Baldwin

"This is probably one of the very most important things I've ever done in my life," says Julie Cordier.

Julie Cordier keeps a binder filled with notes on each person’s name, some details about them, and how often she’s seen them. She guesses she's visited between 15 and 20 detainees at the North Lake Processing Center.

Detainees at North Lake Processing Facility, the 1,800-bed immigration detention center in Baldwin, started a hunger strike Monday. By Wednesday morning, there were reports that many had stopped.

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.

Getting an exact number can be challenging because of how the government releases data. But recent numbers might be as close to precise as it gets.

Why it's so hard to find out.

Activists said the facility, now open as an immigration detention center, is a profit-driven system that exploits vulnerable communities and called for its closure.

In Lake County — population 12,000 — a new ICE facility is opening in a shuttered private prison, promising to create hundreds of jobs in the poorest county in the state. Many residents have doubts about whether the jobs will last.

In Lake County — population 12,000 — a new ICE facility is opening in a shuttered private prison, promising to create hundreds of jobs in the poorest county in the state. Many residents have doubts about whether the jobs will last.

The GEO Group said it expects to bring in $70 million in annualized revenue from a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.