In a letter addressed to Illinois Gov. Patrick J. Quinn, the Obama Administration said it will purchase the Thomson Correctional Center (a maximum security prison in a rural setting about 150 miles west of Chicago) for a “limited number” of detainees who are currently housed at Guantanamo Bay. The U.S. is preparing to move approximately 100 detainees to Thomson immediately. The letter, which was signed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, and Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, promised that federal inmates already housed at Thomson would not interact with the detainees from Guantánamo. “Not only will this help address the urgent overcrowding problem at our nation’s Federal prisons, but it will also help achieve our goal of closing the detention center at Guantanamo in a timely, secure, and lawful manner,” said the letter, which the White House made public Tuesday afternoon.
The Thomson Correctional Center is a modern, state of the art facility, which is only 8 years old and has remained virtually empty. Gov. Quinn and local community members are ecstatic at the possibilities of the government stepping in to operate the prison, in a state that is desperate for jobs and open to the economic boom the prison could bring to their community. But opponents are dead set against the idea, claiming it would make Illinois an instant terrorist target for anyone wanting to bring Americans harm — although proponents argue the U.S. as a whole is already a terrorist target, regardless if these detainees are held in Illinois or anywhere.
Under the proposal for Thomson, the Bureau of Prisons would buy the facility and quadruple its security. Most of the prison would house ordinary high-security inmates. But a large part of the facility would be leased to the Defense Department to hold terror suspects, all under separate management.
