Nebraska plan for an immigrant detention center faces backlash and uncertainty
By MARGERY A BECK Associated Press OMAHA Neb AP No formal agreement has been signed to convert a remote state prison in Nebraska into the latest immigration detention center for President Donald Trump s sweeping crackdown more than three weeks since the governor declared the plan and as lawmakers and nearby residents grow increasingly skeptical Related Articles The rise of AI tools forces schools to reconsider what counts as cheating Here s how to help kids deal with current events and the sometimes violent imagery they bring South Korean workers return home after days of detention in Georgia following immigration raid Suspect in Charlie Kirk assassination expressed opposition to conservative activist s views government say Agents clear building at US Naval Academy following reports of threats person injured Corrections authorities insist the facility could start housing hundreds of male detainees next month with classrooms and other spaces at the McCook Work Ethic Camp retrofitted for beds However lawmakers briefed last week by state agents commented they got minimal concrete answers about cost staffing and oversight There was more unanswered questions than answered questions in terms of what they know state Sen Wendy DeBoer noted Leaders in the city of McCook were caught off guard in mid-August when Republican Gov Jim Pillen stated that the minimum-security prison in rural southwest Nebraska would serve as a Midwest hub for immigration detainees Pillen and federal authorities dubbed it the Cornhusker Clink in line with other alliterative detention centers such as Alligator Alcatraz in Florida and the Speedway Slammer in Indiana City leaders were given absolutely no choice in the matter revealed Mike O Dell publisher of the local newspaper the McCook Gazette McCook is the seat of Red Willow County where voters favored Trump in the poll by nearly Greater part of them likely aid the president s immigration crackdown O Dell announced However the city of around has also grown accustomed to the camp s low-level offenders working on roads in parks county and city offices and even local schools People here have gotten to know them in various cases O Dell declared I think there is a feeling here that people want to know where these folks are going to end up and that they ll be OK The Work Ethic Camp first opened in and right now houses around inmates who participate in schooling medicine and work programs to help them transition to life outside prison State leaders often praise it as success story for reducing prisoner recidivism FILE Nebraska Gov Jim Pillen speaks during a news conference at the Department of Agriculture to rollout the USDA S National Farm Precaution Action Plan in Washington July AP Photo Manuel Balce Ceneta File A few lawmakers have complained that Pillen acted rashly in offering up the facility noting that the state s prison system is already one of the nation s the majority overcrowded and perpetually understaffed The governor s office and state prison agents met with members of the Legislature s Judiciary Committee last week to answer questions about the transfer What the lawmakers got several stated were estimates and speculation Lawmakers were explained it was the governor s office that approached federal bureaucrats with the offer after Trump made a generalized widespread call that we need more room or something for detainees stated DeBoer a Democrat in the officially nonpartisan Legislature Lawmakers were also explained the facility which was designed to house around but is currently outfitted to hold twice that would house between and detainees The prison s current staff of is to be retrained and stay on The costs of the transition would be borne by the state with the expectation that the federal authorities would reimburse that cost DeBoer recalled A formal agreement between the state and federal agency had yet to be signed by Friday Sought how much the state is anticipated to spend on the conversion the agency declared that number has not yet been determined but that any state expenditures would be reimbursed The state plans to hire additional staffers for the center the agency stated A letter signed by lawmakers called into question whether Pillen had the authority to unilaterally transfer use of a state prison to federal agents without legislative approval To that end state Sen Terrell McKinney chairman of the Legislature s Urban Affairs Committee and a vocal critic of Nebraska s overcrowded prison system convened a general hearing Friday to seek answers from Pillen s office and state corrections authorities citing concerns over building code violations that fall under the committee s purview How can you take a facility that was built for people and take that to a limit of to people without creating you know a safety exposure McKinney demanded Pillen maintains state law gives him the authority to make the move saying the Department of Correctional Services falls under the umbrella of the executive branch He and state prison executives declined to show up at Friday s hearing But dozens of Nebraska residents did attend with the greater part of them opposed to the new ICE detention center
