1 of 3 | Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, pictured here in 2023, discussed the opening of “Cornhusker Clink” at a press conference. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
The Trump administration unveiled plans Tuesday for the “Cornhusker Clink,” its latest project to expand immigrant detention centers in partnership with state authorities.
The center will be located within the Work Ethic Camp, a minimum security state prison, located in McCook, a small town in Nebraska of about 7,000 people. The Cornhusker Clink will add up to 280 beds to house immigrants captured by Immigration Customs Enforcement agents as part of the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportations.
The facility is the third of its kind, and is part of a partnership between Republican governors and federal authorities. Like two facilities unveiled earlier, the name of the Cornhusker Clink makes the same use of alliteration and reference to local touchstones as Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz and Indiana’s Speedway Slammer.
“I’m grateful for President Trump to say, ‘It is important that we find the criminals, the bad people and remove them,” Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen said at a press conference. “And so we’re on the team.”
Pillen said that in addition to the new detention center about 20 members of the Nebraska National Guard will provide administrative support to ICE officials. He also said that the Nebraska State Patrol will also participate in a federal program that will allow them to work with ICE agents.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on X that the project would “help remove the worst of the worst out of our country.”
Trump’s immigration crackdown has been criticized for disregarding civil rights and due process, while targeting immigrants who have not committed crimes.
In Nebraska, not everyone was happy about being home to the Cornhusker Clinker.
State Sen. George Dungan told KETV that he was “incredibly concerned” that the governor made the move without consulting the legislature, especially when immigration is a federal issue.
He pointed to Trump’s role in scuttling a bipartisan immigration reform bill last year before taking office.
“It’s really concerning to see President Trump creating a problem and then our governor stepping up and saying, ‘we are going to fix this problem that was created by the federal government,'” he said. “I don’t see how this is the Nebraska taxpayer’s problem.”
The Nebraska Democratic Party responded with a post on X, saying that Trump and Pillen have “thrown due process out the window, all to appease their base.”
“They have promised to go after criminals and instead have locked up hardworking moms and dads who contribute their skills to our agricultural economy,” the party wrote.
