Nebraska converts prison into federal immigration center, aims to fill it by Thanksgiving Politics Nov 6, 2025 5:41 PM EST

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A minimum-security state prison in the remote southwest corner of Nebraska reconfigured to serve as a federal immigration detention center began accepting detainees earlier this week, Gov. Jim Pillen said Thursday.

The Republican governor said the facility at McCook — a remote city of about 7,000 people in the middle of wide-open prairies between Denver and Omaha — had between 50 and 60 immigrant detainees as of Thursday. The facility should be at capacity — currently 200 — by Thanksgiving, Pillen said.

READ MORE: Senate report details dozens of cases of medical neglect in federal immigration detention centers

Work is already set to begin on t

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