Farmville Detention Center, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility located at 508 Waterworks Road, may be the subject of rallies set to take place in the town over the next few weeks.

Two protests, on July 1 and July 7 and posted on social media, have developed citing recent policy announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions that allows children to be separated from their parents crossing the Southwest border, among other enforcement measures for illegal immigration.

A protest scheduled for Sunday, July 1, is expected to take place at Wilck’s Lake Island, according to the event Facebook page, “Weekend of Action – ICE Detention Protest Farmville, VA,” though event organizer Emily Patton said the location could change closer to the day.

Patton said the protest is meant to call attention and fight against both recent enforcement measures where immigrants are incarcerated in centers, some owned by for-profit organizations. She cited potential alternatives such as immigration courts.

“Bringing families back together, ending mass incarceration of immigrants, and really making established change, not just for a couple weeks or couple months, or policy changes that can change from administration to administration,” Patton said. “But to create lasting immigration reform that keeps families together that keeps immigrants out of jails and prisons.”

In response to news that President Donald Trump signed an executive order that reversed the measure to separate families, Patton said the protest will still take place.

“There’s still so much work that needs to be done,” Patton said. “I personally feel that this does not change why we still mass mobilize to protect immigrants who are currently here and immigrants who would like to come to the United States.”

Town Manager Gerald Spates confirmed Wednesday the Town of Farmville receives $1 a day for each person detained at the facility and receives a tax base. Spates said he did not know the exact amount but said the amount can be substantial.

The town confirmed that only men are currently held at the facility. There are no women or children.

Spates said the facility has the capacity for 650 people but that the exact amount of people in the facility fluctuates from day to day.

The $21-million facility was built in 2010.

The registered agent of Immigration Centers of America-Farmville LLC is Russell Harper, managing member of Harper Associates, LLC based in Richmond.

A second rally for Saturday, July 7, at 3 p.m., is expected to take place close to the center, though organizer Marilyn Karp said the original location, the facility itself, has been changed. A location was not yet finalized Wednesday, though Karp said she has sent a message to potentially reserve the PEFYA Field of Dreams. The Facebook page, The People’s Caravan from Farmville to Brownsville, details a trip in which a caravan, or van, travels to different communities to bring awareness of a subject.

Karp, of Haymarket, who said she and other individuals have previously taken part in a protest to expand Medicaid in Virginia, said the goal of the rally is to bring awareness of the Farmville immigration center, and create positive immigration reform on the state and national level.

“We have to keep doing this until this stops,” Karp said.