Nebraska State Patrol Superintendent Bryan Waugh, at podium, joins Nebraska Adj. Gen. Craig Strong at left and Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Director Rob Jeffreys as the state announces a new ICE facility. Aug 19. 2025. (Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner)
LINCOLN — State lawmakers are “learning on the go” about Nebraska’s plan to transform its McCook-based Work Ethic Camp from a rehabilitative center to a migrant detention facility over the next couple of months.
Among major still-unanswered questions: What will the immediate impacts be of shoehorning more inmates from the McCook center into other placements in an already overcrowded prison system?
Confirmed information from Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Rob Jeffreys includes comments Tuesday to reporters that his department would continue to ensure safety and provide care to anyone housed in state facilities. The repurposed Work Ethic Camp would still be state-owned and operated — “because homeland security starts at home.”
“We’re in the business of corrections, so it’s just another population for us to manage,” Jeffreys said. “We provide the services. We provide adequate, humane care.”
Jeffreys has indicated that the 186 Nebraskans currently housed at the McCook facility will be moved over roughly the next 45 to 60 days to other prisons. The specifics have not been ironed out.
The federal government would fully reimburse Nebraska to house federal low-to-medium-risk detainees at the revamped Work Ethic Camp with plans to grow to accommodate up to 300 detainees at a facility designed to hold about 200, which would mean repurposing existing spaces used for meetings and other programming.
A ‘Midwest hub’ for ICE?
The Work Ethic Camp, legislatively approved 41-1 at the request of McCook native and then-Gov. Ben Nelson in April 1997 and opened four years later, seeks to reduce prison crowding through rehabilitative programming to low-risk offenders, making space for more violent offenders elsewhere.
The facility has served adult men convicted of felonies who need substance use treatment or cognitive restructuring, according to budget documents from September 2024. It had an annual state budget of $9.5 million during the most recent fiscal year, 56% of which was for security. The facility has about 85 staff.
The Examiner contacted Correctional Services, the Office of Gov. Jim Pillen, all eight members of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee and other officials to learn more about next steps after officials announced multiple state-federal partnerships to ramp up immigration enforcement.
Perspectives among responding officials differed largely along ideological lines, including in the officially nonpartisan Legislature, the only statehouse where lawmakers are not formally elected by or organized around party affiliation.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is rebranding the repurposed Work Ethic Camp facility as the “Cornhusker Clink,” according to Pillen and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
Jeffreys said he wants it to be the “Midwest hub” for immigration enforcement.
‘Humanitarian viewpoint’
State Sen. Victor Rountree of Bellevue, one of two Democratic lawmakers representing legislative districts that President Donald Trump won in 2024, said his immediate concerns were about managing the state’s existing prison population. That includes how Correctional Services is retooling after an August windstorm tore the roof off two Nebraska State Penitentiary housing units in Lincoln.
A total of 387 inmates were displaced to temporary housing, with 137 sent to other facilities in Omaha or Tecumseh. Some have since been moved back into normal housing.
Inmates are expected to be able to safely return to State Pen housing by the end of September.
Rountree said the moniker “Nebraska, the Good Life” is now paired with immigration enforcement efforts that he said differ from Trump’s promises to go after criminals. He said other migrants with no criminal backgrounds have been swept up, causing “a disruption to the people of our community.”
The freshman lawmaker said he approaches his purple district from a “humanitarian viewpoint” and as a 30-year military veteran who understands the impact of law.
“There’s a place for the rule of law to exist along with humanitarian effort,” Rountree said.
State Sen. Terrell McKinney of North Omaha, who has served on the Judiciary Committee for five years, said he strongly opposes the repurposed McCook facility.
“Our prisons are already poorly managed, overcrowded and plagued by substandard living conditions,” McKinney said Tuesday in a Facebook post. “No one should be subjected to such inhumane treatment.”
State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, a former director of the ACLU of Nebraska, a Democrat and a former Appropriations Committee member, questioned Pillen’s legal authority to create the new ICE facility under the Nebraska Constitution’s Article IV, Section 19.
Since 1875, the Nebraska Constitution has given the Legislature exclusive authority in the “general management, control and government of all state charitable, mental, reformatory and penal institutions.”
‘Well thought out’
State Sens. Tanya Storer of Whitman and Bob Hallstrom of Syracuse, Republican freshman members of the Judiciary Committee, said they were more confident in the federal direction.
“I think if Nebraska is in a position to help be part of that effort in a positive way, that’s a good thing,” Storer said.
Storer said she had a briefing on the plan to repurpose the Work Ethic Camp about an hour before it was made public. She said she learned the project could bring additional federal dollars to Nebraska without any additional state taxes.
State Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, chair of the Legislature’s budget-writing Appropriations Committee, said he was told reimbursements would lead to cost savings, the extent of which is not yet clear.
Hallstrom said he is still “learning on the go” but highlighted Pillen’s pledge that safety and protection of citizens would be a “primary goal and objective.”
Storer said she doesn’t think the repurposing would hinder legislative or department efforts to reduce recidivism, address overcrowding or boost the chances for successful societal reentry for inmates.
“We were assured that there is space available within our system to individuals without creating any hiccups,” Storer said. “It appears that this has been well thought out.”
