ICE Signs Five Year Deal To Reopen Prairie Correctional Facility In Appleton, Minnesota

(KARE 11) – Nearly a year after first considering the idea, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has signed a deal to move in and reopen a long-closed private prison in western Minnesota as an ICE facility.

CoreCivic, the owner of the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, Minnesota, announced Tuesday it has awarded a contract to ICE to utilize the 1,600-bed facility for five years beginning on Aug. 11.

The private prison has been closed since 2010.

“We are pleased to announce the new contract at our Prairie Correctional Facility,” CoreCivic CEO Patrick D. Swindle said in a statement. “While this facility has been idle since 2010, we have made investments to help ensure an efficient reactivation in the event of a new contract. The geographic location of this facility, similar to our other recent contract awards, improves our ability to support our government partner throughout the United States.”

Discussions to reopen the prison as an ICE detention facility garnered a mixed reaction from community members in the past year, with clergy and immigrant leaders calling for compassionate alternatives to immigrant detention; however, others in the community supported reopening the prison to support the local economy.

According to a news release, ICE will pay CoreCivic “fixed monthly payment plus an incremental per diem payment based on detainee populations.” Due to “start-up activities” and the “phased commencement of intake operations,” the facility is not expected to have an impact on CoreCivic’s earnings for 2026, but is expected to generate $75 million annually thereafter.

CoreCivic said the facility is expected to receive detainees starting in the fourth quarter of 2026, with the “full ramp” complete by the second quarter of 2027.

Opponents were quick to condemn the agreement shortly after it was announced Tuesday.

“AFSCME Council 5 strongly condemns the decision by ICE to contract with CoreCivic to reopen the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton as a for-profit immigrant detention center,” said Bart Andersen, executive director of AFSCME Council 5. “This decision is morally wrong, dangerous, and more costly for Minnesota communities, and is fundamentally at odds with the values of dignity, justice, and respect that we hold dear as Minnesotans.”

“After the siege on our state by out-of-control federal agents who flagrantly ignored the law, it is an insult to our communities to open a for-profit concentration camp in our state. We oppose any concentration camp in Minnesota, or anywhere else,” Indivisible Twin Cities said in a news release. “We choose the term ‘concentration camp’ intentionally. We will not soften the wording of what this facility will be used for because we have watched what has occurred in other camps across the country.”