ICE transports busload of workers from Omaha meatpacking plant to undisclosed facility
Gov. Jim Pillen referred to “criminals and terrorists” and MS-13 gang members among the immigrants who have entered the United States illegally as he announced McCook, Nebraska, would become home to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility for migrants awaiting deportation.
“We need to make sure that we all agree that keeping our community safe is essential,” Pillen said.
In his comments, however, he also said the facility, currently the minimum-security facility Work Ethic Camp prison, would not house “murderers” — it would be for low- to minimum-security detainees who are “threats to our community.”
He said the individuals would not be detained solely for the crime of entering the country illegally, saying, “lots of it has to do with drugs.” Pillen also said the facility will house detainees who have entered over the last four years, doubling down on criticisms of former President Joe Biden’s border policy.
Pillen also said, “I’m an advocate that we need to find a pathway for families who have been here for 20, 30 years.” The governor’s spokeswoman Laura Strimple said Wednesday that statement referred to pathways to legal work opportunities, not including taxpayer benefits, voting rights or citizenship.
She added, “It is incumbent on Congress to enact comprehensive reforms that will ultimately improve our nation’s legal immigration system.”
While it is unclear which detainees will ultimately be housed at the facility federal officials have dubbed the Cornhusker Clink, recent examples of people detained by ICE in Nebraska don’t fit Pillen’s description.
In the high-profile operation at Omaha’s Glenn Valley Foods in June, most of the more than 70 people detained had no criminal record. Those who did were largely charged with misdemeanors and traffic violations. In interviews, some of the detainees or their relatives said that they’d been in the U.S. for decades without getting in trouble.
Most of those accused of committing fraud in order to get permission to work were never charged. Advocates and data trackers in the state and nationally have countered claims that ICE is targeting and deporting people who are dangerous.
“They’re trying to detain and lock up people who are not criminals, not dangerous to our community. They’re people that go to work every day,” State Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha said in phone call Wednesday.
He felt the governor was “talking out of two sides of his mouth,” discussing highly dangerous people but saying the McCook facility isn’t for them. He said evidence doesn’t show that the people ICE will detain are dangerous to the community.
Pillen and federal officials have touted the arrest of an “MS-13 kingpin” in Omaha as an example of the need for strong immigration enforcement. A traffic stop for improperly changing lanes led to the arrest of Melvin Valera Perez in July. Valera Perez is reportedly listed on El Salvador’s 100 most wanted and had lived in the U.S. since 2016.
Rob Jeffreys, the director of Nebraska’s Department of Correctional Services, said in a news conference Tuesday that Nebraska envisions the ICE site becoming a “central Midwest hub.” Maria Arriaga, the director of the state’s Commission on Latino-Americans, said it is “profoundly disappointing” that moniker may be associated with Nebraska.
The commission strives to connect the state’s Latino population to government and consists of members appointed by the governor. Those members hire the commission’s director.
“Nebraska has long been sustained by the hard work of immigrants, particularly in the farming, meatpacking and food production sectors,” Arriaga said in a written statement.
“Latino and immigrant workers contribute over $1.6 billion in wages annually in Nebraska. Immigrants commit fewer crimes than U.S.-born citizens, according to multiple national and state-level studies, and consistently demonstrate strong community values, family unity and economic contribution,” Arriaga said.
She asked Nebraska to lead with compassion, facts and courage and asked leaders to reflect on the “long-term impact of this approach” and to “prioritize solutions that honor human dignity and social cohesion.”
Crime Most of the workers rounded up by ICE at Omaha food plant had no prior criminal history Grace Lewis , Justin Diep
Pillen said Tuesday a contract with the Department of Homeland Security hasn’t been signed, but is in the works. He also said the initial contract will last a year, but he expects to maintain it through Donald Trump’s presidency.
The Work Ethic Camp can hold up to 200 people, and 184 are incarcerated there now. The prison’s annual operating costs are about $9.5 million, according to a 2024 budget document.
