DHS Buys 1,600-Bed Minnesota Prison for $495 Million as Deportation Push Expands
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 30
DHS Buys 1,600-Bed Minnesota Prison for $495 Million as Deportation Push Expands
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 30
Summary
$495 million bought DHS the long-shuttered Prairie Correctional Facility in western Minnesota, a 1,600-bed prison the agency plans to use to expand immigrant detention capacity.
CoreCivic had offered the same prison to Minnesota's corrections department last year for $75 million, but the state declined because it lacked funds, did not need a facility that large and could not staff it.
The purchase is part of a multibillion-dollar DHS buildup supporting the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign, with Minnesota officials saying the jump from prior talks was "a shock."
That spending spree is already under scrutiny: the GAO last month called parts of the ballooning budget a hastily planned waste of millions, and DHS also faces questions over a $464 million no-bid purchase of 10 used deportation jets.