Response To Proposed ICE Detention Facility in Nebraska

LINCOLN, NE – Today it was reported on and confirmed by Governor Jim Pillen that ICE has plans to use Nebraska as part of nationwide large-scale immigration detention, including building a 300-bed immigrant detention facility in Red Willow County, Nebraska, as early as next month. This is part of a harmful, dangerous and rapid expansion that includes the potential for 125 additional ICE detention facilities across the nation.

Nebraska Appleseed Immigrants & Communities Program Director Darcy Tromanhauser issued the following statement in response:

“This is not who we are. Nebraska is a state that welcomes our neighbors and values the contributions of local moms, dads, coworkers, neighbors, and friends. Nebraskans do not want us to be known as a state that separates families and locks up and detains members of our communities.

Nebraskans across the state and across sectors for years have called for our immigration laws to be updated. What we need are modern immigration laws that recognize the strength and value that immigrant Nebraskans bring to the state, not a large-scale federal detention camp.

Together with many community partners across the state, we will continue to advocate for positive immigration laws that fix our long-outdated immigration system and support local communities – not cruel and harmful detainment camps that repeat a deeply ugly pattern of history and are completely contrary to Nebraska values. Nebraskans want policy change, not punishment.”