State employees will still work at the facility, but the federal government will pay their wages.
The Department of Homeland Security has dubbed the upcoming ICE center “Cornhusker Clink.” Its predecessor in Florida is named “Alligator Alcatraz,” and several other states are planning similar facilities.
Jeffreys said new beds will be added to program rooms, multipurpose rooms and other areas of the center for use by ICE and no detainees will be housed outdoors, like they are in Florida.
Pillen said he expects detainees to arrive from about seven nearby states, some by plane and some by car. He said the flights can be a “capitalistic opportunity” for the airport in McCook, where he spoke Tuesday.
On the ground in McCook
Representatives from the two unions representing employees at the Work Ethic Camp said they’d not heard much yet about what the changes mean for staff, but had varying concerns about job security.
The security staff of about 80 are members of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 88, and Jay Wilson, the unit president, said he’s heard assurances that jobs are safe and said shifting costs to the federal government could be added job security for the officers. He referenced recent budget shortfalls and Pillen’s directive for all departments to cut 10% from their budgets and said “hopefully (the federal government) will help that quite a bit.”
More beds, as Jeffreys mentioned, may also mean more jobs, Wilson said. Shifting from working with state inmates to immigration detainees likely doesn’t change the work much for security staff, according to Wilson, though he said given the expectation that detainees will be there for only five to 50 days, he didn’t expect officers to manage as many visitations.
Crime MS-13 ‘kingpin’ arrested in Omaha area came to US illegally, admitted to gang membership: Documents Justin Diep , Maddie Ames
Justin Hubly, director of the Nebraska Association of Public Employees, said the union represents 15 staff members in McCook who work in food service, health care and other programming outside of security.
The changing population raises questions about the need for jobs like behavioral health practitioners or substance abuse counselors, he said. Hubly said it seemed everyone was receiving information in real time, noting that he’s asked the Department of Corrections questions and believes they are still gathering answers.
State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha highlighted the change in population, saying on social media ICE will “dump people” into the facility and called it a “landfill for people” that doesn’t involve rehabilitation.
“This isn’t a place for services or recovery or access to care,” she said. Hunt has been outspoken against ICE operations and charged Nebraskans to look out for their neighbors that agents may target.
McKinney raised alarm about moving people from the Work Ethic Camp to other prisons, citing overcrowding in prisons that was recently made worse by a storm that displaced 387 men from a prison in Omaha.
“They’re overcrowded, and men and women are living in inhumane conditions across the state. I’ve recently visited the prisons, I know what’s going on. I see what’s going on. I have people reaching out to my office daily and calling me about what’s going on,” McKinney said.
Pillen also ordered 20 soldiers from the Nebraska National Guard to provide “administrative and logistical support” to ICE at sites in Omaha, Grand Island and North Platte, commencing with training next week. The state will allow up to six state troopers “to help ICE arrest criminal, illegal aliens” across the state, Pillen’s office said.
Crime ‘La migra! La migra!’: Impact of immigration raid still ripples through South Omaha, Glenn Valley Henry J. Cordes 12 min to read
McKinney said those partnerships don’t make communities safer, they just raise tensions. He’s also watching for other ways Pillen may emulate the president.
Trump has deployed federal law enforcement in Washington D.C. and other states have pledged National Guard troops, and McKinney said that makes him wonder if Pillen will send troops to D.C. or even out in Omaha — Pillen earlier this summer facilitated activation of the National Guard ahead of a massive anti-ICE and anti-Trump protest that occurred alongside the College World Series.
“I think that’s something to pay attention to,” McKinney said, also highlighting deployment of the military in Los Angeles amid immigration protests. “Because a lot of the cities that they’re targeting are run by Black mayors.”
McKinney said these shows of force are attempts to “display power, some type of control. It’s about ego, control and white supremacy.”
Photos: ICE raids Omaha meatpacking plant
