Then-South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, now U.S. secretary of homeland security, shakes hands with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Aug. 21, 2023, near the nation’s southern border. Also pictured, from left, are Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa and Gov. Jim Pillen of Nebraska. (Courtesy of then-Gov. Kristi Noem’s office)

LINCOLN — A Nebraska-run immigration detention facility in McCook will begin accepting the first federal migrant detainees at the state prison facility “in the next day or two,” Gov. Jim Pillen said Monday.

Pillen, speaking at an unrelated news conference, said the repurposing of Nebraska’s former Work Ethic Camp would include moving in the first federal migrant detainees this week.

Pillen had previously said he estimated the first detainees would come by Oct. 31 but had backed that up l

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