McCook facility passes inspection, ready to hold ICE detainees

The McCook Work Ethic Camp has received a final walk-through inspection by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and has been approved for use to house people accused of immigration violations, state officials said Thursday.

“Getting the final pieces pulled together has admittedly been a little bit of a moving target and has been made more difficult with the Schumer shutdown,” Gov. Jim Pillen said in a news release. “Given the many tasks that had to be completed, including the transfer of remaining inmates, building modifications, training of staff and other components, we have made significant progress.”

Pillen had earlier said the facility would be ready to start receiving detainees by the end of the month, but he said Thursday that a timeline for receiving those detainees is still being arranged in coordination with officials at the Department of Homeland Security.

A potential complication is a lawsuit filed last week seeking an injunction to stop the work camp from being used as a federal detention center.

The lawsuit, filed by more than a dozen McCook residents and a former state senator, argues that the governor does not have the authority over the state’s penal institutions and that no public building can be changed from the purpose for which an appropriation was made.

A hearing on a request for a preliminary injunction is set to take place Friday in McCook.

A contract released last week shows the Nebraska Department of Corrections will be paid roughly $2.5 million a month over the course of the two-year contract. It also received a nearly $5.9 million one-time payment to pay for upgrades to allow it to hold as many as 300 detainees. State officials said they expect to net about $14 million a year.