In June 2025, the newly rebranded North Lake Processing Center started housing people arrested by federal agents and held in immigration detention.
The privately run prison near Baldwin, Michigan is still owned and operated by GEO Group, one of the largest companies of its kind. In the fall, the average daily population ballooned to more than 1,000 people as the Trump administration shifted to a mandatory detention policy for people who previously weren’t targeted for enforcement, including asylum seekers and those with no criminal record.
Michigan has a handful of immigration detention facilities, but North Lake is now the largest immigration detention center in the Midwest.
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![PLACEHOLDER: An editorial collage set against a muted gray-purple background, combining three layered elements. On the left, a torn envelope or piece of mail bearing the logo and address of the GEO Group's North Lake Processing Center. In the center, a heavily distorted, glitched portrait of a person whose face is obscured through digital fragmentation, suggesting anonymity and erasure. On the right, a partially visible medical report form with several fields heavily redacted in black. Visible handwritten entries include an incident date of 3-16-2026, a time of 09, a checked "Yes" box next to "necessary to notify physician?", "N/A" written next to a "Fighting" checkbox, and a handwritten description reading "Sexual assault from housin[g]" occurring at "3-4am."](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/35e118b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1915x1080+2+0/resize/1220x688!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F9f%2F3d%2F1547e7294b60b5ff7f4823f3a84d%2Fq-story-headers-wip-10.png)
North Lake Processing Center sign courtesy of Alicia Dickham. Personal photo courtesy of Q. Screenshot of GEO Group Medical Report obtained via Freedom of Information Act Request. Collage by Adam Yahya Rayes/Michigan Public
A former detainee says she was repeatedly sexually assaulted at the North Lake Processing Center and that her attempts to alert administrators initially went unheeded.
Beenish Ahmed
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Michigan Public
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A conversation with a reporter covering Detroit's efforts to increase rental safety. What happened when a sexual assault was reported at Michigan's largest immigrant detention center. And the latest episode of On Hand on where Up North begins. -
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Hundreds of detained immigrants were granted bond after suing the federal government. High costs and government appeals may be keeping some locked up. -
![An editorial collage combining a black-and-white photograph of the Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building, home to the Detroit Immigration Court, with colorful torn-paper fragments of text clipped from immigration court bond hearing documents. The scraps — in pink, blue, and green — display partial phrases including "Granted" (with a checked checkbox), "Denied" (with a checked checkbox), "a flight risk," "Respondent is a flight risk," "the Immigration Judge denied Pe[titioner]," "(ICE), released Petit[ioner]," "under bond of $5,000," "bond of $15,000, with," and "Denied, because." The overlapping fragments visually contrast bond grants and denials, evoking the bureaucratic and high-stakes nature of immigration detention proceedings.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0595959/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1070+0+5/resize/280x156!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F75%2F7b%2Fa875b7d043b4b67d5862f5501af5%2Fbond-headers-5.png)
Los inmigrantes detenidos en Michigan demandaron al gobierno federal para intentar obtener su libertad. Las demandas funcionaron para cientos de personas, pero un nuevo análisis muestra que eso está cambiando. -
A hunger strike began Monday at North Lake Processing Center. Plus, a vintage toy store in Livonia is adapting to younger generations of customers.
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Immigrants locked up in Michigan sued the federal government to try and go free. The lawsuits worked for hundreds of people, but a new analysis shows that’s changing.
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Despite years of experience working on issues related to immigration, Seydi Sarr had to scramble to getting her nephew out of the North Lake detention center after he was arrested by ICE. -
As the population of detainees at North Lake Processing Center topped a thousand people late last year, dozens of emergency calls came into the county emergency dispatch center. Audio from these 911 calls give us a small window into what’s happening inside. -
The ACLU argues immigrants held under the Trump administration's mandatory detention policy deserve bond hearings to determine whether they should be released while their cases play out.
![An editorial collage combining a black-and-white photograph of the Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building, home to the Detroit Immigration Court, with colorful torn-paper fragments of text clipped from immigration court bond hearing documents. The scraps — in pink, blue, and green — display partial phrases including "Granted" (with a checked checkbox), "Denied" (with a checked checkbox), "a flight risk," "Respondent is a flight risk," "the Immigration Judge denied Pe[titioner]," "(ICE), released Petit[ioner]," "under bond of $5,000," "bond of $15,000, with," and "Denied, because." The overlapping fragments visually contrast bond grants and denials, evoking the bureaucratic and high-stakes nature of immigration detention proceedings.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c57a8e5/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1070+0+5/resize/560x312!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F75%2F7b%2Fa875b7d043b4b67d5862f5501af5%2Fbond-headers-5.png)
