Gitmo detainees to be transfered to Illinois prison

Wednesday, December 16, 2009
WASHINGTON: The administration of President Barack Obama has decided to move some detainees from the US military jail in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to a prison in the northern state of Illinois, an official said on Tuesday. “Today, the administration will announce that the president has directed that the federal government proceed with the acquisition of the Thomson Correctional Centre in Thomson, Illinois to house federal inmates and a limited number of detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,” the official said.

“Closing the detention centre at Guantanamo is essential to protecting our national security and helping our troops by removing a deadly recruiting tool from the hands of al-Qaeda,” the same official added.

“Today’s announcement is an important step forward as we work to achieve our national security objectives.” The Chicago Tribune earlier reported that the facility would house between 35 and 90 detainees to be transferred from the controversial detention camp located on a US naval base in southeastern Cuba.

Thomson Correctional Centre, located across the Mississippi River from Iowa in a rural area, has remained essentially vacant since it was opened eight years ago due to budgetary constraints. It is protected by a 12-foot high exterior fence and a 15-foot interior fence, which includes a dual-sided electric stun barrier.

The federal government’s purchase of the prison could bring an estimated 2,340 to 3,250 direct and indirect jobs, with an economic benefit to the region of between $90 million and $.1 billion over four years, according to a preliminary administration analysis.

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