Immigrant detention center proposal scrutinized

A debate about immigration reform is taking shape in a small South suburban community where local and federal officials are considering placing an immigrant detention center.

The proposed facility in Crete is among several locations U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have chosen nationwide. ICE currently rents space from a county jail in the Chicago area to house immigrants facing deportation proceedings.

If the proposal is solidified, Crete officials would hire a private company to build and manage the facility with up to 700 beds, Crete Mayor Michael Einhorn told the Chicago Tribune for a story published Monday.

But some residents and activists have already started campaigning against it. Residents oppose a prison-style center in their community of 8,000 people and allege a lack of transparency on the part of local and federal officials.

Advocates for immigrant rights say such centers break up families and many of those who are detained pose no safety risk, that not all who are awaiting deportation need to be detained. Those against the center have held public meetings on the issue, some of which have drawn hundreds of people.

“Would you want to buy a house next door to a prison?” said 46-year-old resident Jill Hornick.

Proponents argue that the detention center saves taxpayer money and will bring revenue and jobs to the suburb. Hundreds of detainees would be counted as Crete residents, bringing in more in tax revenue.

The proposed center comes as the Obama administration is deporting a record number of people, around 400,000 a year. Federal officials have proposed similar facilities, including one for a 1,500-bed detention facility near the Everglades in Florida, which has drawn big protests.

Still, city officials warn that the proposal is too preliminary and that’s why they haven’t discussed it much.

“The public needs to be patient here,” Einhorn said. “(ICE) could change their mind tomorrow and decide not to do it.”

Crete officials, ICE and a private Tennessee-based company — Corrections Corporation of America — have been talking about the proposal since at least 2010, according to the Tribune, which cites documents it obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

The proposed center would be built on 70 acres of vacant farmland, according to village officials.

Lifelong Crete resident David Most, a farmer and business owner, said he wants his community to remain rural, but the detention center is a good option if development must happen.

“If we’re going to have to put up with inconveniences and some new growth,” he said, “why not get something out of it?”