A minimum-security prison in McCook, Nebraska, will be converted into an ICE detention facility, though details are not firmed up on who will be held there. Bret Hayworth has more.
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Tuesday the McCook Work Ethic Camp will be repurposed into a detention facility to hold immigration detainees, as they await court hearings or deportation flights.
According to Pillen and Nebraska Department of Corrections Director Rob Jeffreys, the facility will continue to be run by the state, but will be paid for by the federal government. The facility has been dubbed the “Cornhusker Clink” by Noem and Pillen.
It is the third such state-run immigration detention center commissioned by the federal government and is modeled after the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center in the Florida Everglades.
After the initial one-year contract, there will be opportunities for extension.
*Additionally, the Le Mars City Council is overseeing a downtown traffic signal modernization project of more than $1 million. Councilman Mark Sturgeon said the current traffic lights are at least 35 years old, and have been malfunctioning.
The city will be using sales tax revenues of $1.1 million to pay for the signals changes. The new lights will be along Iowa Highway 3 and other places running through downtown.
The project will take about a year to complete, by November 2026.
Le Mars city officials will open bids from interested contractors on September 9, then the council will pick the firm on September 16.
Also in the Tuesday council meeting, Councilman Clark Goodchild announced he will not seek re-election in November. Two other councilmen with expiring terms, Sturgeon and Brian Bruns, plan to be on the ballot.
