‘Cornhusker Clink’: Pillen’s office says most documents on Nebraska ICE facility can’t be released

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - First Alert 6 has been digging into how Gov. Jim Pillen reached the decision to turn the Work Ethic Camp in McCook into a regional ICE detention center.

Last month, we filed a public records records request for documents related to the facility dubbed “Cornhusker Clink” by the Trump administration.

The first results of that request came back with very little information except for a blacked-out document talking about the risks.

Last week, Pillen’s team said there are many other pertinent documents — and that they would get to back to us after conferring with their legal department. On Monday afternoon, they said there will be no additional documents to share, saying the paperwork about what they call the “Cornhusker Clink” is confidential, discusses negotiations, or is proprietary.

To some experts, this seems odd, since the communications are basically between two public entities: the State of Nebraska and the federal government.

The converted corrections facility is expected to be operational as an ICE detention facility in the next 40 days.

Earlier this month, Pillen’s office provided written answers to questions about “Cornhusker Clink” submitted by a group of 13 state senators. But the governor’s office later declined to participate in a study looking at the potential building code issues related to the Work Ethic Camp.

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