KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva covers stories in the Northland, including Liberty. She also focuses on issues surrounding immigration. Share your story idea with Fernanda.
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Kansas Court of Appeals judges heard arguments Tuesday about a proposed ICE detention center in Leavenworth.
It’s the latest development in the ongoing legal battle between the City of Leavenworth and CoreCivic, a private prison company.
The city’s Planning Commission voted to advance CoreCivic’s plan last week, but that plan still faces final approval from the Leavenworth City Council. That decision is dividing community members.
KSHB 41 News reporter Fernanda Silva, who covers immigration issues, spoke to neighbors in favor of the detention center and others who are opposed to having an ICE facility in Leavenworth.
Leavenworth residents against the detention center came Tuesday night to city hall to voice their opposition to CoreCivic’s plan to reopen as an ICE facility.
“We don’t want this here,” said Sarah Rader, a Leavenworth resident, outside the City Council meeting. “We don’t want ICE on the ground here. We don’t want it anywhere, right? But we definitely don’t want it here in our backyard.”
CoreCivic and the potential ICE facility in Leavenworth were not on the agenda Tuesday night. The Leavenworth City Commission will have two meetings to consider the proposal — the first on Feb. 24 and the second on March 10.
But not everyone opposes the proposed ICE detention center. Nicole Frederck, a Leavenworth resident, supports the proposal.
“I’m for immigration," Fredrick told Silva. "I'm not for illegal. I think they’re human beings, I do. I feel it’s great that they love our country enough to come here, but at the same time, there are a lot of laws being broken.”
Frederick believes the detention center is part of the city’s identity and will boost the local economy.
"We just have a bunch of empty buildings with nothing happening. So I think it’ll help our community," she said.
Protesters acknowledge Leavenworth’s prison community history, but don't fully agree with Frederick.
“It’s a prison community," Jeff Howards, who lives in Lansing, shared with Silva. "We’ve got nothing against prisons here — nothing against prison guards or people working in those systems. The issue is the morality."
John Martin, another opponent of the detention center, said he is worried about conditions in the building.
“Why would you want to put human beings, who were illegally detained, in a facility known to have inhumane conditions?” Martin said.
CoreCivic sent Silva a statement:
For more than 40 years, CoreCivic has played a limited but important role in America’s immigration system. We know this is a highly charged, emotional issue for many people, but the fact is the services we provide help the government solve problems in ways it could not do alone – to help create safer communities by assisting with the current immigration challenges, dramatically improve the standard of care for the detainee population, and meet other critical needs efficiently and innovatively. We respect everyone's right to share their opinions and beliefs in a constructive and peaceful way.
CoreCivic remains firmly committed to operating a safe, transparent and accountable facility at our Midwest Regional Reception Center (MRRC), here in Leavenworth. While we maintain our legal position that we are not subject to the special use permit (SUP) requirements under the Leavenworth Development Regulations, we have worked collaboratively with city staff to address concerns raised by the community as part of the SUP process. This collaboration has resulted in both a staff recommendation for approval of our SUP application as well as an affirmative vote from the Planning Commission.
We remain grateful to the local residents, business owners, and our dedicated MRRC staff members who have already expressed their support for this facility and the many benefits it will bring to Leavenworth and the surrounding communities. We look forward to continued collaboration with the Leavenworth City Commission as we continue to follow the SUP process.
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