Rep. Clark Boyd says Wilson County town isn’t suitable for a large prison-type facility; Sen. Blackburn working to find “proper placement”
Image Credit: Rep. Clark Boyd / Facebook, Senator Marsha Blackburn / Facebook & Lebanon, TN Govt.
***Note from The Tennessee Conservative – this article posted here for informational purposes only.
By Sam Stockard [Tennessee Lookout -CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] –
A Tennessee Republican lawmaker is working with federal officials to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement from building a large detention center in Lebanon.
State Rep. Clark Boyd, who represents House District 46 in Wilson County, said Monday he supports ICE and its apprehension of “criminal” undocumented immigrants but that the Highway 109 corridor in Lebanon is not suited for a large prison-type facility for ICE. Boyd added he is relaying those views to federal leaders and said U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn agrees.
“If you’re going to be bringing in hardened criminals and keeping them somewhere, I just don’t know that a warehouse that was built for distribution or some sort of light manufacturing, that that is the best place to have it,” Boyd said.
Blackburn, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, is working “at the highest levels” to prevent the facility from coming to Lebanon, according to Boyd. Blackburn supports the president’s immigration enforcement policies but recognizes that, because of its low unemployment rate and shortage of warehouse space, “Lebanon probably would be strained to the max to accommodate that,” Boyd said.
A Blackburn spokesperson issued a statement Monday saying the senator “supports the incredible work ICE is doing in Tennessee to apprehend, detain and deport criminal illegal aliens, and she is working closely with local and state leaders as well as ICE to ensure the agency can find a proper placement for a new detention facility.”
A media contact for Blackburn did not respond when asked if the right location would be somewhere other than Lebanon.
Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan also issued a letter Monday opposing a detention center of that magnitude in Lebanon, saying it would affect local law enforcement resources and emergency services.
“Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility, and cooperation among law enforcement agencies at every level is essential to maintaining public safety,” Bryan wrote.
The Tennessee Lookout first reported Feb. 13 that ICE confirmed it bought a warehouse in Lebanon. The agency reneged on the confirmation four days later, about the same time a throng of residents opposed the facility at last week’s Wilson County Commission meeting.
With local residents still unclear about the federal plans, Wilson County Mayor Randall Hutto said in a public note Friday that U.S Immigration and Naturalization Services is considering Lebanon for a “mega center” to hold between 14,000 and 16,000 immigrant detainees from Tennessee and surrounding states. The proposed facility would employ 4,000 people year-round and be “the largest of its kind in the United States,” Hutto wrote, raising “serious safety concerns.”
Hutto said he and Lebanon Mayor Rick Bell confirmed with a Department of Homeland Security senior attorney that ICE is considering a site along Highway 109 South, inside Lebanon’s city limits. The mayors did not release an address for the proposed site, but Hutto said it was within a “short distance” of four schools, two churches, and a daycare.
The New York Times also reported last week that Lebanon is being targeted by ICE for a large detention facility, one of several that would go up nationwide.
Boyd raised concerns similar to the county and city mayors about the location, pointing out national and international companies are interested in bringing high-paying technology jobs to the area. He doesn’t believe it would fit well with nearby developments or that the transportation infrastructure or sewer system could handle a major prison-type facility.
Boyd contends other parts of Tennessee with high unemployment rates would benefit more from the economic impact such a facility could bring.
In late January, the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported all but four counties have unemployment rates under 5%.
Maryland is suing the federal government to stop it from building an immigration detention facility there, according to a Washington Post report.
Republican state Sen. Mark Pody of Lebanon put out a video on Feb. 16 saying “misinformation” was being spread about such a facility for Lebanon.
Asked about the matter Monday, Pody said, “We knew that ICE had been looking at multiple facilities across the state of Tennessee. The information, though, is that they bought something and it was coming to Lebanon, which is absolutely misinformation.”
The Tennessee Lookout based its initial story on email confirmations by an ICE spokesperson that ICE bought the property.
Pody said he and other officials are not aware that ICE signed any purchase deal or lease, only that it was something they were considering. No local officials were notified, he added.
If ICE interest in the Lebanon location continues, he said, officials will look at the implications, including the ability to handle sewer. He raised doubts about whether the area has the water and sewer capacity for such a detention center.
Asked if he would support an ICE facility, Pody said, “That’s a federal decision, not one we would be making decisions about.”
He added that he’s not advocating for or against it, in part because he doesn’t know whether the facility is definitely coming to Lebanon.
Previously, he said he supports ICE policies but said the agency should work with local leaders.
