* Yesterday…

The Department of Homeland Security is in the very early stages of plans to build an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Dwight, Illinois, about 80 miles southwest of Chicago.

According to a letter obtained by CBS 2, the Department of Homeland Security is preparing an environmental assessment for a proposed contract to build a privately owned and operated ICE detention facility in Livingston County, for detainees facing deportation proceedings.

Dwight Village Manager Jared Anderson confirmed the village has been seeking to be home to the facility, which would be built on a 40-acre farm field on the west side of town, just east of Interstate 55.

Um, I don’t think they can do that. From the synopsis of what is now Public Act 101-0020…

Provides that neither the State, nor any unit of local government, any county Sheriff, or any agency, officer, employee, or agent thereof, shall: (1) enter into an agreement of any kind for the detention of individuals in a detention facility owned, managed, or operated, in whole or in part, by a private entity;

Etc.

* Rep. Kelly Cassidy was the House sponsor. Her press release…

In spite of the Illinois General Assembly voting overwhelmingly to affirm the state’s long held policy of prohibition of for profit prisons last year, it would appear that ICE and the Village of Dwight intend to continue the effort to build a for profit ICE Detention Center in Illinois. The state has had a ban on privately run, for-profit prisons for decades, but legislation passed last year clarified that ban should also apply to non-criminal settings such as ICE detention centers. The bill (HB2040) passed both chambers last May with significant bipartisan support and was signed by the Governor on June 21, 2019. A recent news report revealed that ICE has continued to pursue the location in Dwight, submitting a letter requesting an environmental site review on the proposed location.

“I sponsored this bill knowing the realities of for profit prisons and knowing that the mistreatment we’ve seen in these facilities across the country has no place in our state. As we see reports from across the country of detainees contracting COVID-19 at an alarming rate in ICE detention centers, federal agents including ICE acting outside the law to ‘disappear’ protestors, and this administration’s ongoing war against immigrants, this appears to be yet one more example of this administration pursuing their hateful agenda regardless of legal standing,” said Rep. Kelly Cassidy, chief House sponsor of HB2040.

Local governments around the country have found that the promises made by for profit prison developers rarely come to fruition. Once the prison is built and the dangerous working conditions, low pay, and lack of benefits become the reality, it is often too late to go back. Representative Cassidy previously argued against the closure of Dwight Women’s prison, noting the town’s unique wrap around support for the women incarcerated there and has long advocated for more thoughtful economic development for towns impacted by closures of state facilities or other economic disasters. The state must do more to assist towns like Dwight when significant economic losses hit.

“The Village of Dwight should acknowledge the reality that the state has made our policy abundantly clear on the question of whether someone should profit off of putting humans in cages with the passage of HB2040 and abandon this wrongheaded approach to economic development not only is a flagrant violation of state law, but putting their residents at significant risk” said Rep. Kelly Cassidy. The company in question is also responsible for the greatest outbreak in any facility with a 75% infection rate at their facility in Farmville, VA.

…Adding… Sen. Robert Peters…

Illinois has long had a policy of prohibiting for-profit prisons. Last year, the General Assembly overwhelmingly passed HB2040 sponsored by state Rep. Kelly Cassidy and state Sen. Robert Peters to make sure these bans apply to non-criminal settings such as ICE detention centers.

A recent news report revealed that ICE has continued to pursue a location in the Village of Dwight to build a private detention center, recently submitting a letter requesting an environmental site review on the proposed location.

This is happening despite the fact that the Private Detention Facility Moratorium Act signed into law in 2019 stopped the original agreement ICE was trying to enter into with Dwight. The law states: “Neither State, nor any unit of local government…shall enter into an agreement of any kind of the detention of individuals in a detention facility owned, managed, or operated, in whole or in part, by a private entity.”

“Whatever deal ICE is trying to cut is cloaked in the promise of jobs and profits, but is nothing more than a flagrant violation of state law,” said state Sen. Robert Peters, chief Senate Sponsor of HB2040. “In reality, private detention centers historically have dangerous working conditions, low pay, and a lack of benefits — not to mention the inhumane war they wage on detainees under the direction of the Trump administration. This is yet another example of why we can’t trust this administration. Time and time again, they bulldoze our collective safety and health all in the name of pitting communities against each other.”

…Adding… Press release…

On July 28 news reports disclosed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is seeking an environmental assessment for a site for a new privately-operated immigration detention facility in Dwight, Illinois. ICE is making this move in total disregard of a state law enacted last year to bar such facilities. The following is the statement by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) and the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC):

The State of Illinois spoke loudly and clearly last year when the General Assembly passed and Governor Pritzker signed the Private Detention Facility Moratorium Act: Private prison companies are not welcome in our state, and no one should profit from keeping people in detention. Yet ICE, an agency that claims to exist to enforce the law, is defying the will of our state and acting in an unlawful manner by attempting to move forward with the Dwight immigration prison. ICE is attempting to double its detention capacity in the Chicago region with this facility, even as the number of people in ICE custody nationally is falling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the company proposing the facility, Immigration Centers of America, is botching its handling of a COVID-19 outbreak at its sole facility in Virginia–with 75% of individuals detained there testing positive. Private for-profit immigrant detention centers have failed 100% of the time they have tried to come into Illinois, and this will be no different.

All of this is happening as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents are being deployed to American cities without any real need or accountability, as DHS continues to defy the Supreme Court’s ruling preserving the DACA program, and as ICE in Chicago is planning a “citizen’s academy” to train civilians on arrest tactics and firearms use. Our organizations will continue to fight to hold DHS and ICE accountable, to stop the harms they are inflicting and the fear they are creating in our communities, and to make our state welcoming for all.