Pillen administration briefs Judiciary Committee on McCook immigration detention facility

Members of Gov. Jim Pillen’s administration briefed the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee on plans to convert the McCook Work Ethic Camp to an immigration detention facility in a closed-door meeting Thursday afternoon.

Pillen first made the announcement in McCook two weeks ago, providing some information to reporters, but leaving other questions about who would be detained at the facility unanswered.

Last week, 13 state senators sent a letter to Judiciary Committee Chair Carolyn Bosn requesting a public hearing to provide additional details. Bosn declined the request and responded that “the Judiciary Committee has no more extraordinary authority than any individual senator, or group of senators, to seek answers to the questions posed in the letter.”

However, Bosn did arrange Thursday’s private briefing, which was accompanied by a press release from the governor’s office providing responses to the questions asked in the letter sent last week.

“I appreciate Sen. Bosn’s invitation to provide additional information about the critical use of this facility and its role in keeping Americans safe and secure, as well as the timeline for using WEC as a detention center and other details that will assist with that purpose,” Pillen said in a statement.

A public hearing on the immigration facility, called by Urban Affairs Committee Chair Terrell McKinney, is scheduled for next Friday.

Pillen did not attend Thursday’s briefing himself, but the governor’s office said Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly, Chief of Staff Dave Lopez, the Governor’s Policy and Research Office Director Kenny Zoeller and Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Director Rob Jeffreys were present.

The administration clarified that the Work Ethic Camp would house Level 1 detainees, meaning those with minor criminal records and non-violent felonies.

To make room, the Nebraska Department of Corrections will relocate the 168 inmates currently housed in McCook. Some inmates will be transferred to other state correctional facilities, while others will be discharged or paroled.

The administration said the reopening of the state penitentiary housing units that were damaged in a storm last month and a 96-bed expansion at the Reception and Treatment Center in Lincoln will help with the relocation. The process is expected to take between 45 and 60 days.

Following the briefing, Sen. Wendy DeBoer, the Judiciary Committee’s Vice Chair, told reporters she is worried about overcrowding in the state’s prisons.

“I am concerned that even if we were able to find housing for everyone, that there would be some new, unexpected disaster or whatever that would make things very difficult for us,” she said.

The governor’s office said the Work Ethic Camp is currently at 84% of its 200-bed capacity. It is expected to hold 300 migrants once it has been repurposed.

DeBoer, who said she visited the facility Wednesday, said it already seemed full.

“It was very crowded, I will not lie, but it didn't have the same kind of feeling as the [Nebraska State Penitentiary] and some of the others in terms of crowding,” she said

DeBoer also expressed “grave concerns” about how federal agents may conduct immigration proceedings in McCook.

“While they're under our roof in Nebraska, I would hope that they would make sure that they're doing only processes that involve due process for all citizens, for all people, not just citizens, and that they're not using this expedited removal process,” she said.

DeBoer said the administration told her a contract between the state and federal government for the McCook facility is expected to be signed within the next 60 days.

“I think the timeline is probably a little less fast than that,” she said. “That doesn't say that it won't happen.”

Without a signed agreement, some details remain unknown, such as the kinds of modifications needed to bring the Work Ethic Camp up to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s standards or whether it would house men, women or both. Officials clarified that no minors would be held at the facility.