Minnesota prison to reopen for ICE
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Private prison operator CoreCivic officially confirmed Tuesday what has long been rumored: It will reopen a shuttered western Minnesota prison as an immigration detention facility.
Why it matters: The Appleton prison drastically increases ICE's capacity to hold immigration suspects in the Midwest as the Trump administration seeks detention capacity to shore up its deportation plans.
- At full capacity, the 1,600-bed facility would become one of ICE's largest outside the South — and the largest in the Midwest outside of Michigan, according to the Deportation Data Project.
Driving the news: CoreCivic expects its five-year contract with ICE will generate approximately $75 million in annual revenue, the prison company's CEO Patrick Swindle said in a statement announcing the deal.
- The facility will open in phases, accepting its first detainees sometime "in the fourth quarter of 2026," with "full ramp" estimated by summer 2027.
What they're saying: "The geographic location of this facility, similar to our other recent contract awards, improves our ability to support our government partner throughout the United States," Swindle said.
The other side: "After the siege on our state by out-of-control federal agents who flagrantly ignored the law, it is an insult to our communities to open a for-profit concentration camp in our state," the activist group Indivisible Twin Cities wrote in a statement.
Flashback: During Operation Metro Surge, immigration agents brought at least 3,800 people into custody in Minnesota — creating an unprecedented swell of detainees at local facilities not designed for long-term custody, including the Whipple Federal Building.
- Overcrowding caused conditions inside to quickly deteriorate, advocates, attorneys and detainees have reported.
- Most were ultimately transported to a sprawling Texas camp where living conditions have spurred lawsuits.
Zoom in: The western Minnesota prison was once Appleton's largest employer. It employed 120 people when it closed in 2010 — and more than 400 at its height, per MPR News.
What we're watching: Whether the Appleton facility sparks further protests from activists decrying conditions or opposing Trump administration immigration policies.
- Such protests have already sprung up at other detention facilities around the U.S.
- In Appleton, activists have been holding their own weekly protests to draw attention to construction work at the site, which began quietly several months ago.
Go deeper: Scoop: ICE detention numbers slip