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A rural Illinois prison has gained federal attention as a potential new site to "house suspected terrorists currently held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba," according to the Tribune in an exclusive report.
Federal officials have their eyes on the "largely vacant" Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Illinois (located 150 miles west of Chicago) as the administration works to close down the "controversial" Guantanamo Bay facility. More than 200 people are currently detained at Guantanamo, a place largely associated with "unpopular U.S. anti-terror and detention policies," the report said. Closing the facility was one of President Obama's first acts in office.
Yet finding a place to hold detainees in the United States has been complicated by a law that states detainees can only come to the states for "purposes of prosecution" and Republican opposition to closing Guantanamo.
An Obama official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, shared the news on Friday, but couldn't say how many detainees would possibly be transferred to Illinois or if Thomson was slated to be the only domestic prison for detainees, according to the Tribune. The $145 million maximum-security prison, built in 2001 to bring jobs to the northern Illinois town, has 1,600 cells but only holds 144 prisoners.
Thomson Village President Jerry Hebeler and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn support the idea of housing detainees in the small town, hoping it will bring a much needed jolt of economic development.
[Tribune]
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"hoping it will bring a much needed jolt of economic development." Nice to know our way out of the economic crisis is by building prisons.
...you must of missed the part about the prison already being built and only holding 144 inmates in its 1600 cells.
I'm all for this. The prisoners have to go somewhere and Illinois gets some jobs out of it. Win-win.
More than just jobs, the state will either sell or lease the prison to the feds & reap millions in the deal!
Win-win-win!
Illinois residents deserve better, Illinois is known as "The Land of Lincoln”, not the "The Land of Terrorist".
We are life-long resident of Illinois. We learned that some of our politicians are in favor of housing the Gitmo detainees at the Thomson, Illinois Correctional Center. I urge all representatives to do everything possible to not allow this to happen. Closing Gitmo is a political disaster and anyone who supports this will be voted out of office. This facility is 59.5 miles from my house. All elected officials should consider if they would want the world’s most dangerous terrorist housed this close to their family live.
I would like to ask everyone to oppose moving the terrorist to the United States. We all deserve better.
Because they have evil superpowers?
Come on, these aren't criminal masterminds with super-human strength and most of them aren't even terrorists, just suspects. I don't know how you think their mere presence 59.5 miles from you will adversely affect you, but I assure you, it won't.
Right, because it's not like there's any record of any of them plotting more attacks while in prison or anything. They're just big cuddly misunderstood bunnies.
I love how people think that somehow the Gitmo detainees are worse than typical prisoners in a maximum security facility.
And they're suspected terrorists, not terrorists. At least get your facts straight for your paranoia.
As a former lawyer honest Abe would have at least understood the concept of Habeas Corpus, unlike modern mouth-breathing slack jawed Americans.
Sure he understood it--he suspended it during the Civil War.
You are absolutely right, it was an awful poorly though out example for me to make. Of course it's worth noting that Lincoln was dealing with a Civil War on our own soil and politicians and leaders who were basically committing treason.
aaroncynic,
I know, I feel like this is a bad dream. Our democratic leaders?????/ Bail out the Banks and pass off the continued growth of the Prison Industrial Complex as economic growth! Seriously, I'm very disturbed!