McCook residents file lawsuit aimed at stopping ICE detention facility

More than a dozen McCook residents and a former Nebraska state senator filed a lawsuit this week aimed at stopping the Work Ethic Camp from being used as an ICE detention facility.

Gov. Jim Pillen and Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Director Rob Jeffreys are named as defendants.

The lawsuit, led by legal nonprofit Nebraska Appleseed, 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.

“The purpose of the Work Ethic Camp is for rehabilitation and reduction of prison overcrowding, not for the detainment of non-citizens,” said James Goddard, the program senior director at Nebraska Appleseed.

Goddard said his clients want a welcoming community where everyone has a sense of belonging, something they say an ICE facility wouldn’t facilitate.

“They feel that the repurposing of the work ethic camp for non-citizen detention creates a toxic community environment,” Goddard said. “They also were really clear that they feel they have not had a chance to have their voices heard, and that the process here has just not been transparent.”

Laura Strimple, a spokeswoman for Pillen, told Nebraska Public Media she doesn't expect the lawsuit to be successful.

"We expect and believe that the lawsuit is legally and substantively without merit, and we are confident that it will receive the scrutiny it deserves in our court system.," she said. "Beyond that, this office has no further comment at this time on this pending legal matter."

On Thursday, Red Willow County District Court Judge Patrick Heng set an in-person hearing for Oct. 24 at 9 a.m. for arguments on a preliminary injunction, which would halt the transformation of the facility into an immigration detention center until the case moves through the legal system.

Jennifer Huxoll, the civil litigation chief at the Nebraska Attorney General's Office, told the judge that all of the inmates previously held at the Work Ethic Camp have now been transferred. She did not know when the facility will become operational as an ICE detention center.

In a press release Friday, Pillen said the facility will be prepared to accept detainees prior to Nov. 1 .

A security fence around the perimeter of the facility is about 90% complete, Huxoll said. In September, the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services entered into a $750,000 contract with Outback Fencing to construct the fence, according to publicly available contracts.

Nebraska Public Media Reporter Molly Ashford contributed to this report.