Homeland Security buys former prison in west-central Minnesota for $500 million
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A day after it was announced that a former private prison in west-central Minnesota will be used to house ICE detainees, the company running the facility has announced the former prison’s sale to the U.S. government for half a billion dollars.
The private prison company CoreCivic said in an investors statement that they've sold the 1,600 bed Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, Minn., to the U.S. through the Department of Homeland Security for $495.6 million. CoreCivic will still manage the facility, which is expected to start receiving ICE detainees this fall and be up to full capacity by mid-2027.
CoreCivic, which operates more than 70 detention centers around the country, including Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, expects to continue operating the Appleton facility. Its management contract expires in August 2031. However, CoreCivic said “ICE has the ability to terminate the management contracts for non-appropriation of funds or for convenience.”
The five-year contract to manage the Appleton facility kicks in on Aug. 11. The company said it expects the site to bring in about $75 million in annual revenue. The company will receive a fixed monthly payment plus an additional daily payment based on the number of detainees in custody.
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CoreCivic is also selling the government its 1,033-bed Midwest Regional Reception Center in Kansas for $238.4 million. After taxes, the company expects to net $522.5 million from the sale of both facilities.
CoreCivic said in its investor statement that the company has “recently begun discussions with ICE about the potential acquisition of additional detention facilities,” which are in the preliminary stages.
A spokesperson for the company referred questions about the contract to the federal government. ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
MPR News reported this summer that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had posted a proposed contract for the facility, which has been vacant since 2010. That contract said the facility was necessary to “meet the administration’s interior enforcement and border compression goals.” The proposed contract said the facility would serve the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations from the agency’s St. Paul field office.
Detention centers used by ICE have become flashpoints for protests against the agency and the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Residents have already scheduled a weekly protest outside the facility starting this Thursday.
