Gov. Jim Pillen announced Tuesday that the Work Ethic Camp located in McCook, Nebraska, will be repurposed as a detention facility for individuals awaiting deportation and other immigration proceedings.
The Governor’s office says this is one of three new partnerships between Nebraska and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The facility will have 280-beds and could begin housing detainees as early as next month.
DHS has playfully dubbed the facility the “Cornhusker Clink.”
“We want President Trump to know that Nebraska is supportive and grateful for his ongoing, critical work with [DHS] Secretary Noem to arrest and deport criminal, illegal aliens,” said Pillen in a press release.
In addition to the detention center, about 20 Nebraska Army National Guard soldiers will soon begin training to provide managerial support to Nebraska-based Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. Further, Pillen says the Nebraska State Patrol intends to enter a 287(g) agreement with ICE, which allows local designated officers to perform certain immigration enforcement functions.
“The State of Nebraska, under my leadership, is partnering with President Trump and his team to help Make America Safe Again,” said Pillen.
Today, August 19, Pillen will host a news conference at 5 p.m. in McCook with Mayor Linda Taylor and the Red Willow County Sheriff Kevin Darling, to discuss the utilization of WEC as an ICE detention facility.
The move is already drawing criticism from local advocacy groups. Nebraska Appleseed’s Immigrants & Communities Program Director Darcy Tromanhauser issued the following statement in response:
This is not who we are. Nebraska is a state that welcomes our neighbors and values the contributions of local moms, dads, coworkers, neighbors, and friends. Nebraskans do not want us to be known as a state that separates families and locks up and detains members of our communities.
Nebraskans across the state and across sectors for years have called for our immigration laws to be updated. What we need are modern immigration laws that recognize the strength and value that immigrant Nebraskans bring to the state, not a large-scale federal detention camp.
Together with many community partners across the state, we will continue to advocate for positive immigration laws that fix our long-outdated immigration system and support local communities – not cruel and harmful detainment camps that repeat a deeply ugly pattern of history and are completely contrary to Nebraska values. Nebraskans want policy change, not punishment.