Detention center takes detainees before oversight panel is in place
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Outside of the Leavenworth ICE detention facility. Photo: Emily Curiel/Getty Images
Leavenworth's ICE detention facility is already holding about 20 detainees as the city is finalizing an oversight committee meant to monitor conditions at the site.
Why it matters: The Leavenworth City Commission approved reopening the former prison earlier this month with a plan for local oversight, but that system is still being put in place.
Catch up quick: The vote followed months of legal battles and public pushback over its reopening as an ICE detention center.
- Commissioners approved it 4-1, clearing the way for detainees to return to Leavenworth less than two weeks after for the first time since the facility closed in 2021.
Driving the news: ICE confirmed this week that the CoreCivic-run facility was housing about 20 detainees as of March 19. It is unclear where they were transferred from.
- Leavenworth Mayor Nancy Bauder tells Axios that CoreCivic can legally begin taking detainees now because the special use permit was approved on March 10 and the oversight committee was not required to be in place first.
- The city expects the committee to be fully set up by the end of this week, per Bauder.
What they're saying: The city began forming the oversight committee only after the permit was approved, Bauder told Axios.
- "We could not set this up before. We didn't know how the commission was going to vote," Bauder said, referring to the oversight committee.
- The committee will include people with backgrounds in social work, religious leadership and corrections. It's expected to monitor conditions at the facility, though the city has not shared full details on its structuring plan.
Bauder said the city can pull the permit if CoreCivic blocks access to the city or fails to meet requirements, including providing detainees access to attorneys, family contact and religious practice.
- "They're bringing them in very carefully," she said, adding that the initial group of about 20 allows operations to ramp up gradually.
The other side: Immigration attorney Michael Sharma-Crawford questioned whether detainees will have meaningful access to legal support and due process, noting the oversight committee only sets guidelines.
- "Basic human necessities are in there… great. What about the immigration process?" he told KMBC.
State of play: CoreCivic told Axios it is following federal detention standards and does not control who is detained or what happens in immigration cases.
- The company said ICE oversees operations and conducts regular inspections.
- CoreCivic said its role is to care for detainees "respectfully and humanely" while they go through the legal process.
What's next: It's unclear how quickly the facility will grow beyond the initial group of detainees.