Overview
- Gov. Jim Pillen said the McCook facility is operational with about 50 to 60 people in ICE custody and is expected to reach its initial 200-bed target by Thanksgiving.
- State officials outlined a phased expansion, with work underway to add roughly 100 more beds for a total of about 300 early next year.
- A lawsuit from McCook residents led by former state Sen. DiAnna Schimek remains active after a judge declined to issue a temporary injunction against the conversion.
- The site previously housed about 180 low-level offenders in the Work Ethic Camp, who were paroled, released, or transferred as Nebraska continues to grapple with prisons running at more than 140% of designed capacity.
- Reporting on the ICE contract indicates the arrangement could bring the state about $14 million annually through 2027, as national immigration detention counts have climbed to nearly 60,000 since September.