The Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, Minn., could become a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center.

That’s according to new reporting from the Washington Post outlining the agency’s plans to double the amount of people in detention.

The Prairie Correctional Facility has a capacity of 1,600 people, which would make it one of the nation’s largest immigration detention facilities.

Minnesota’s only private prison, it was shuttered in 2010 but has been a subject of debate for years. In 2024, parts of a bill banning private prisons became law in Minnesota. The state is now barred from operating private prisons, but there is no ban on federal operation of a private facility here.

ICE confirmed planning documents obtained by the newspaper were real, but said they we

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