Nebraska is turning the prison into a federal immigration center, aiming to fill it by Thanksgiving

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A minimum-security state prison in a remote southwestern corner of Nebraska remodeled to serve as a federal immigration detention center began accepting detainees earlier this week, Nebraska Gov. Jim Palin said Thursday.

The Republican governor said the facility in McCook — a remote city of about 7,000 people amid wide-open prairies between Denver and Omaha — held between 50 and 60 detained immigrants as of Thursday. Belen said the facility should be at full capacity — currently 200 — by Thanksgiving.

Read more: Senate report details dozens of cases of medical neglect in federal immigration detention centers

He said work is already scheduled to begin on the second phase of the conversion, which will expand the facility to accommodate another 100 beds for a total of 300 beds.

He said: “I expect the second phase to be ready in the first part of the new year.”

The facility served as the McCook Ethics Camp, which housed about 180 low-level offenders who participated in education, treatment, and work programs to help them transition to life outside prison. Prisoners there routinely worked on roads, in parks, county and city offices, and even local schools, and state leaders often praised the program as a success story for reducing prisoner recidivism.

These low-level criminals were transferred from McCook Prison. Many were paroled, placed on probation or simply paroled, but the majority were sent to other facilities, including more than 100 who were sent to community corrections in Omaha and Lincoln. Dozens of others were sent to other government prisons.

McCook is located about 210 miles (338 kilometers) west of Lincoln, the state capital.

McCook officials and residents were surprised when Beilein announced in August that he would turn over the prison for use by federal authorities as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping anti-immigration campaign.

Officials in Nebraska and the US Department of Homeland Security have named the facility “Cornhusker Clinic,” a play on Nebraska’s nickname and an old slang term for the prison. The name follows the previously announced “Alligator Alcatraz” and “Deportation Depot” detention centers in Florida and “Speedway Slammer” in Indiana.

Read more: ‘Crocodile Alcatraz’ detainees were given colour-coded uniforms, breakfast at 5:30am and strict rules

Some Nebraska lawmakers complained that Beilein, a Republican, acted recklessly, noting that the state’s prison system is already one of the most overcrowded in the country and is perennially understaffed.

To that end, former state Sen. Diana Shimek and thirteen other McCook residents have filed a lawsuit against Belin and the director of the state prison system, saying only the Legislature has the constitutional authority to control or manage state prisons or repurpose public buildings.

The lawsuit, filed in state court on behalf of residents by the nonprofit legal advocacy group Nebraska Appleseed, had sought a temporary injunction to stop McCook’s prison diversion while the case was pending, but a judge rejected that motion last month. Likewise, the judge also denied Belen’s motion to dismiss the case.

Nearly 60,000 people were being held in immigration detention centers by mid-September, a 51% increase since January, according to a nonprofit called Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.

TRAC says about 70% of those arrested have no criminal record. Many other people have convictions for minor crimes such as a traffic violation.