(The Center Square) – Plans for a new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility are moving forward after officials in a Tennessee community voted to approve contracts with the agency and a private prison company.
The Tuesday evening meeting of the Mason Board of Aldermen was marked by loud protests inside and outside the town fire hall where the meeting was held, making it difficult to hear speakers through a microphone tethered to a flashing karaoke machine.
CoreCivic spokesman Ryan Gustin, in an email to The Center Square, after the meeting said there is no timeline as to when the facility, which closed in 2021, will reopen. The company is advertising jobs at $26.50 an hour pending the contracts.
“Already, over 2,100 unique job seekers have submitted 3,375 applications for the available positions,” Gustin said.
The prison will bring in an estimated $325,000 in annual property taxes and pay a $200,000 impact fee. The money could be used for local schools, infrastructure improvements and other important projects, Gustin said.
Mayor Eddie Noeman pitched the deal with ICE as a way to generate revenue for the city with population of about 1,200 located about a half-hour from Memphis.
“At the end of the day I am looking for the benefit for the town of Mason,” Noeman said.
The mayor said the deal has nothing to do with the Trump administration’s immigration policies, but was often shouted down by protestors.
Gustin said CoreCivic is not involved in who gets arrested.
“CoreCivic does not enforce immigration laws, arrest anyone who may be in violation of immigration laws, or have any say whatsoever in an individual’s deportation or release,” Gustin said. “CoreCivic also does not know the circumstances of individuals when they are placed in our facilities. Our responsibility is to care for each person respectfully and humanely while they receive the legal due process that they are entitled to.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee encouraged residents to attend the meeting in social media posts earlier this week to oppose the detention center.
Protesters said backing the ICE detention center would make the town complicit in immigration policies they oppose.
“Is this where you want to be when judgment day comes?” shouted one protester inside the building. “Is this where you want to be when Jesus comes back?”
Outside the building, chants of “No, no, ICE must go” were heard.
