Rural Illinois Prison Expected to House Guantanamo Detainees
VOA News 15 December 2009
In a letter to Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, top administration officials - including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates - say the acquisition of the Thomson Correctional Center will help achieve the goal of closing the Guantanamo detention center in a "timely, secure and lawful manner."
Governor Quinn and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin welcomed the decision, saying it will create more than 3,000 jobs and inject more than $1 billion into the local community.
While some residents welcome the move, others have expressed serious concerns about suspected terrorists being housed in the prison, located in the small town of Thomson, some 220 kilometers west of Chicago.
The 1,600-cell prison was built in 2001 to house maximum security inmates, but is nearly empty.
President Obama signed an order days after taking office in January to close Guantanamo within a year. But he has recently acknowledged that the deadline will not be met.
The plan to close the Guantanamo detention facility has been met with fierce opposition by some members of Congress who oppose bringing alleged terrorists into the United States and trying them in U.S. courts. Guantanamo, which now houses some 200 inmates, has been harshly criticized by human rights advocates for the alleged abuse and mistreatment of the detainees.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
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