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 publicized 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 personnel say Functionaries clear building at US Naval Academy following reports of threats person injured Corrections bureaucrats 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 representatives announced they got inadequate 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 revealed Agents in the city of McCook were caught off guard in mid-August when Republican Gov Jim Pillen revealed that the minimum-security prison in rural southwest Nebraska would serve as a Midwest hub for immigration detainees Pillen and federal functionaries 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 commented 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 Bulk of them likely advocacy the president s immigration crackdown O Dell noted 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 several 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 currently houses around inmates who participate in guidance healing 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 Defense Action Plan in Washington July AP Photo Manuel Balce Ceneta File Several 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 majority of overcrowded and perpetually understaffed The governor s office and state prison officers met with members of the Legislature s Judiciary Committee last week to answer questions about the transfer What the lawmakers got several reported were estimates and speculation Lawmakers were informed it was the governor s office that approached federal agents with the offer after Trump made a generalized widespread call that we need more room or something for detainees mentioned DeBoer a Democrat in the officially nonpartisan Legislature Lawmakers were also reported the facility which was designed to house around but is right now 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 Requested 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 disclosed A letter signed by lawmakers called into question whether Pillen had the authority to unilaterally transfer use of a state prison to federal leadership 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 community hearing Friday to seek answers from Pillen s office and state corrections administrators 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 maximum of to people without creating you know a safety liability McKinney inquired 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 officers declined to show up at Friday s hearing But dozens of Nebraska residents did attend with greater part of them opposed to the new ICE detention center