WASHINGTON — Taking an important step on the thorny path to closing the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the White House plans to announce today that the government will acquire an underutilized state prison in rural Illinois to be the new home for a limited number of terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo.
Administration officials, Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn will make an official announcement at the White House.
Officials from both the White House and Durbin’s office confirmed that President Barack Obama had directed the government to acquire Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, a sleepy town near the Mississippi River about 150 miles from Chicago.
A Durbin spokesman said the facility would house federal inmates and no more than 100 detainees from Guantanamo.
The facility in Thomson had emerged as a clear front-runner after Illinois officials, led by Durbin, enthusiastically embraced the idea of turning a near-dormant prison over to federal officials.
The White House has been coy about its selection process, but on Friday, a draft memo leaked to a conservative website seemed to indicate officials were homing in on Thomson.
The Thomson Correctional Center was one of several sites evaluated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons to potentially house detainees from the Navy-run prison at Guantanamo Bay. Others included prisons in Marion, Ill., Hardin, Mont., and Florence, Colo., where officials also have said they would welcome the jobs that would be created by the new inmates.
Closing Guantanamo is a top priority for Obama, and he signed an executive order hours into his presidency directing that the process of closing the prison begin. Obama has said he wants terrorism suspects transferred to American soil so they can be tried for their suspected crimes.
High hopes for prison
Illinois built the Thomson Correctional Center in 2001 as a state prison with the potential to house maximum-security inmates. Officials had hoped it would improve the local economy, providing jobs to a hard-hit community. State budget problems, however, have kept the 1,600-cell prison from ever fully opening.
At present, it houses about 200 minimum-security inmates.
Obama has faced some resistance to the idea of housing terrorism suspects in the United States, but in Thomson, many have welcomed the prospect as a potential economic engine. Thomson Village President Jerry Hebeler was asleep when the word came that Thomson had been chosen.
“It’s news to me, but then I’m always the last to know anything,” Hebeler said Monday night of the news affecting his town of 450 residents. “It’ll be good for the village and the surrounding area, especially with all the jobs that have been lost here.”
Under the proposal for Thomson, the Bureau of Prisons would buy the facility and improve its security. Most of the prison would house ordinary high-security inmates, but a part would be leased to the Defense Department to hold terrorism suspects.
Funding not clear
It was not immediately clear how the government would pay for the prison and upgrades, but White House officials have floated the idea of including financing for it in the 2010 military appropriations bill.
Earlier this year, Congress enacted a law forbidding Guantanamo detainees to be brought onto U.S. soil except for the purpose of prosecution. But leading Democrats said they were open to lifting that restriction after the administration came up with a plan for how to handle the prisoners.
Thomson will not solve all the administration’s Guantanamo-related problems. There still will be dozens of detainees who are not relocated to Thomson, other legal issues and potential resistance from Congress.
The New York Times contributed to this report.
