Gitmo in heartland?
Town sees jobs, Republicans see security risk in plan to move detainees to Illinois prison
When Illinois built the $145 Thomson Correctional Center the complex was promised to bring jobs and an economic boost to the area around Thomson, Illinois. That never happened and the prison remains largely vacant. (Tribune file photo / February 22, 2002)
Christi Parsons, Katherine Skiba and Joel Hood
Chicago Tribune reporters
November 15, 2009
THOMSON, Ill. -- President Barack Obama's idea of moving suspected terrorists from the Guantanamo Bay detention center to a northwest Illinois prison may face its biggest opposition hundreds of miles away in Washington.
On Saturday, residents and leaders in tiny Thomson, quickly warmed to the prospect of finally putting the long-languishing penitentiary to greater use, relishing the promise of jobs in a down economy.
"It would help the businesses here, and God knows we could use that," said Kay Lawton, 59, eating breakfast Saturday at a restaurant a few hundred yards from the Thomson Correctional Center. "It doesn't matter to me who they bring here."
But for those detainees to arrive from Cuba, the White House first has to persuade Congress to buy into the notion of holding suspected terrorists on U.S. soil. Hours after the story was reported by the Tribune, the administration began a low-key sales job of the idea it floated Friday, releasing estimates that envisioned an economic boon for the region.
Illinois Republicans immediately assailed the idea of putting terrorism suspects at Thomson. Rep. Mark Kirk, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate, circulated a letter among Illinois' congressional delegation urging the White House to not proceed.
"If your administration brings al-Qaida terrorists to Illinois, our state and the Chicago metropolitan area will become ground zero for Jihadist terrorist plots, recruitment and radicalization," Kirk, a five-term congressman, wrote in the letter to Obama.
Democrats largely ceded the debate to Republicans for much of Saturday. Gov. Pat Quinn plans a three-city tour Sunday to talk about Thomson. In a statement, Quinn framed the issue as showing off the prison to the federal government to help with "overcrowding" -- not mentioning the idea of holding terrorism suspects in Illinois.
By late afternoon, Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin defended the idea, citing statistics that 350 inmates convicted of terrorism are locked up in federal prisons, including 35 in Illinois.
"To those who say U.S. prisons cannot safely hold high-risk terror suspects, I say look at the facts," he said.
The battle lines started to form in the wake of the White House's revelation Friday that the largely vacant prison near the Mississippi River is a leading candidate to house a "limited number" of terrorism suspects. On Saturday, Durbin put the number at "fewer than 100."
For months, the administration has faced a knot of problems as it works to close the detention center on the naval base in Cuba. Thomson, a maximum-security prison roughly 150 miles west of Chicago, could be turned into a super-maximum facility with a unit for some of the Guantanamo detainees.
Unclear is how many would be transferred to Illinois and whether Thomson would be the sole domestic prison for that purpose. Several other sites have been under review by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Defense, and local officials around the country have volunteered their communities as host towns.
And so it is that Thomson could figure prominently on a political issue of global scope. Guantanamo has emerged as an international symbol of U.S. anti-terror and detention policies; Obama said its name was "a rallying cry" for al-Qaida as he ordered its closure shortly after taking office.
But the shutdown has proved hard to accomplish, primarily because there's no simple way to relocate the more than 200 detainees now housed there. Foreign allies are open to accepting some, but Obama has had to ask for their help while admitting the U.S. might not be able to do the same.
As distasteful as some find the idea of incarcerating terrorists on U.S. soil, prisons are an inviting idea in some remote areas suffering economic hardship. Thomson, with a population of less than 600, is a good example.
On the north end of town is the sprawling prison, a series of drab, low-slung stone buildings that opened to great fanfare in 2001. The $145 million prison complex promised to bring hundreds of jobs. But that never happened. Since the construction wrapped up eight years ago, the only portion of the prison that has opened is the minimum-security wing. The prison's state-of-the-art maximum-security wing remains vacant, a casualty of the state's shifting correctional priorities.
The town was abuzz Saturday with news that the prison is being looked at by the Obama administration.
"People have come here, they've bought homes, and when the prison never opened they simply had to leave," said Rosie Rojas, a waitress at the Sunrise restaurant. "Everybody is fighting for jobs, and it seems like that prison has the potential to bring a lot of them."
Brad Spencer, a volunteer firefighter and resident of nearby Savanna, predicted opposition would surface.
"It don't bother me none, but this is a small town and a lot of people have a conservative outlook on something like this," said Spencer as he worked the back room of Schafer Fisheries Inc. in nearby Fulton.
Thomson Village President Jerry "Duke" Hebeler said Saturday that state officials last month pitched to him the idea of bringing detainees to the prison. He welcomes the economic development potential.
"A murderer is a murderer no matter where he's from," Hebeler said. "That's the way I look at it."
The prison would generate 2,300 to 3,200 jobs in the area and pump $790 million to $1 billion into the local economy in its first four years, according to a White House estimate generated at the request of Quinn and Durbin.
Republican U.S. Rep. Donald Manzullo, whose district includes Thomson, acknowledged the "extraordinary unemployment" in the area but said he opposed the transfer of Guantanamo Bay prisoners there.
"The issue is: 'Are you going to exchange the promise of jobs for national security?' National security trumps everything." he said.
Manzullo, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was concerned that "al-Qaida would follow al-Qaida" to northwest Illinois if Thomson took Guantanamo detainees. All seven House Republicans from Illinois signed Kirk's protest letter to Obama.
Among Illinois Democrats, U.S. Reps. Bill Foster, who represents a far west suburban district, and Phil Hare, whose district is adjacent to Manzullo's, said they needed more information.
Democratic Rep. Melissa Bean of Barrington said she remains "opposed to transferring Guantanamo detainees to Illinois, or anywhere in the United States, without substantial assurances regarding potential security threats."
The White House is working from the understanding that it will need to sort things out with Congress if the Thomson idea is to proceed.
In the White House view, federal law bars the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the U.S. for any purpose other than prosecution. But administration officials said they have been told by congressional leaders that legislators would consider lifting the restriction if the administration presented a final plan to close Guantanamo that included the new detention location.
Political considerations also will play out in Illinois. Quinn, who will offer his views Sunday, is running for election next year. Republican foes showed they won't be shy about making Thomson a campaign issue.
Noting Quinn's effort to release nonviolent inmates early as a budget-cutting move, former state GOP Chairman Andy McKenna said, "It appears Gov. Quinn's only plan to cut spending and create jobs is free prisoners and bring terrorists to Illinois."
Link to Photo Gallery of Thomson Correctional Center:
Christi Parsons and Katherine Skiba reported from Washington. Joel Hood reported from Thomson. Julian E. Barnes of the Washington Bureau and Tribune reporter Rick Pearson contributed.
March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008