North Lake Correctional Facility

A black-and-white collage with three horizontal layers. The top image features a high-security fence with razor wire and a transport van. A jagged, torn-paper strip is overlaid across the center with the text: "not only wrong but also fundamentally unfair." The bottom image is a sign for the "GEO North Lake Processing Center" located at 1805 West 32nd Street. The sign and surrounding ground are covered in a layer of snow, with trees visible in the background.

Judges rule hundreds of immigrants “unlawfully detained” at ICE center in Northern Michigan

Adam Yahya Rayes, Michelle Jokisch Polo, Lindsey Smith

As the population in the privately-run North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin grew in September 2025, habeas corpus petitions started to show up in Michigan’s federal District Courts. Judges granted most of the hundreds of petitions they’ve ruled on.

West Michigan retired pastor Dale Dalman makes a point of visiting immigrants held at the North Lake Processing Center a few times a week.

News

Inside the Midwest’s largest immigration detention center with a retired pastor

Michelle Jokisch Polo

The average daily population at the North Lake facility in Michigan has ballooned to more than 1,300 people. This retired pastor visits each week.

Criminal Justice & Legal System

Northern Michigan's new ICE detention center is open. How many people are in there?

Claire Keenan-Kurgan

Why it's so hard to find out.

Community

Lake County for-profit prison likely to close after Biden executive order

Tracy Samilton

A for-profit prison in a rural county in Michigan is expected to close when its contract expires at the end of September, 2022.That's after President Joe…