Hallstrom said he also raised questions about space initially but is so far satisfied. He said he hopes the rehabilitative objective from McCook stays, such as Jeffreys engaging business leaders to do so. He added he hopes any ICE detainees will be treated humanely.
“I certainly trust and hope that that will be the case with whatever’s rolled out here over the next however long it takes to get things put together,” Hallstrom said.
State Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln, a former prosecutor and chair of the Judiciary Committee, told the Examiner: “I’m still learning about the WEC situation, so it’s premature for me to comment on the plan.”
What comes next
The contract between Nebraska and the federal government is still ongoing, with Jeffreys saying Tuesday it could be an initial one-year commitment or longer, possibly three years. He said he didn’t “want to get baked into a timeline with them before we take care of our own house,” acknowledging that the August windstorm put the department behind.
Jeffreys said “the timeline got ahead of us” for announcing the state-federal partnership, with Correctional Services staff finding out as the public did of the transition. He pledged to remain transparent with his team moving forward.
As the McCook offenders move into other facilities, Jeffreys said Nebraska inmates are involved in programming “like it’s never been done before,” so he’s not worried about violence. He said the prison system remains committed to ensuring fair treatment, programming and that Nebraskans are ready to reenter society.
If the ICE facility remains under Correctional Services’ control, it would likely be subject to legislative oversight, including complaints through the Ombudsman’s Office or the Office of Inspector General for Corrections.
‘Press pause’
Conrad, the longest-serving current member of the Legislature, said lawmakers share a Pillen-Trump goal of addressing public safety and a “broken” immigration system. But she said the “political stunt” Pillen is doing to “curry favor” with an “autocratic” president isn’t the way.
“We know that the way to solve those problems is through sensible, comprehensive immigration reform, where we respect human rights and we meet our country’s economic needs, and we don’t conflate those who are seeking a better life for them and their families or are fleeing persecution with true threats to public safety or national security,” Conrad said Wednesday.
Conrad said it remains to be seen if there will be any savings to Nebraska or if rehabilitation and second chances will still be afforded to rehoused Work Ethic Camp inmates, if they are moved into facilities “bulging at the seams.”
A corrections spokesperson told the Examiner “a robust offering of rehabilitative opportunities” is available at all NDCS facilities. She also noted the department will add 96 beds to its Reception and Treatment Center in Lincoln this fall.
Pillen has said he is stepping up to answer Trump’s call for governors and states to do their part to enforce immigration laws and fulfill the “highest calling” of government: public safety. A Pillen spokesperson said the alternative is “failed Biden-era open border policies.”
Conrad encouraged Pillen to “pray deeply” on his decision and visit with faith, business and ag leaders and embrace a past willingness to change course when met with new perspectives.
“It’s never too late to press pause,” Conrad said, “and to come forward with a more serious, thoughtful proposal that’s grounded in the law and our Nebraska values.”
How the McCook Work Ethic Camp will become what ICE calls the ‘Cornhusker Clink’
State senators approved the Work Ethic Camp by 41-1 at the request of former Gov. Ben Nelson in April 1997. It opened four years later in April 2001.
The Nebraska-federal “mutual agreement” to repurpose the McCook Work Ethic Camp came partially because of its proximity to other states. State officials hope it can be a “Midwest hub” for ICE. It is right next to the McCook Ben Nelson Regional Airport.
The current southwest Nebraska prison serves adult men serving felony convictions with rehabilitative opportunities, including local work in a dormitory-style setting, as a means to free up housing for more violent offenders at higher-security state facilities.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is rebranding the revamped facility the “Cornhusker Clink,” following “Alligator Alcatraz” in Florida and the “Speedway Slammer” in Indiana.
Low-to-medium-risk detainees would be housed and provided services between deportation or other legal proceedings at the repurposed Work Ethic Camp in McCook.
It’s unclear if the facility would remain all male or whether women, children or families would be detained there. Gov. Jim Pillen at a Tuesday news conference in McCook said, “I’ll be honest, I’m not a politician. I’ve not thought about that. I’ve not asked that question.”
There are 11 lawyers with active licenses in Red Willow County (McCook is the county seat), according to the Nebraska State Bar Association.
State officials estimate that they will move the current McCook inmates to other state facilities over the next 45-60 days. Housing placements have not yet been decided.
Parole board hearings and reviews will continue as normal for state inmates at McCook.
Whether corrections employees offering job and other counseling programs would remain in McCook, or be transferred to other state facilities, will depend on contract negotiations. Pillen has said many would remain.
The federal government would reimburse Nebraska for the use of the McCook facility, which would remain state-owned and operated. The contract is still in progress but would be for at least one year.
An early August windstorm tore the roof off of two housing units at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln, displacing 387 inmates. Of those, 137 were sent to temporary housing at agency facilities in Omaha and Tecumseh. Some have returned to normal housing. The damaged housing units are expected to be usable by late September.
State officials say they are not concerned with overcrowding, noting nearly 100 new beds will open up at the Reception and Treatment Center in Lincoln this fall.
— Cindy Gonzalez, Zach Wendling and Juan Salinas II
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