Public hearing scheduled on Pillen's plan for ICE detention center in McCook
By Fred Knapp 
, Senior Reporter/Producer Nebraska Public Media
Sept. 2, 2025, 2 p.m. ·
There will be a public hearing next week at the Capitol on Gov. Jim Pillen’s plans to convert the state work ethic camp in McCook to an ICE detention facility.
Sen. Terrell McKinney, who chairs the Legislature’s Urban Affairs Committee, announced Tuesday the committee will hold a hearing next Friday, Sept. 12. to discuss concerns that potential overcrowding in McCook could violate building codes.
The announcement comes one week after Sen. Carolyn Bosn, who chairs the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, said it would be “premature” to hold a public hearing, and that senators with questions could ask them directly of Pillen or Attorney General Mike Hilgers.
Bosn was responding to a request by 13 senators, including McKinney, to hold a public hearing into the Republican governor's plan. The 13 consisted of 12 Democrats and one Independent.
Bosn is a Republican, while McKinney is a Democrat in the officially nonpartisan Legislature.
The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. in Room 1507 of the state Capitol, and will be livestreamed on the Nebraska Public Media website, https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/watch/live/
This was McKinney's announcement:
