EXPLAINER: Facts about ‘Cornhusker Clink’ timelines, inmates, administration & more

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Gov. Jim Pillen’s announcement Tuesday that U.S. authorities were turning a minimum-security facility in south-central Nebraska into an ICE detention center has left many with questions about how the decision was made, how it will impact the state, and what comes next.

Here’s what we know about “Cornhusker Clink” so far:

Who will run the illegal immigrant detention center in McCook?

On Tuesday, the governor’s office said an agreement had been made with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to use the existing minimum-security facility called the Work Ethic Camp (WEC).

While Pillen praised the work of Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Director Rob Jeffreys in his news conference at the McCook airport on Tuesday — calling him a “sought-after” corrections leader, particularly for his focus on recidivism — the facility won’t be in the state’s hands. WEC will be run by federal agencies, but current staff will be retained, according to the governor.

“All folks will continue on in their role,” Pillen said Tuesday.

In addition, 20 Nebraska National Guard soldiers will be assigned to assist with clerical work, and they are expected to start training next week.

Contracts and agreements were in place quickly for the first 365 days, Pillen said, with contract extensions already in process.

What role will Nebraska State Troopers play in helping ICE?

There’s a new partnership between ICE and the Nebraska State Patrol. Some troopers could soon have the authority to identify and remove illegal immigrants.

The Nebraska State Patrol is partnering with ice through the 287(g) program.

It was established in the nineties, but reporting from the AP shows it’s been revived, expanded, and financed under the Trump administration.

The Nebraska State Patrol is just the latest law enforcement agency to throw its hat in the ring.

“We will have six state patrol officers to work with ICE agents,” announced Governor Jim Pillen Tuesday.

Since the Trump administration took office Governor Pillen has supported his policies.

Now, the Nebraska State Patrol has sent a letter of intent to the department of homeland security to initiate the 287(g) process.

A representative of the patrol said troopers will “collaborate with ICE as secondary duty.”

Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson supports increased immigration patrols and the new holding facility.

He says, however, his office has no plans to join in with what the state patrol is doing.

“The Douglas County Sheriffs Office is committed to keeping our community safe and pursuing criminals that put our community at risk,” Hanson said. “If those criminals have questionable documentation status we will work with our partners at... ICE to pursue them and arrest them and potentially remove them from our country.”

He says the sheriff’s office will only assist with criminal investigations.

However, he does want the Douglas County Commissioners to enter a contract with ICE to use Douglas County Corrections as a holding facility for low-risk offenders.

He says it will keep those offenders close to their families and lawyers, as opposed to sending them to another part of the state.

“Not only are we passing up millions and millions and millions of dollars that could be committed back into the community, back towards public safety investments, but it would be more humane for people navigating those ice detention processes,” Hansen said.

How many inmates will be detained at WEC?

Officials said the minimum-security facility can currently house 200 inmates, but plans are to make modifications that will expand capacity to as many as 300 detainees.

When will ICE begin housing illegal immigrants at WEC?

The facility needs some work before it can house federal detainees. In addition to making room for 100 additional inmates, officials said there are some roof repairs that need to be fixed and some additional security fencing that will need to be installed.

But the general timeline is believed to be about 45-60 days, so Nebraskans should learn more details about that soon.

What will happen to the inmates currently at WEC?

There are 186 inmates who will be relocated to different Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS) facilities across the state.

The state has eight other such facilities; out of those, authorities told First Alert 6 that there are five where these inmates could go. But it’s not yet clear what the best option for those currently housed at the McCook facility.

At Tuesday’s news conference, Pillen said Nebraska’s prisons don’t have an overcrowding problem and said that the state’s prisons have “flex” in their operational capacity.

“The folks that want to yell about overcrowding and all that, they don’t know what’s going on. Simple as that,” he said at Tuesday’s news conference.

On Wednesday, First Alert 6 asked the Inspector General of Nebraska’s correctional system for the current populations of those facilities and found they are all over operational capacity.

What types of people will be sent to the McCook detention center?

While Pillen talked a few times about federal agents going after “criminals” and “terrorists” — and thanking President Donald Trump for designating Mexican gangs as terrorist organizations — the governor assured that only low- and minimum-security detainees — not murderers — would be brought to the facility north of McCook.

He also stipulated that the detainees there would be criminals arrested for crimes other than simply being in the country illegally. He expected that many would be facing drug and sex-trafficking charges.

The governor wasn’t certain Tuesday about the demographics — men, women, or even children — of ICE detainees expected to be housed at WEC.

Why was McCook selected over other Nebraska cities near local airports?

The governor said the WEC’s close proximity to an airport made it an ideal location for an ICE detention center — something Noem had mentioned was important in selecting the next “Alligator Alcatraz.”

While Nebraska does have several smaller airports, only McCook Ben Nelson Regional Airport has an existing NDCS facility in close proximity. WEC’s location outside of town also made it an appealing choice as Pillen and the mayor both stressed the city’s security would be a priority. The likely drive route on existing roads that don’t travel through the city is about 8 miles.

“McCook will go down in history making an extraordinary difference in correcting some really realy silly things that have taken place in this country in the last four years,” the governor said Tuesday during his news conference at the airport.

Will the ICE detention center help the local or state economy?

The governor said he expects there will be a “capitalistic opportunity for fuel” because of all the flights going in an out of the airport, especially as not all of the inmates will be coming in by plane.

Illegal immigrants apprehended in neighboring states are expected to make their way into the McCook center, providing opportunities for logistics and transportation, Pillen said.

Why is it called “Cornhusker Clink”?

That’s the moniker bestowed on the facility by the Department of Homeland Security. They referred to the WEC location as Cornhusker Clink in a news release announcing the selection of McCook as the country’s next ICE detention center on Tuesday.

Why wasn’t there more notice about the decision to put an ICE detention center in Nebraska?

The governor said the plans to install the next “Alligator Alcatraz” in Nebraska came together very quickly, telling reporters in a news conference at the McCook Airport on Tuesday that he asked federal partners to slow down the process a bit, but Trump “moves fast; he doesn’t wait around, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Pillen said plans solidified after a field agent had visited the McCook site on Friday afternoon with Director Jeffreys, Nebraska’s correctional services director, and said it was a “fantastic” choice that was “really gonna work.” Pillen said he then talked to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and got “really really excited about it.”

He then made contact with McCook Mayor Linda Taylor “as soon as it became appropriate, that it appeared that there was gonna be a possibility” the Work Ethic Camp (WEC) would become the second federal immigration detention center.

Earlier in the news conference, Pillen talked about making several visits to Washington, D.C. — “more times than I can remember since the first of the year” — where he developed relationships with numerous Cabinet members.

“We’re on the team. We’re on the team,” he said Tuesday, reiterating multiple times during his responses his support of the president’s border security policies and actions, saying Nebraska will “answer the call.”

Pillen said securing our borders, particularly our souther border, has been a process that’s been “going on a long time,” and that as the process evolved, he said he raised his hand for Nebraska, likening it to sending Nebraska National Guard down to Texas to assist with border security efforts and during flooding.

Rumblings that Nebraska might be on a short list of possible sites for the next “Alligator Alcatraz” was reported earlier this month, but Pillen’s office remained tight-lipped when First Alert 6 reached out to confirm that information, saying “it is premature to comment on potential detention operations. Gov. Pillen will make details public at the appropriate time.” During his news conference on Tuesday, he said announcing the decision before certain details had been ironed out would have been “foolish” while also saying they had been “working on it a long time.”

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Reporter Johan Marin contributed to this article.

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