State Sens. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha, John Cavanaugh of Omaha, Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha, Terrell McKinney of Omaha, Victor Rountree of Bellevue, Danielle Conrad of Lincoln and George Dungan of Lincoln, from left, meet off the floor of the Legislature. March 26, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
LINCOLN — Thirteen progressive state lawmakers called on the chair of the Nebraska Legislature’s Judiciary Committee to host a public hearing into a federal-state plan to morph a state prison into an immigration detention center.
The Wednesday letter to State Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln calls on Bosn to use her authority to call a hearing on the planned repurposing of the Nebraska Work Ethic Camp in McCook. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced a state-federal plan Aug. 19 to convert the nearly 200-bed dormitory-style, rehabilitative-focused prison facility into a 300-bed ICE detention facility over the next 45 days.
Pillen, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and other state officials called the rebranded facility the “Cornhusker Clink.”
“There was no meaningful notice to the Legislature, local officials or the public about this agreement,” the senators wrote Wednesday in a letter shared publicly and with the Examiner. “The governor’s disregard for including the Legislature — the people’s branch — is deeply problematic. Nebraskans deserve answers.”
Almost every legislative committee introduces a resolution each year to examine any issues that might arise between legislative sessions within a committee’s jurisdiction. Bosn’s committee has Legislative Resolution 108, which is signed by all eight committee members.
Bosn said she received the letter late Wednesday afternoon and was still reviewing it. She said she would have a response Thursday.
‘How democracy works’
Lawmakers signing the letter were State Sens. John Cavanaugh, Machaela Cavanaugh, Danielle Conrad, George Dungan, John Fredrickson, Dunixi Guereca, Megan Hunt, Margo Juarez, Terrell McKinney, Dan Quick, Jane Raybould, Victor Rountree and Ashlei Spivey.
“This is not about partisanship. It is about process, constitutional authority and protecting Nebraskans,” Hunt, a nonpartisan progressive, said in a statement. “The governor cannot secretly cut deals to hand over state facilities to ICE without public input or legislative oversight. That is not how democracy works.”
The other dozen lawmakers who signed are Democrats in the officially nonpartisan Legislature.
The three legislative Democrats who did not sign the letter are State Sens. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln, Wendy DeBoer of Omaha and Jason Prokop of Lincoln. DeBoer is vice chair of the Judiciary Committee, which is split 5-3, majority Republicans. McKinney and Rountree also serve on the committee.
DeBoer could not be reached for comment Wednesday. The Governor’s Office and Nebraska Department of Correctional Services had no immediate responses, either.
Nebraska’s plans to keep the repurposed Work Ethic Camp state-owned and operated would likely leave it open to legislative oversight, a power that lawmakers have worked to clarify and strengthen over the past two years.
Legal authority
Some of the lawmakers’ questions revolve around whether the governor has the authority to enter an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to convert a state prison into an ICE detention facility without legislative action. They also want to probe whether the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services can house ICE detainees at all.
The letter notes Article IV, Section 19 of the Nebraska Constitution, which gives the Legislature power over the “management, control and government of all state charitable, mental, reformatory and penal institutions.”
Senators argued Pillen is “unilaterally” bypassing the Nebraska Constitution and multiple state laws that dictate the prison system’s powers and outline the purpose of the Work Ethic Camp in statute.
While the letter alludes to fiscal questions, lawmakers did not include any specific questions on the finances of the new facility.
Pillen and State Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, chair of the budget-writing Appropriations Committee, have said the federal government will fully reimburse Nebraska for the $9.5 million facility plus daily bed costs. They have said the deal could financially benefit Nebraska.
Previous Judiciary Committee reactions
Rountree, who represents a purple legislative district that elected him and voted for President Donald Trump in November, previously told the Nebraska Examiner that he approaches immigration enforcement from a “humanitarian viewpoint” and from his 30 years as a veteran.
“There’s a place for the rule of law to exist along with humanitarian effort,” Rountree said.
State Sens. Tanya Storer of Whitman and Bob Hallstrom of Syracuse, who also serve on the Judiciary Committee, said they had been briefed on the federal plan and were more confident in its direction. Both said they were assured Nebraska facilities would not be hurt by the plan.
“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 at the time.
Hearing requested with ‘deliberate speed’
Among the letter’s other questions Wednesday:
What impact does this agreement have on Nebraskans who are incarcerated and front-line prison system employees, who are already facing overcrowding and staffing issues?
Will employees at the Work Ethic Camp be reassigned to work at other facilities? Will they be trained to work at the converted facility? Will federal officials also work at the converted facility? Will federal officials replace or supplement current staff at the Work Ethic Camp?
Where will the incarcerated Nebraskans now housed at the Work Ethic Camp be moved to? How does the recent significant damage and forced relocation of inmates at the Nebraska State Penitentiary impact prisoner relocation efforts? What impact will the relocation have on rehabilitation-focused programming and eligibility for parole?
Who will be detained or placed in the converted ICE detention facility?
If Nebraska has prison space to give away to the Trump administration, why are state lawmakers spending more than $313 million to build a new state prison?
“These and other subjects are deserving of a public hearing on the record at which officials can provide additional information and answer questions, and where Nebraskans can be heard,” the letter states.
The senators asked Bosn, a former prosecutor appointed to the Legislature in 2023 and elected in 2024, to inform her colleagues and the public of the answers to these questions if she can.
If Bosn cannot answer, the letter adds, “We encourage you to stand in your power and set and publicize the hearing date to take this matter up with all deliberate speed as the governor notes this transition will be happening within a few short weeks.”
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