Gov. Whitmer Blocks Plans For Immigration Detention Center

IONIA (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has blocked the sale of a former Michigan prison that was proposed as the site of a privately operated federal immigration detention center.

Immigration Centers of America was the sole bidder for the former Deerfield Correctional Facility in Ionia, which closed in 2009.

A spokeswoman for the Democratic governor says concerns included whether adults who had been separated from their children might be held there.

Plans for the facility had moved forward last year under then-Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican.

The $35 million facility was proposed to house adult immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement who hadn't been charged with or convicted of criminal offenses. Immigration Centers of America had planned to house 500 to 600 detainees and employ more than 250 workers.

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