inmates — unprovoked — and left them bloodshot-eyed and faint without medical attention for up to two weeks, according to federal court documents filed in at least eight North Carolina cases."  "A chief officer “peered into the pod” and noticed those three inmates before saying: “I can’t stand North Carolina detainees. I got something for y’all.” Then she threw a “chemical gas canister” into the room. After what witnesses and victims described as an ambush, some inmates seized and passed out from the fumes. One lost consciousness and broke his nose. Most were confused. Several complaints, largely filed in Spanish, asked why they were locked up and bombed. “There was no bad behavior on our part, much less aggression,” one translated statement reads. “We only wanted to know why they were locking us… We are people not animals. With words we understand.”


WHO TO CONTACT

Your opinion only matters if you speak up!  The more people who make their voices heard, the more meaningful our opinions will be.  Don't wait to figure out the perfect people to contact or the perfect thing to say.  Just start!!!

Robert A. Deyton Detention Facility
11866 Hastings Bridge Road 
PO Box 703
Lovejoy, Georgia  30250

NOTE:  This is the address Geo gives online, but the actual detention center address comes up as:
11658 Hastings Bridge Rd, 
Hampton 30228

The Geo-Group, Inc
https://www.geogroup.com/facilities/world-headquarters/

J. David Donahue
Geo Group CEO
4955 Technology Way
Boca Raton, FL  33431-3367
(561) 893-0101

Office of Inspector General/MAIL STOP 0305
Department of Homeland Security
245 Murray Lane SW
Washington, DC 20528-0305
MAIN NUMBER:  202-981-6000

Georgia DHS Office of Inspector General
The Department of Human Services
47 Trinity Ave. S.W.
Atlanta, Georgia 30334
Main Phone # 404-463-5495 

Jennifer M. Fenton, Associate Director
500 12th St SW
Washington, DC 20536

Governor Brian Kemp (Republican)

206 Washington Street 

Suite 203 
State Capitol 

Atlanta, GA   30334

Phone:   (404) 656-1776


Senator Raphael Warnock
 (Democrat)

717 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC   20510

Phone:  (202) 224-3643


Senator Jon Ossoff

 (Democrat)


317 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Phone:   (202) 224-3521


Buddy Carter (republican)
Representative, Georgia, District 1
https://buddycarter.house.gov/
2432 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5831

Representative David Scott
Representative, Georgia, District 13
468 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
ph: (202) 225-2939

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Clayton County Board of Commissioners

Let them know you can't believe they are allowing this place in their county!  
" I call on the Clayton County Board of Commissioners to end the contract with the GEO Group and to remove ICE from the Robert A. Deyton Detention Facility. We want ICE and all ICE operations out of Clayton County. This is not a radical demand; it is a righteous one. It is the kind of decision that bends the long arc of the moral universe a little closer toward justice." - All of GA
https://www.claytoncountyga.gov/government/board-of-commissioners/

Chairwoman:
Dr. Alieka Anderson-Henry
112 Smith Street, Annex 1
Jonesboro, GA 30236
Phone: (770) 477-3208

Alaina Reaves
District 1
112 Smith Street
Jonesboro, GA 30236
Phone: (770) 477-3213

Vice Chair Commissioner Gail Hambrick
District 2
112 Smith Street
Jonesboro, GA 30236
Phone: (770) 603-4135

Commissioner Tashe’ Allen
District 3 - Where Deyton Detention Facility is located!
112 Smith Street
Jonesboro, GA 30236
Office Phone: (770) 473-5465
Cell: (470) 892-4589

Commissioner DeMont Davis
District 4 
112 Smith Street
Jonesboro, GA 30236
Phone: (770) 477-3216