Four men detained at the Folkston ICE Processing Center have used the facility’s own communication software to broadcast a message about the reality of life in custody, leading to immediate retaliation from administration.
The low-resolution footage flickering on screen was captured on a tablet provided by the very institution it condemns. Four men. their faces obscured by the limitations of the facility’s camera hardware. used the Folkston ICE Processing Center’s own video conferencing software to broadcast a five-minute appeal to the world. They spoke of a legal system they describe as intentionally dysfunctional. designed to keep them trapped within the walls of a facility that was once a prison.
Idris Makhmudov. who says he has been held at the Georgia center for 27 months. highlighted the crushing economic reality of their confinement. Detainees perform laundry, cleaning, and cooking tasks for a pittance. “The workers here are paid $1 a day. which is just enough for a 10-minute phone call. ” Makhmudov stated in the video. Those meager wages are often the only way to purchase supplementary food from the commissary or maintain a lifeline to the outside world.
Retaliation was swift. Samantha Hamilton. an Atlanta-based immigration attorney with Asian Americans Advancing Justice. confirmed that shortly after the video surfaced via a YouTube link sent over Signal. all four men were placed into segregation. The atmosphere inside the center has since reached a breaking point. with an estimated 73 detainees currently on a hunger strike and 45 others authoring an open letter detailing their grievances.
For those inside, the digital architecture of their confinement is as restrictive as the physical walls. Communication is gated through GettingOut, a proprietary platform owned by Telmate, a subsidiary of ViaPath Technologies. ViaPath is owned by the New York-based private equity firm American Securities. In 2021, costs for detainees reached as high as $1.10 per minute. While the Federal Communications Commission capped these rates earlier. the commission voted in 2025 to raise those caps by up to 83 percent. The platform’s terms of service further complicate matters; accounts go inactive after 180 days. causing detainees to forfeit any remaining balance unless they navigate a difficult customer service process. This predatory fee structure mirrors a 2020 data breach that forced Telmate to pay $4.23 million in settlements. and a separate $3 million penalty levied against Tel*Link under the Biden administration for the illegal freezing of incarcerated individuals’ funds.
These financial mechanics support a broader industrial machine. The Folkston facility is operated by the GEO Group. a company that saw its stock price climb more than 75 percent following the 2024 election. GEO. which donated $1.4 million to a Trump super PAC in July. receives over $1.5 million monthly to manage the site. which maintains a guaranteed minimum occupancy of 544 people.
As the administration shifts toward mass deportation, the human impact is visible in the courts. Data from Syracuse University shows that of 143. 729 detained cases in Georgia courts this past year. 81 percent of individuals lacked legal representation. For those seeking asylum. the path is narrowing: Atlanta judges have denied 89 percent of asylum cases this fiscal year. up from 63 percent in 2023. This shift is reinforced by the Department of Justice’s recent decision to fire over 100 immigration judges and replace them with 153 new appointees. a move explicitly aimed at accelerating the administration’s deportation agenda.
For the men in the video, the stakes are existential. As Hamilton notes. clients often enter the facility healthy only to develop diabetes or high blood pressure from the ultra-processed food. with reports of filthy water—and even worms—becoming regular complaints. “Most of us are asylum seekers,” Makhmudov said in the recording. “Many fled out of fear of becoming political prisoners in those countries—and one might say we became political prisoners in the United States simply because we are immigrants.”.
ICE Folkston detention center GEO Group immigration technology Telmate human rights asylum detention