GASTON COUNTY -- A federal immigration detention center in Gaston County is now almost certain, according to Rep. Sue Myrick.

The facility would be the first of its kind, and house illegal immigrants from New York to Florida.

"I think it's a nice idea to have that in Gaston County,” said Carlos Romero, who moved to the United States about a decade ago. “The first years were really hard because I didn’t have my legal papers here.”

Now Romero does, and he lives and works in Gastonia. But for those who didn’t come to America legally, they might soon find themselves in Gaston County.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement wants the facility to hold 1,500 beds. It would create at least 300 jobs, with the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office running the jail.

Some in the county aren’t thrilled with the idea, though. They are concerned it’s going to bring more problems with it than solutions.

"It seems like to me that you'd bring a lot of people here who might be released into this area and then who knows what would happen at that point,” said Dan Hopkins of Gastonia.

Despite objections, Myrick said the deal is almost done, and the details should be worked out in the next few months. She said Mecklenburg County was originally where the jail was planned for, but “due to insurmountable obstacles, I decided … to switch gears to Gaston County.”