It's Official: Ill. prison to get Gitmo detainees

[babylonsister]

AP sources: Ill. prison to get Gitmo detainees
AP


WASHINGTON – Taking an important step on the thorny path to closing the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the White House plans to announce Tuesday that the government will acquire an underutilized state prison in rural Illinois to be the new home for a limited number of terrorist suspects held at Guantanamo.

Administration officials as well as Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn will make an official announcement at the White House.

Officials from both the White House and Durbin's office confirmed that President Barack Obama had directed the government to acquire Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Ill., a sleepy town near the Mississippi River about 150 miles from Chicago. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting Tuesday's announcement.

A Durbin aide said the facility would house federal inmates and no more than 100 detainees from Guantanamo Bay.

more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091215/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_detainee_prison

[jaxx]

1. Good news for IL.

I wish we had one ready to go downstate too!

[babylonsister]

2. More good news for us all, closing that den down! And I'm happy for

the folks who got the contract.

[Kdillard]

3. Good news. One step closer to getting that place closed.

[babylonsister]

4. And another promise fulfilled. Sounds good to me! nt

[Clio the Leo]

5. Not only does he think it's safe to keep them within the continental US...

.... he's putting them in his own back yard.

Get stuffed Cheney. ;)

[Peacetrain]

6. Another promise kept...

[BeyondGeography]

7. And I say we STILL carry that state in 2012

[Thrill]

8. How many states are going to regret not taking them?

When they see the jobs created and the revenue created for that area.

[murielm99]

9. This will be so wonderful for our area.

And that stupid Manzullo will have a cow!

The people of Thomson are desperate for jobs. I like this.

We may even turn some more of our area blue over this move.

[rebel with a cause]

10. A little information on the Thomson Correctional Center

Thomson Correctional Center is a safe maximum-security environment. Prison design, movement patterns and programming options will allow a strong community of order to be maintained. Inmates will be monitored under constant armed and electronic surveillance. Education, mental health services, recreation and skilled development will be available to inmates as mandatory and or voluntary programming options. These choices, under professional guidance, are opportunities for inmates to enrich their lives with the tools necessary for successful living.

Thomson Correctional Center is a Level 1 adult male maximum-security facility comprised of 1,600 cells and eight housing units. The facility also has a 200-bed minimum-security unit. The facility is 146 acres and consists of 15 buildings, totaling 625,000 square feet. Construction in the cell houses is pre-cast, reinforced cement walls. The facility is enclosed by a 12-foot exterior fence and 15-foot interior fence, which includes a dual sided electric stun fence.

http://www.idoc.state.il.us/subsections/facilities/information.asp?instchoice=tom
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Looks like there is one big job to be filled there... the Warden.