Nebraska and the federal Department of Homeland Security on Aug. 19 announced that the state’s Work Ethic Camp in McCook would be converted into a federal immigration detention facility, which Homeland Security branded the “Cornhusker Clink.”

About 186 people at the camp will be transferred to another facility within the state’s prison system, which has for years operated under an “overcrowding emergency.” Local leaders in McCook said they got only a half-hour briefing before the public rollout of the proposal. More than a dozen state lawmakers have since demanded a public hearing. More than 18,000 Nebraskans have signed a petition opposing the facility change.

The decision landed as the fall semester began. On the first day of class, I asked my law school students a simple question: Wha

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