Feds propose housing ICE detainees in western Minnesota private prison
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The Department of Homeland Security has posted a proposed contract for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to use a private prison facility in western Minnesota to hold up to 1,600 immigrant detainees.
The contract was posted on Thursday by the General Services Administration. It says the facility is needed to “increase bed capacity to meet the administration’s interior enforcement and border compression goals.”
The former private prison in Appleton is owned by CoreCivic, which operates about 80 detention centers around the country, including almost a dozen that house ICE detainees. The company runs the Dilley Processing Center, where many Minnesota detainees have been sent after their arrests, including 5-year-old Liam Conejo-Ramos and his father.
The contract summary says the company will provide guards, meals, medical care and transportation. It will serve the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations that’s based in the agency’s St. Paul field office. That office covers Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.
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ICE detainees are currently held at Whipple Federal Building near Fort Snelling or at county jails in Sherburne, Kandiyohi, Crow Wing and Freeborn counties, which contract with the Department of Homeland Security. It’s commonplace for immigrants detained in Minnesota to quickly be transported to detention facilities as far away as Texas or Louisiana.
“This required geographical area is essential for ERO to accomplish its apprehension and detention, and removal mission in the most cost efficient and timely manner,” according to the contract’s description.
Appleton City Manager John Olinger said the city wasn’t aware of imminent plans for the facility. He said the company and federal government don’t need approval from the city because its use is allowed in zoning.
The Washington Post reported last August that the Appleton facility was being considered for an ICE facility as part of the agency’s plans to double the number of people detained. The former private prison was shuttered in 2010.
Detention centers used by ICE have become focal points for protests, including the one operated by CoreCivic in Dilley, Tex. Federal agents and state police have used chemical munitions and violence on protesters and journalists at a detention center in New Jersey, Immigrants at some detention centers have also protested unhealthy conditions and launched hunger strikes.
The 148-page document is what’s known as a performance work statement, which outlines how a contractor can fulfill a project. It would require CoreCivic to immediately notify ICE about serious incidents including “group demonstrations, food boycotts, work strikes [or] civil disturbances/protests,” as well as any use of force by staff. It also requires the contractor to install security devices on the facility’s perimeter, including fencing “engineered to withstand attempts at cutting, climbing or breaching.”
Detainees at the facility could include both men and women in different security levels. The contractor may also be responsible for transporting “juveniles and family units.”
CoreCivic is continuing to market the property to the government but has no announcements right now, said Ryan Gustin, senior director of public affairs.
“Out of respect for government officials who may have visited or expressed interest in the facility, we suggest that you contact those agencies directly,” Gustin said in an email response to MPR News. ICE did not respond to questions about the facility.
CoreCivic’s website currently lists open positions at the Appleton site for chief of security, chief of unit management and assistant warden.
This is a developing story. Check back for further updates.
