Guantanamo terrorism suspects will be sent to Illinois prison

Underused facility to house as many as 100 from Cuba

December 15, 2009|Henry C. Jackson, Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Taking an important step on the thorny path to closing the US 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 terrorist suspects held at Guantanamo.

Administration officials, as well as Illinois Senator Richard Durbin and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, will make an official announcement at the White House.

Officials from both the White House and Durbin’s office confirmed that President Obama had directed the government to acquire Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Ill., a quiet 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 Bay.

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 was leaked to a conservative website that seemed to indicate officials were homing in on Thomson.

The Thomson Correctional Center was one of several potential 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

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.

The Thomson Correctional Center was built by Illinois in 2001 as a state prison with the potential to house maximum security inmates. Local officials 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.